Kim Colon, Head Coach of the D’Feeters 94 U14 Girls’ Team, On Coaching as a Woman and Coaching U-14 Girls
Kim Colon, Head Coach of the U-14 D'Feeters Girls Team
Q – At the elite level of youth coaching, most of those coaching girls are men. You’re the exception. How has that experience been for you?
A - It has helped that I’ve played at the elite level. I played at Nationals, so I know something about what it takes. My approach is completely different. In the Classic League, which is one of the top leagues in the country, a lot of coaches scream at their kids. And it can work. It can motivate them. But I try to motivate my kids in a more positive way, and it’s worked for them. I think parents of players can be hard on their kids, and they don’t need to get it from both sides.
Q- What are some of the ways you motivate them in a positive way?
A – One of the main things is that I try to make everything a competition at practice. So the kids are trying to be positive with each other, to win. If one team gets down then they try to rally each other together because they don’t want to lose to their friends…I’m not overly positive. I don’t give compliments to the kids blindly, but when they deserve it. Don’t get me wrong, I can still come down on them, but I think it should be more of a one on one situation, talking to them personally.
Q – Do you think girls tend to respond to competitive games instead of drills that focus more on individual technique and individual criticism?
A – Yes. Girls don’t want to be criticized, and they especially don’t like to be singled out. And that’s why I like the competition. The whole team is singled out. And they can take the losing and some of the criticism together.
Q – For the players, how does being coached by a woman make their experience different than it would be with a guy at the helm?
A- The girls can be more open with me. They can tell me things, really voice their opinions. And they can do so without feeling like they’re going to be penalized for speaking up. I allow them to make mistakes. That’s part of the game. I always tell them that nobody plays a perfect game of soccer. So they’ve got to get used to the fact that they’ll make mistakes. The key is stopping a mistake from becoming a continuous one.
Q – How to do you adjust your coaching for different age groups?
A – With the younger kids, the approach is really technical: skill development, ball touches, juggling. For the older players, we start focusing on tactical development. The mental aspect is incredibly important, especially for players in the U-15 and U-16 brackets.
