COACH-SMARTER BLOG MOVED TO NEW SITE!

Please go to coach-smart.com/soccerblog to access our new and improved blog.
As we grow as a resource for soccer coaches, we want to provide the best coaching advice available.
Our new blog will continue to post helpful information, videos, articles, and interviews to help soccer coaches of all levels. We will help beginner coaches run productive and [...]

HAVE PARENTS FIGHT FOR YOU, NOT AGAINST YOU

What Every Soccer Coach Should Know About Dealing With Parents

Novice youth coaches often underestimate the impact that the parents of players can have on their team. This impact can produce vastly different results, depending on the nature of the relationship that you, the coach, establish with parents. Parents can be supportive and organizational lifesavers. Or [...]

WHY DO WE STILL ALLOW U10 TEAMS TO PLAY FULL-FIELD SOCCER?

I recently watched two U10 middle school teams play an 11-a-side game on a full field – that’s about 120 yards long by 80 yards wide. It was foolish.
The two goalkeepers should have brought their homework into their goals. They could have finished it between the occasional goal kick. Unfortunately, one of the poor keepers [...]

FUTSAL ON A ROLL

Why Futsal Is Becoming the Preferred Form of Indoor Soccer
Is it just me, or is futsal gaining popularity around the nation?
Considered the fastest growing indoor sport worldwide, futsal games and leagues have been popping up in more American gyms, courts, and playgrounds than ever before.
Played on basketball courts, using the sidelines and endlines as boundaries, [...]

CRITICISM SHOULD COMMUNICATE, NOT CRUSH

What Every Coach Should Know About Criticizing Players
Coaches take vastly different approaches to criticizing their players. Some coaches nit-pick constantly during practices, some not at all. During games, some coaches “instruct” their players to tears from the sidelines. Some coaches go entire games without saying anything.
Coaches have different styles, and they maintain different theories on [...]