5-6 year old soccer play--- bad form or good plan?

[renodoc]

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I first became a soccer coach 20 years ago and have coached a wide range of age and ability in youth soccer. I played at a very competitive level until about 19 or 20, trained under euro national team players, and was director of coaching for a club that had nearly 800 youth players.

As others have said, no offside on throw-ins, no offside played in that age level. While it isn't quite within the spirit of the small sided games to camp a player in front of the net, it is absolutely fine (and preferable) to break a player downfield and towards the goal as the ball is being thrown. That is strategy that the players will carry through any level of the game and a great foundation.

You really shouldn't be teaching the kids of that age about opening up, etc. Unless they have (and some can by this point) gained a comfortable skill level with footwork and ball control, they don't really have the mental ability to process where the ball is, who has it, where they (or others) should be on the field, and look for the open players. They are focused on first, getting the ball; second, going towards the goal with it; and third, making it in there. Footwork and ball control get them to this point.

You should be starting them in certain positions on kickoffs and such, this is another foundation that they can grasp at this age that builds them for the next level. Few kids will do anything but run straight after the ball when it is touched, that is ok. They'll remember where they have to be on place kicks with repetition.

As they get to 7 or 8 years old they will start to grasp and use the concept of the whole field, and if they are focused on learning the footwork and ball control early on, then passing almost falls into place.

Good luck with the coaching, it is a tough one to start, but is very rewarding when you have kids having fun out on the field.

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very useful post, thanks much.

[Brain]

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"are you "its ok in the world cup" people telling me that ronaldo or whoever can just come up to the net on a throw in and kick it in? wtf? "

yes. there is no offsides on a throw in.

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[Brain]

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When I coached T-ball there was a rule that only 8 kids could bat each inning (so the games didn't drag on forever).

One game our stellar defense got 3 outs before the other team scored in 2 innings and after only 2 runs twice more (with 3 double plays). The other coach got really pissed that I wouldn't let them keep batting until they'd had 8 batters.

My argument was that making our defense count for nothing would punish my kids for practicing a lot and playing well. Is this a valid point, or am I just a dick?

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You sound 100% right and 0% dickish here.

[Boris]

el diablo - at the 5-6 y.o. level I think knowing the rules is pretty far down on the list of qualifications for a good coach.

[aoFrantic]

Lol@thinking 5 yr olds can throw the ball decently far and that everybody is not already bunched up by the ball.

[Stagger_Lee]

I don't think all of you understand the term non-competitive.

It is used in junior sport to let the coaches and parents know the priorities and to provide some back up when you have to deal with over competitive parents.

The kids know the score - that is a given. It is just not the entire focus of the game. That will come later.

Teamwork and basic skills are emphasised. A fair go and fair play are also emphasised and the main message is have fun. If you keep official scores and league ladders at this age then these aspects go straight out the window.

The kids learn how to score & they know it is important. They learn to defend. Funnily enough, as they get competitive in this environment, there is more frustration at letting a try/goal in than elation in scoring.

If scoring is paramount then most of the team watch the better players go score for score. This achieves almost nothing of benefit for anyone involved. As I briefly described above, the developmental range at this age group is significant.

Anyone thinking that non-competitive means that everyone is a winner and that there is no value placed on achieving is really missing the point. Maybe if you had some involvement you would understand the environment better.

The everyone gets a trophy mentality in clubs is an interesting one. I have just had to devise ten unique awards for a junior team - an interesting activity with a bit of challenge.

I was happier when trophies meant some higher level of achievement - either for the team or individually. This thinking is probably just a product of the era I grew up in. We had the Bobby Brady attitude to trophies - they were seriously hard to come by.

[renodoc]

When I played 10 year old baseball (a zillion years ago) we had a team party and awards were handed out to everyone. I started at CF most games, yet some kid was given an award that said "official center fielder" and I got one for "most runs scored" Our team parents wouldn't even let us know our final batting averages because of our fragile egos i suppose.

But our team won the frickin league with one loss and we got championship trophies. It meant a lot to a 10 year old. Handing them out to everyone would have been [censored].

[El Diablo]

Boris,

Sports with no winners/losers? Terrible. Hell, when I was growing up, we even had ribbons and places for f'ing kindergarten field day. Losers got nothing. America today needs more of that!

[Stagger_Lee]

Gotta give kids credit though - they aren't stupid.

on of my kids got some sort of "participation" ribbon in kindergarten for coming 5th or something and when I asked to see it she told me "I just got a loser ribbon - everyone gets them" So despite someones dubiously good intentions - the kids understood.

[El Diablo]

Stagger, reno, and others:

Try this technique. Any kid who scores gets an extra Capri Sun. Any kid who doesn't follow instructions gets to sit on the sidelines and watch and gets no oranges or Capri Sun. You'll have a team of winners in no time flat.