Coaching Soccer

This passed week the team I coached had 5 games, 3 of which they had to play on Saturday. What I learned is that kids are resilent. When they have confidence and are having fun doing what they are doing that can accomplish great things. I guess you can say I started the tournament last Monday night nervous. I want to say I was nervous for the kids but the reality is that I like to win also. I have been and always will be competitive. On Monday we did not have such a great first half against a team that was not really very good. I found myself having to stay on the kids by yelling instructions at them and in some instance just yelling at them to run and get in position. We had a couple of kids that just would not stay where they were suppossed to. In the end we won the game by a large margain and gained maximum points for that game. Our next game was on Wednesday night against a team that we had played twice during the season and tied 1 to 1 on a very late goal and then beat 1 to 0 the second time we played. We ended up winning that game also with maximum points but as I reflected back on the game I realized that I was taking it a little to serious. I realized that I yelled a little to much that night and told myself I was going to try and change for the remainder of the touranment. Due to a rainout on Thursday night we had to play two games on Saturday with the potential of a 3rd if we made the championship. On Saturday morning I tried to keep the kids focused on the game we had and at the same time tried to keep them relaxed. Before the game started I had them doing different rythmic clapping to keep them loose. They seemed to enjoy this a lot and I believe it helped them realize we were suppossed to be having fun. Needless to say we dominated that game. We did the same thing for our second game on Saturday and dominated that game also. All we needed in that game was to score 1 goal and we would have enough points to go to the Championship. We took care of that early on so I was able to play people in positions that they did not normally get the chance to play. My little girl even scored a goal. We won the championship game 7 to1. The kids were so excited. I was so happy for them.

Lesson learned is that kids are great. If they are focused on a goal but still able to have fun in the process, it makes it that much more fun for them.