How to Coach Soccer

By eHow Sports & Fitness Editor

Rate: (0 Ratings)

The sport of soccer has been deeply entrenched as a niche game in the United States for decades. Youth teams, high school squads and the growing Major League Soccer has placed a premium on quality coaching. Your role as soccer coach requires you to be an educator to young players and a promoter of the sport to your community.

Flag Article

Instructions

Difficulty: Moderate

Step1

Establish your coaching style during soccer matches. The size of the soccer field and the limitations on game stoppages means you have to develop ways to communicate with players during the match. Soccer coaches like Bruce Brownlee offer tips and anecdotes that should help you get comfortable with match strategy (see Resources below).

Step2

Sharpen the shooting skills of your forwards by practicing penalty shots. Penalty shots happen occasionally in the average soccer game but require a player to get the ball past the keeper in limited space. Penalty shot drills can be performed at the end of practice to simulate the exhaustion felt by players in the midst of a match.

Step3

Rotate goal keepers during your regular season and post season tournament. Keepers get exhausted from the constant stress of protecting the goal. You should determine a rotation where your starting keeper plays between 60 and 75 percent of your games.

Step4

Name team captains to act as intermediaries between the team and your coaching staff. You can coach these players to take on a leadership role on the pitch during the game. It is advisable to meet with your captains prior to the game to go over specific strategies used by the opposing team.

Step5

Encourage your team to exhibit patience by practicing different pass techniques. You need to coach every player on your roster how to pass the ball backwards, lob the ball deep and work with the keeper to get the offense started from your own zone.

Step6

Schedule exhibitions and scrimmages with teams outside of your league. College squads, all-star teams and community organizations provide your team with a steady source of new challenges before the regular season starts.

Tips & Warnings

Experiment with team formations during tournaments and the regular season. Your focus in changing formations is to move midfielders up to help forwards or back to assist on defense. A good default position is the 3-5-2, which allows your midfield to halt the progress of opposing offenses.