How to Coach Youth Football
If you have taken on the daunting task of becoming a coach for a youth football team in your local area, then you know that it can be a very challenging job. Working with young people, however, can be extremely rewarding and it offers you the opportunity, as a coach, to not just teach your players about the basics of the sport itself, but about the life lessons that can be learned from the experience. Read on to learn how to coach youth football.
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Instructions
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Get a signed permission slip from parents before allowing a child to participate. It needs to be returned, with everything filled out in completion, before a player can suit up and come on the field for practice.
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Once you accept players onto the team, send a letter home to their parents. The letter should outline your goals, provide practice and game schedules, list any equipment fees and any other costs that are required. You can build support from parents by sending regular updates and information about what is going on with your team.
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Get the community involved by asking for volunteer coaches to assist you. Volunteer coaches can be parents or individuals who want to lend support to your team. Volunteer coaches need to have a strong knowledge of football, understand drills and plays and know how to work well with young people. All volunteers must be thoroughly screened before you accept them, to ensure the safety of your players.
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Learn to communicate with your players. Remember that you are dealing with kids and, while disciplining them is pivotal to establishing your authority, you need to speak to them in a way that makes you come across as positive and approachable. Never lose your cool.
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Go over game rules and fundamentals with your players and make sure they understand them all. Don't assume that all players are familiar with how to play football. You will also need to go over football terminology, but define things in a way that is easy for your players to comprehend. Encourage them to ask questions, no matter how trivial, to ensure that they understand everything.
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Stress the importance of teamwork with your players, so that they understand that working together for the common goal of winning is key to having a successful football team.
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Make sure that your players don't get dehydrated, which can occur when they fail to drink enough water, while practicing or playing. Provide plenty of bottled water for them and make certain that drink it.
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Have a first aid kit available to treat the inevitable injuries that will occur. Keep a cell phone nearby, in the event an emergency occurs, and make sure you know how to administer CPR, should it be necessary.
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Be certain that your players do warm-ups before they begin practice or play games. Warm-ups include windmills, toe touches and stretching movements.
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Teach your players basic football drills to improve their playing skills, build up stamina and help you determine their strengths and weaknesses. Some examples of drills are grip, spin and drop drills for quarterbacks, release, go route, catch high drills for wide receivers, fumble and two-line bag drills for running backs and the like.
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Identify your strongest players early on and place them in the appropriate positions where they will best benefit the team.
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Develop playbooks with diagrams and strategies that are simple for players to understand, but that are effective in helping your team win.
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Make certain that you don't overpressure your players. While you want them to be at their best and to win games, you still want them to feel enthusiastic about playing football.
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Speak to your players about displaying sportsmanlike behavior during games. Discourage them from getting into arguments or physical fights with members of the opposing team or being rude to officials.
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Emphasize to players that it's important to remain positive, even when they lose a game.
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