Grassroots Football

[Guest HTT II]

15 hours ago, STM said:

I'd love any advice about how to improve a 9 year old too. If there are any coaches out there.

 

His shooting and dribbling are very good but I'd like him to learn how to work the ball in tighter spaces and get his head up. Ideally with a view to moving more central.

My mate who used to coach says to get a kid to start looking up is so hard other than shouting at them, he’d do regular basketball sessions and said it helped no end because they instinctively started to look up, he said net ball works on that front too. Does make sense when you think about it. He would do footy sessions with a ball where they’d have to pass the ball and score with their hands, throwing it etc, revolutionary at the time. Not seen it done much elsewhere mind. Helps with their shielding and movement too!

[miller]

My Son is 7 and has just completed his first season for KLSC in Norfolk and he did well considering he only joined because his friends were playing there. He's quite tall for his age and quick but doesn't utilise his size/speed at the moment. Like others have said about their child, he lacks the concentration for a full 40 minute game but when he does concentrate he plays really well. Normally he plays midfield in a two because he has the ability to get up and down the pitch but we need to work on his positional sense but that will come with time. He scored around 10-12 goals last season and made plenty of assists if you can really call a off-target shot or scuffed shot one. 

 

When I played football myself, I was OK, not quick at all but comfortable on the ball and had good at passing, I preferred to make a goal than score one. I had good awareness for space and could read the game well, so when I have a kickabout with my son I try to teach him to improve his technique for controlling the ball and passing it, rather than dribbling/running with it because I feel that will help his ability more playing as a midfielder longer term. Also trying to get him to use both his feet equally. I can could use my left just as well as my more dominant right foot which help me massively as player, for example I could put a corner in with either foot absolutely fine. 

 

The coaching is quite good at training but unfortunately the manager for my sons team is a parent of another child that plays and he has no qualifications/idea what he is doing. But its commendable he takes his Saturday morning out to help. However, I had a run in with him in the 2nd to last game. My son came on in the 3rd quarter, didn't do much, then he took him off the for the start of the 4th quarter, put him on for two minutes and took him off again. All this time there was no encouragement just shouting at him. I was fuming, the way he was speaking to my son in front of all the other players and parents. He was practically standing over my son, shouting at him for not doing what he should be doing. I stormed round to the other side of the pitch, got my son and drove home. Giving the manager a few choice words about his actions.  I rang my ex and told her and she said that some of the other parents had already raised the same concerns previously to the overall organiser of KLSC. Sometimes I think I should have approached it better but other times I think I wasn't bold enough to him. 

 

He's still going to play for KLSC next season so we shall see what that brings. 

 

[Guest HTT II]

10 minutes ago, miller said:

My Son is 7 and has just completed his first season for KLSC in Norfolk and he did well considering he only joined because his friends were playing there. He's quite tall for his age and quick but doesn't utilise his size/speed at the moment. Like others have said about their child, he lacks the concentration for a full 40 minute game but when he does concentrate he plays really well. Normally he plays midfield in a two because he has the ability to get up and down the pitch but we need to work on his positional sense but that will come with time. He scored around 10-12 goals last season and made plenty of assists if you can really call a off-target shot or scuffed shot one. 

 

When I played football myself, I was OK, not quick at all but comfortable on the ball and had good at passing, I preferred to make a goal than score one. I had good awareness for space and could read the game well, so when I have a kickabout with my son I try to teach him to improve his technique for controlling the ball and passing it, rather than dribbling/running with it because I feel that will help his ability more playing as a midfielder longer term. Also trying to get him to use both his feet equally. I can could use my left just as well as my more dominant right foot which help me massively as player, for example I could put a corner in with either foot absolutely fine. 

 

The coaching is quite good at training but unfortunately the manager for my sons team is a parent of another child that plays and he has no qualifications/idea what he is doing. But its commendable he takes his Saturday morning out to help. However, I had a run in with him in the 2nd to last game. My son came on in the 3rd quarter, didn't do much, then he took him off the for the start of the 4th quarter, put him on for two minutes and took him off again. All this time there was no encouragement just shouting at him. I was fuming, the way he was speaking to my son in front of all the other players and parents. He was practically standing over my son, shouting at him for not doing what he should be doing. I stormed round to the other side of the pitch, got my son and drove home. Giving the manager a few choice words about his actions.  I rang my ex and told her and she said that some of the other parents had already raised the same concerns previously to the overall organiser of KLSC. Sometimes I think I should have approached it better but other times I think I wasn't bold enough to him. 

 

He's still going to play for KLSC next season so we shall see what that brings. 

 

Coaches shouldn’t be shouting at kids, we are so lucky with my boy, great dads, great coaches who both played to a high standard themselves, they are good cop and bad cop. One is cautious and defensive and will lecture, but in a positive way, the other is more attack orientated and focuses on the positive. When he takes the team himself, it’s KK footy, all out attack and ridiculous score lines. Our boy’s heads can drop when they know they are playing a good side, like they are defeated before a ball is kicked, it’s a mentality thing, and then they will go a goal or two behind, fight like mad for each other and either come back to draw or win. We do lack consistency though because we could say, as we have done, smash NUFC’s own academy team convincingly, and then lose to some random other team a few divisions below badly. But you have to remember, they are kids and I tell my boy, if you miss a shot or make a mistake forget about it, unless someone is paying you to score it is your job to do so and that’s when you should be criticised, at 8 it’s your job to have fun and enjoy just playing for the hell of it!

[Guest HTT II]

One thing I emphasise to my boy is just how lucky and privileged he is and to always respect the coaches and refs and clubs and us parents who do everything for them. When I was a kid we played on the streets and it was a great and kids today kind of miss out on that, but I’d swap that for what our kids have today. Fantastic pitches, tournaments, presentations, trophies, club kits and proper team-mates. My brother in law in Kenya runs their nation’s basketball federation basically and when my family were last over there I told him to take my boy to play Kenyan street football which he did. These kids with no shoes or socks and badly worn cast off probably fake footy tops were brilliant and my kid is in an expensive Real Madrid kit and 90 quid boots and I told him look at them kids, they have nowt and are so gracious just to have a ball. You’re so lucky and privileged so don’t take it for granted or ever ever get above your station. Sadly at grassroots football you see lots of parents and coaches and kids who think they own the sport and everything is about them and how unfair it is if they lose a match, miss a goal, or whatever. That’s a big bear bug of mine. Entitled kids and parents and even coaches and clubs. There are a few in the NE who think a trophy should be handed out to them on arrival.

 

 

Edited June 21, 2022 by HTT II

[miller]

1 hour ago, HTT II said:

Coaches shouldn’t be shouting at kids, we are so lucky with my boy, great dads, great coaches who both played to a high standard themselves, they are good cop and bad cop. One is cautious and defensive and will lecture, but in a positive way, the other is more attack orientated and focuses on the positive. When he takes the team himself, it’s KK footy, all out attack and ridiculous score lines. Our boy’s heads can drop when they know they are playing a good side, like they are defeated before a ball is kicked, it’s a mentality thing, and then they will go a goal or two behind, fight like mad for each other and either come back to draw or win. We do lack consistency though because we could say, as we have done, smash NUFC’s own academy team convincingly, and then lose to some random other team a few divisions below badly. But you have to remember, they are kids and I tell my boy, if you miss a shot or make a mistake forget about it, unless someone is paying you to score it is your job to do so and that’s when you should be criticised, at 8 it’s your job to have fun and enjoy just playing for the hell of it!

 

At that age the games are competitive but not recorded, no league table etc which can I suppose be seen as a good thing and a bad thing. This coach/manager has an attitude to win which whilst its fantastic to win games but its also important to lose too. My son plays for the reds and probably won 75% of their games and lost the rest whereas the Blacks won 95% of games and when they lost once they were all crying, saying they didn't want to play anymore. My son is the same whether they win or lose, he's happy to be part of it most weeks. The current manager has been known to play the strongest team no matter in a bid to just win the game whereas there are children who get to play as little as 5 minutes when their parents may have travelled up to an hour to a game, which isn't fair at all. If I were in a position to manage the team I would but I can't commit to that every weekend unfortunately. 

 

I didn't start playing youth football until I was 12/13 and I was a sore loser because before that I didn't know what losing felt like. Gradually I overcame that in the season because we lost most weeks to begin with. I started as a CB because I was one of two players that would head the ball, then moved to centre midfield because despite my thin/underweight physique I wouldn't shy away from a crunching tackle to break up play and that's when passing/vision really improved. 

 

I always pep talk my son a bit on the way to games, try and concentrate and just get involved, whether its trying to win the ball back or playing a pass or shot on goal, whether he is successful or not doesn't matter. Things will improve for every child at different rates, we all know that, its finding the healthy balance of pushing them to learn and letting them learn for themselves in differing situations. He knows when he has had a bad game but I tell him about the positives he did, made a tackle here or made a good pass there. Positive reinforcements to do those things again in the next game. 

 

At the moment my son watches a lot of YouTube videos of the likes of Mbappe, Neymar because of the skills, so I showed him Ronaldinho and he loves him too now. I wanted to gradually show him more players like Lampard, Seedorf and Pirlo. Lampard for his ability to perfectly time late run into the box, Seedorf because of his power in midfield and Pirlo because of his passing ability/vision. Maybe that's how I saw myself as a player when I was younger and want to instill some of that into my son. 

[JoeyBartoon]

Coaches who shout at kids are ridiculous. I mean I bet they don’t shout at their kids when they’re learning to read. I also don’t understand the coaches who are standing on the sidelines telling players what to constantly do, they may as well have a Xbox controller in their hands. I always just let the kids play, self-reflect after games and ask questions which requires some thinking. The why, what and when questions always helped with opening discussions on games. 

[Coffee_Johnny]

50 minutes ago, JoeyBartoon said:

Coaches who shout at kids are ridiculous. I mean I bet they don’t shout at their kids when they’re learning to read. I also don’t understand the coaches who are standing on the sidelines telling players what to constantly do, they may as well have a Xbox controller in their hands. I always just let the kids play, self-reflect after games and ask questions which requires some thinking. The why, what and when questions always helped with opening discussions on games. 

Good on you, JB. Always admired people who put their time into youth coaching (… and parental management!). You’ll live on in manny kids minds as. A potentially really positive influence on their life. 

[Infatuation Junkie]

1 hour ago, miller said:

 

At that age the games are competitive but not recorded, no league table etc which can I suppose be seen as a good thing and a bad thing. This coach/manager has an attitude to win which whilst its fantastic to win games but its also important to lose too. My son plays for the reds and probably won 75% of their games and lost the rest whereas the Blacks won 95% of games and when they lost once they were all crying, saying they didn't want to play anymore. My son is the same whether they win or lose, he's happy to be part of it most weeks. The current manager has been known to play the strongest team no matter in a bid to just win the game whereas there are children who get to play as little as 5 minutes when their parents may have travelled up to an hour to a game, which isn't fair at all. If I were in a position to manage the team I would but I can't commit to that every weekend unfortunately. 

 

I didn't start playing youth football until I was 12/13 and I was a sore loser because before that I didn't know what losing felt like. Gradually I overcame that in the season because we lost most weeks to begin with. I started as a CB because I was one of two players that would head the ball, then moved to centre midfield because despite my thin/underweight physique I wouldn't shy away from a crunching tackle to break up play and that's when passing/vision really improved. 

 

I always pep talk my son a bit on the way to games, try and concentrate and just get involved, whether its trying to win the ball back or playing a pass or shot on goal, whether he is successful or not doesn't matter. Things will improve for every child at different rates, we all know that, its finding the healthy balance of pushing them to learn and letting them learn for themselves in differing situations. He knows when he has had a bad game but I tell him about the positives he did, made a tackle here or made a good pass there. Positive reinforcements to do those things again in the next game. 

 

At the moment my son watches a lot of YouTube videos of the likes of Mbappe, Neymar because of the skills, so I showed him Ronaldinho and he loves him too now. I wanted to gradually show him more players like Lampard, Seedorf and Pirlo. Lampard for his ability to perfectly time late run into the box, Seedorf because of his power in midfield and Pirlo because of his passing ability/vision. Maybe that's how I saw myself as a player when I was younger and want to instill some of that into my son. 

All the games are recorded. Scores etc.

 

You just get to see this table at any point. Until 11s I think. 

 

The top team in the division is awarded at the end.

 

This point in time it is all about enjoying the game and learning from mistakes. Coaches can't be perfect. Although I havent seen any shouting at the kids. A private message afterwards away from the kids would of been a little bit easier for him to swallow.

 

He is a noob after all. 

[miller]

38 minutes ago, Infatuation Junkie said:

All the games are recorded. Scores etc.

 

You just get to see this table at any point. Until 11s I think. 

 

The top team in the division is awarded at the end.

 

This point in time it is all about enjoying the game and learning from mistakes. Coaches can't be perfect. Although I havent seen any shouting at the kids. A private message afterwards away from the kids would of been a little bit easier for him to swallow.

 

He is a noob after all. 

 

I'm not entirely sure what is recorded or not, only get to see the fixtures online. 

 

Definitely needs to be enjoyment above anything at this age. Kids will learn much easily if the task they are doing is fun. 

 

It probably would have been but I was getting more and more frustrated by the situation and as my stood there nearly crying looking scared I had to step in. 

 

But like I said, he's not a coach, he's a parent who is helping out the best he can which unfortunately seems a little beyond him but no one else, myself included is stepping up to take the reigns all for varying reasons. 

[Infatuation Junkie]

10 minutes ago, miller said:

 

I'm not entirely sure what is recorded or not, only get to see the fixtures online. 

 

Definitely needs to be enjoyment above anything at this age. Kids will learn much easily if the task they are doing is fun. 

 

It probably would have been but I was getting more and more frustrated by the situation and as my stood there nearly crying looking scared I had to step in. 

 

But like I said, he's not a coach, he's a parent who is helping out the best he can which unfortunately seems a little beyond him but no one else, myself included is stepping up to take the reigns all for varying reasons. 

 

Yeah I understand seeing your bairn in that position is hard. 

 

The scores are only recorded for the club. End of season. You know the first 4 games of the season there is a break. That is to put the teams winning by high scores into leagues equal to their abilities. Vice verca. 

 

Makes the playmate equal.

 

I am surprised without relevant badges and enhanced dbs that he is allowed to take charge. Even on an interim basis mind. 

[Guest HTT II]

The scores are recorded by the league, refs, coaches and I’m sure most parents count goals, wins, losses and defeats. I used to record my boy’s goals and assists, but can’t be arsed these days. They just can’t publish them so teams don’t brag or whatever.

[Guest HTT II]

2 hours ago, miller said:

 

At that age the games are competitive but not recorded, no league table etc which can I suppose be seen as a good thing and a bad thing. This coach/manager has an attitude to win which whilst its fantastic to win games but its also important to lose too. My son plays for the reds and probably won 75% of their games and lost the rest whereas the Blacks won 95% of games and when they lost once they were all crying, saying they didn't want to play anymore. My son is the same whether they win or lose, he's happy to be part of it most weeks. The current manager has been known to play the strongest team no matter in a bid to just win the game whereas there are children who get to play as little as 5 minutes when their parents may have travelled up to an hour to a game, which isn't fair at all. If I were in a position to manage the team I would but I can't commit to that every weekend unfortunately. 

 

I didn't start playing youth football until I was 12/13 and I was a sore loser because before that I didn't know what losing felt like. Gradually I overcame that in the season because we lost most weeks to begin with. I started as a CB because I was one of two players that would head the ball, then moved to centre midfield because despite my thin/underweight physique I wouldn't shy away from a crunching tackle to break up play and that's when passing/vision really improved. 

 

I always pep talk my son a bit on the way to games, try and concentrate and just get involved, whether its trying to win the ball back or playing a pass or shot on goal, whether he is successful or not doesn't matter. Things will improve for every child at different rates, we all know that, its finding the healthy balance of pushing them to learn and letting them learn for themselves in differing situations. He knows when he has had a bad game but I tell him about the positives he did, made a tackle here or made a good pass there. Positive reinforcements to do those things again in the next game. 

 

At the moment my son watches a lot of YouTube videos of the likes of Mbappe, Neymar because of the skills, so I showed him Ronaldinho and he loves him too now. I wanted to gradually show him more players like Lampard, Seedorf and Pirlo. Lampard for his ability to perfectly time late run into the box, Seedorf because of his power in midfield and Pirlo because of his passing ability/vision. Maybe that's how I saw myself as a player when I was younger and want to instill some of that into my son. 

I think every parent pep talks their kid, I say to mine, when you see the goal if you are through or within distance, hit it, or look for space off the ball, track back and if you lose the ball don’t just stand there and so on. All goes out of the window once they cross that white line though ha ha!

 

 

Edited June 21, 2022 by HTT II

[pinkeye]

One thing I learned quickly to not do was to provide a full critique of the match Joseph had just played while in the car on the way home, even at a young age they know what went well and what went badly for them.  Kids really do not need us to be going through it all again over and over especially if they feel they could have done something in the match better.  I used to do this and realised it was not helping at all - in fact it was starting to make him more nervous as he thought I was watching and judging all the time.

 

Instead after every game, no matter what, I told him that I really loved to watch him play and that I thought he did really well.  It was then up to him if he wanted to discuss any aspect of the game afterwards, as he got older he did..  in great detail.  It was remarkable how much of the overall game they register and recall afterwards, small transitions in play that went well or badly...  give them a chance to talk and you will be surprised.

 

As he got even older, say above 14, and he was a better player than I ever was then my opinion seemed to be pretty irrelevant anyway....  haha!

[wyn davies]

I hope this particular spine is ongoing and doesn't dissapear into the rather, have a 9yr old grandson told him football is not the be and end all as only one injury away from the end of a career.He is natural left footer, can also use his right no probs,. He plays most dfield or defender, asked him why defender states so I don't have no run up and down the field. The young lad in horse racing terms a stayer, not a hope in hell of being a derby runner.

[STM]

1 hour ago, pinkeye said:

One thing I learned quickly to not do was to provide a full critique of the match Joseph had just played while in the car on the way home, even at a young age they know what went well and what went badly for them.  Kids really do not need us to be going through it all again over and over especially if they feel they could have done something in the match better.  I used to do this and realised it was not helping at all - in fact it was starting to make him more nervous as he thought I was watching and judging all the time.

 

Instead after every game, no matter what, I told him that I really loved to watch him play and that I thought he did really well.  It was then up to him if he wanted to discuss any aspect of the game afterwards, as he got older he did..  in great detail.  It was remarkable how much of the overall game they register and recall afterwards, small transitions in play that went well or badly...  give them a chance to talk and you will be surprised.

 

As he got even older, say above 14, and he was a better player than I ever was then my opinion seemed to be pretty irrelevant anyway....  haha!

This is a great piece of advice thanks.

 

Me and my lad often analyse his game afterwards, I'm going to be careful in the future not to go into too much depth.

[Coffee_Johnny]

I think it has to remain fun and light and a good learning experience. Even if they often look like the best player on the pitch, and especially if they don’t, so few get into academies and so few, of the few, 16 in a thousand, from memory (Every Boy’s Dream, reference at the end),go on to have a career in the game at any level, it is so important that they don’t put all their ‘self-esteem eggs’ in the pro-footballer basket. Keeping it a positive parent/child experience and helping them learn useful life lessons is really what it should be about. Plus, getting ‘good’ at anything has the potential to help with general confidence. 

 

https://www.amazon.co.uk/Every-Boys-Dream-Englands-Footballing/dp/1408112167/ref=asc_df_1408112167/?tag=googshopuk-21&linkCode=df0&hvadid=311011848126&hvpos=&hvnetw=g&hvrand=8107622974318419296&hvpone=&hvptwo=&hvqmt=&hvdev=m&hvdvcmdl=&hvlocint=&hvlocphy=9046620&hvtargid=pla-561768253622&psc=1&th=1&psc=1

[Infatuation Junkie]

Getting back to post game criticism.

 

I always give my lad 3 good pointers from a game and 1 positive criticism.

 

Pre game and pre training rules.

No chatting to the lads during the game.

No folded arms. 

No hands behind back folded.

No dancing or skipping.

 

I give a loud NAME shout and he jumps and stops the rule breaking action instantly. Like a small, sharp kick up the arse.

[Guest]

The amount of teams where winning something means more to the coach than the players is insane. 

[pinkeye]

9 hours ago, OCK said:

The amount of teams where winning something means more to the coach than the players is insane. 

 

Yup, had personal experience of this with my lad and it is rotten....  

[STM]

Had one coach on an opposite team telling his player to shoot from corners. The same coach basically puts 2 forward players in our box all game, with no thought towards what happens when they learn to play offside.

 

One thing in trying to implement is getting my players to actually have a corner/free kick routine, instead of just kicking into a crowd of players and hoping for the best.

[Coffee_Johnny]

4 minutes ago, STM said:

Had one coach on an opposite team telling his player to shoot from corners. The same coach basically puts 2 forward players in our box all game, with no thought towards what happens when they learn to play offside.

 

One thing in trying to implement is getting my players to actually have a corner/free kick routine, instead of just kicking into a crowd of players and hoping for the best.

This made me smile. Can’t remember age group, perhaps under 10s, but my son’s team were playing their biggest rivals in a semi-final of the county cup.  They’d played them two times prior in the league, and previous seasons,   and they were always tight games. They spent the whole midweek training session on corners, free kicks and  penalties and rehearsed the agreed routine for corners immediately prior to the match as well (overly vocal assistant coach , a local semi-pro central-defender, was on full throttle!).

We got a corner early in the first half and the ‘train’/all in line routine went right out the window. The lads like an electrocuted  ‘flock of spuggies’  randomly careering around the box.

One of our defenders caught a headed clearance sweetly on the volley to score what was possibly his only goal of the season. It was hilarious seeing the coaches/parents going from annoyance to jumping jubilation and said coach shouting (as if planned…) “That’s what I’m talking about!”

 

[pinkeye]

The best teams my son played against were the ones that were organized and that passed the ball around effectively.

 

If a child is taught that from an early age, especially to pass then move into some space then they will run rings round most teams they come across in the future.  The number of times you see a pass made but, the passer stay in the same spot as if to say "well, that's my bit done!"  I always encouraged Joseph to be on the look out for a return pass and to make himself available whenever possible...  

 

He was one of the kids, I think like HTT's lad, that seems to take as much delight in setting up someone to score with a great through ball or movement as he would in scoring himself.

[pinkeye]

Little note for the ones on here who have kids age 4 or 5 wanting to get into football.

Felling Magpies run a scheme called Little Kickerz every Wednesday for this age group.  Run by properly vetted coaches with the correct qualifications.

 

I was looking at some photos they posted on the Felling Magpie FB page from last night and it looks great!!

[Guest HTT II]

40 minutes ago, pinkeye said:

Little note for the ones on here who have kids age 4 or 5 wanting to get into football.

Felling Magpies run a scheme called Little Kickerz every Wednesday for this age group.  Run by properly vetted coaches with the correct qualifications.

 

I was looking at some photos they posted on the Felling Magpie FB page from last night and it looks great!!

Monty do a mini dribblers fun session Saturdays and Sundays for various age groups, girls and boys, that’s how my boy got started. Great fun, great coaches and a decent pathway into joining a team for kids. Wideopen do a soccer skills thing on Monday evenings I think too, put on by one or two NUFC academy coaches…

 

 

Edited June 30, 2022 by HTT II

[Guest HTT II]

On 22/06/2022 at 08:55, pinkeye said:

 

He was one of the kids, I think like HTT's lad, that seems to take as much delight in setting up someone to score with a great through ball or movement as he would in scoring himself.

When he first started playing, at the end of season presentations he won a ‘golden’ boot award as top scorer, I said to him next season see if you can win the top assist boot and him being a cheeky gobshite at the time he said I’ll try for both, he didn’t get top scorer the following season (the top scorer was the previous top assist), but he did get top assist which I was more chuffed with as were his coaches as he was very greedy starting out. This cycle he will probably end up with both. Sometimes it frustrates me mind because he can be through on goal and he can whack it with either foot and he’ll pass to a team-mate, which we usually score from which is all good. But as a striker when I was a kid, if you’re through on goal, shoot! I’ve told him be clinical, be cynical even when through on goal.