Anyone doing any coaching?

  • Thread starter Thread starter DGB454
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I am on my 3rd year of coaching youth Rocket football for my sons team. We practice 5 nights per week for 2 hours for the first 3 weeks then slow to 3 nights per week 2 hours a night and a game on Saturdays.

The team this year looks great. We have a lot of returners from last year so we have plenty of experienced players. My son is playing center on offense and end on defense. Both are new positions for him this season. He is doing great at both.

Anyway, I was wondering if anyone else on here is a coach for any other youth sport. Did you enjoy the experience? Any tips?
What did you like best about coaching? What did you dislike most? Would you do it again?



Personally I love doing it. I love spending the time with the kids.(especially my son) I get a chance to meet alot of the kids my son hangs out with at school plus I get to meet mosst of their parents. The worse thing about it for me though is the nervous stomach I get before games.

Anyone else?
 
Originally posted by DGB454

Anyone else?

No - I'm afraid of kids - but I used to love playing - I did juniors baseball from age six through high school (age 17 or so). Kudos to you for coaching, and being enthusiastic about it. 👍
 
I was an assistant wrestling coach for 1 year. That is a rough sport but lots of fun. Do you have a son in wrestling? I did for that year I coached. He did pretty good. His first meet he won the bronze for his weight class. Are you coaching free style wrestling?
 
My dad didn't coach but he did referee a few times when the official referee didn't show up. Funnily, of the games he coached (2) we killed the opposition something like 99-0 the first time and 95-3 the second time. He had nothing to do with that, he even cheated for them trying to get them up the other side of the field.

We were just too good.
 
I've coached a little soccer. U-10's when my youngest son played. I was a back-up though.
I've also coached and been team "trainer" (patched up the injured) for my 5th son's Premier soccer team. I truly have enjoyed it. And I see the appeal that soccer has on the rest of the world. It is the only sport that I can watch on the TV and not be bored out of my mind. (I don't even care whose playing).

On an aside, I have finally convinced my 3rd son that he wasn't going to get any playing time if he continued to play soccer. He's a pretty good goalie, especially considering his size. (6'1", 275lb). But he's not fast enough anymore. But he was the one GK in the league that you would try to run over, or tackle only one time before deciding that that wasn't such a good idea. :lol:

He finally gave in and decided to play football. Obviously, he's going to be a Lineman. And much to my suprise and pleasure, he likes it.
The selling point was: "Buddy, it's like this, Soccer may get you a little scholarship money. But with your size, strength, and the agility you've picked up from soccer, Football can mean a full-ride.
 
Originally posted by Gil


But he was the one GK in the league that you would try to run over, or tackle only one time before deciding that that wasn't such a good idea. :lol:


Who tackles a goalkeeper anyway?
 
Trust me, I have seen it done. One of the towns we play in Rec League would only use "hometown refs", that didn't/wouldn't call that crap on their hometown team. And, yes I realize that it's a "cardable" offense. But you wouldn't believe how many kids try it at the "Rec Level". At the Premier level it happens, but not as often.
Usually a forward/striker, that hopes the ref is looking elsewhere, will try to run "through" the GK in hopes of making him drop the ball.
I taught my son to plant his back leg and drop his shoulder when he had control of the ball.
I figure running into my boy's shoulder near full-tilt and taking that shoulder in the solar plexus will stop that foolishness pretty quick.
For the sliders, I've taught him to fall toward/on top of them with both elbows down. Imagine 270lbs. with pointy elbows landing in your gut and groin. Also, designed expressly to stop that sort of behavior.
I've seen one of the goalies on my younger son's team catch the ball with an elbow raised just at eye level. He isn't nearly as big as my 3rd, but he's also one you only try to run over one time.
 
Originally posted by Gil
Trust me, I have seen it done. One of the towns we play in Rec League would only use "hometown refs", that didn't/wouldn't call that crap on their hometown team. And, yes I realize that it's a "cardable" offense. But you wouldn't believe how many kids try it at the "Rec Level". At the Premier level it happens, but not as often.
Usually a forward/striker, that hopes the ref is looking elsewhere, will try to run "through" the GK in hopes of making him drop the ball.
I taught my son to plant his back leg and drop his shoulder when he had control of the ball.
I figure running into my boy's shoulder near full-tilt and taking that shoulder in the solar plexus will stop that foolishness pretty quick.
For the sliders, I've taught him to fall toward/on top of them with both elbows down. Imagine 270lbs. with pointy elbows landing in your gut and groin. Also, designed expressly to stop that sort of behavior.
I've seen one of the goalies on my younger son's team catch the ball with an elbow raised just at eye level. He isn't nearly as big as my 3rd, but he's also one you only try to run over one time.

Jeez, is that how the game's played over there?

Although I'm not really surprised. I like to think it's a lot more technical a game in most parts of Europe, not rough at all.
 
Originally posted by sn00pie
Jeez, is that how the game's played over there?

Although I'm not really surprised. I like to think it's a lot more technical a game in most parts of Europe, not rough at all.
Actually, at the premier level, soccer is much better to watch. The players are more skilled and know what it means to "play to space".
At the High School level. Things can get physical occasionally. i.e. "rubbing" and such.


The town I mentioned in the post above is a small farming town in Kansas, with kids that work on those farms. They get pretty big and pretty strong, and they play to those strengths.
Now my 5th son is 13 now and has played with kids up to 3 years older in the past. He's not big, (actually, he's tiny, finally broke over 100lb this year) but he has skills. And due to his lack of height when the big kids in the aforementioned town tried to roughhouse him, he'd just hold them off with a forearm on their waist or thigh. All the while they keep trying to elbow him off, and aiming well above his head.
One of them, a kid about 2-3 years older and much larger, got in his face, once. I don't even remember what he said. Nick's reply was, "How does it feel to be schooled by an 11-year old?" His older bro (the big one, former GK) had his back. But the kid was so blown away that he'd been shown up by a puny little 11 year old that he just kind of walked off.
 
I coached my sons first year of soccer. He was 6 I think.
It was a weird thing to watch. A whole group of kids bunched up around the ball moving up and down the field together and everyone kicking .
 
Originally posted by DGB454
I coached my sons first year of soccer. He was 6 I think.
It was a weird thing to watch. A whole group of kids bunched up around the ball moving up and down the field together and everyone kicking .

:lol: It's awesome! I coached some T-Ball back in the day.... Frankly, wasn't very good at any of the sports, didn't know the rules, and felt inadequate to coach anything after T-Ball, it was a lot of fun though.
 
I knew nothing about soccer when I coached but it didn't matter because nobody else did either. I just showed them which goal to get it in at the beginning of every game and let them go. I started out trying to teach them passing and proper kicking but after the first game I realized that at that age it was enough just to teach them what goal to go for. Weird thing was that we never lost a game.
 
Just an update mostly for me I think though. Our first game is on Saturday. My son in now the new kicker on the team besides the center and the defensive end. Man do I just love watching him play. All the kids are comming around and it seems like we have a pretty good team this year except for a few stragglers. We may just do pretty good this year. The first game is against a team that hasn't lost a game in 4 years. These guys are big, and well trained. They are the only team that holds tryouts for their team. All the other schools in the division usually struggle just to get enough young players to participate. If we lose I'm hoping it will still be a good game. I can't wait.
 
I was going to have to coach my brother's soccer practice two hours ago if the real coach didn't show. But he did. I'd be terrified of coaching kids; mostly being afraid of telling them something incorrect.
 
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