Tag: youth boys

Wilbur Avataria is a good soccer player. He’s been in touch with a dozen or so college coaches, visited a handful of those schools, and scored a stunning goal at Dallas Cup. Recruiting is moving along pretty well for him. But there’s one glaring exception: he has no idea how serious any of these coaches are about having him on their teams.

It was 35 years ago when Manfred “Manny” Schellscheidt became the first coach granted an “A” license by the U.S. Soccer Federation. He has since coached at every level of the U.S. men’s national team program and is now enjoying his role as technical director of U.S. Soccer’s U-14 boys development program.

Coaches spend an awful lot of time teaching tactics, often telling players, for instance, that they need to stay in their positions. But what’s sometimes lost is the fact that soccer is a free-flowing expression of how you want to see the game unfold.

While coaches do a lot of calling, players don’t have to wait around for the phone to ring. Instead, pick up the phone, shake the nervousness out of your fingers and make the call. But then what?

As a coach it is natural to have your “favorite” players. However, the positive and negative expectations you form about players on your team affects not only your own behavior toward them but also the feelings and performance of those players.

If college recruiting had a motto, it would be this: “What the [insert expletive of choice] am I supposed to be doing?” It’s a perfectly reasonable question to ask. Most players and their parents have never been through the process. Or maybe they bumped and scraped their way through it with an older sibling. The pressure mounts as they realize each player only has one chance to get it right.

In the 1980s, tournaments took on another focus. They became the main revenue stream for many clubs. Proceeds helped to build facilities, greased the wheels of local governments and business to support soccer by their financial impact on a community. The profits made even helped to create jobs within the clubs for administrators and coaches. Certainly many positive types of fallout from tournaments have aided in the growth of soccer in our nation.

It’s one of the most common screams heard on the youth soccer fields of America: “Pass it! Pass it! Pass it!” Unfortunately, parents and coaches often aim their shouts at young players who are at a stage of their development when they should be encouraged to dribble.

Clearly, coaching your son or daughter isn’t easy. If you are able to find an appropriate balance between encouragement and pressure, however, it can be a wonderfully rewarding experience.