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Coaching u10 side advice

Daniel Hoy

Hi All 

I have been coaching a side for roughly a year and its been a challenge, mostly with the mixed ability's, parents and my own expectations. i love it but im struggling to also find the balance of fair and firm and also probably my own expecations. the team as come along a lot but some due to different levels have not. this is where the balance comes in. ive been fair all season equal mins 99% of the time and this has worked some times but others not so much. we have lost close games due to me taking better lads off for lesser abilities, this is fine as its kids football however the lads who come off are getting annoyed and disheartened as they are winners and give there all and in most cases are seeing lads come on who arent as bothered dont put in as much effort and tend to hide from the ball or not run. i am worried the lads who put the effort it will look elsewhere. its the fair vs effort scenario. i am swaying to give more mins to anyone who at least gives me 100% effort i tell the boys effort is most important not skill and most get it. i know this wont be new but looking for advice on this. we have a good group all lads get on which is fantastic but i want to boys to progress also as most of the lads do too. we will be 9 a side next year and i will need a bigger squad too so i want to get the boys really firing this year. to finish im not hyper competitive i love coaching the boys and love seeing them grow i just dont want the group split that ive worked so gelling. maybe my expectations are part of the issue too. 

Parents

  • You touch on two points - ability and effort. Ability can be taught, effort is a state of mind. 

    In terms of ability, we set some of the boys at that age a summer challenge. We did a team session on ball work, which included some keepie ups. the ones who couldn't do them, we taught them how to start practising with structure (do one and catch it, then one on your weaker foot. Then do two on each, then one on each foot before catching, then three - you get the idea). Anyway - the ones who had poor ball control went from not being able to do 2 to doing 60+ over the summer as it got them practising in their own time. And by getting better at that, their touch got better, and then they put more effort in in training. 

    At that age, you'll always have kids who care more than others - and the ones who are stars now won't necessarily be in the future. one thought - have you done a survey with each player - why do you play, what do you enjoy in training and on match days, what area are you good at and what do you feel you want to improve, and do you have any worries about football? that sort of thing may also give you some insight into what you could do to help bring everyone together - we did that and found certain drills and structure to training that they loved so we would incorporate those a little more. Players felt more empowered and listened to and so tried harder too. 

    It's not easy though!

Reply

  • You touch on two points - ability and effort. Ability can be taught, effort is a state of mind. 

    In terms of ability, we set some of the boys at that age a summer challenge. We did a team session on ball work, which included some keepie ups. the ones who couldn't do them, we taught them how to start practising with structure (do one and catch it, then one on your weaker foot. Then do two on each, then one on each foot before catching, then three - you get the idea). Anyway - the ones who had poor ball control went from not being able to do 2 to doing 60+ over the summer as it got them practising in their own time. And by getting better at that, their touch got better, and then they put more effort in in training. 

    At that age, you'll always have kids who care more than others - and the ones who are stars now won't necessarily be in the future. one thought - have you done a survey with each player - why do you play, what do you enjoy in training and on match days, what area are you good at and what do you feel you want to improve, and do you have any worries about football? that sort of thing may also give you some insight into what you could do to help bring everyone together - we did that and found certain drills and structure to training that they loved so we would incorporate those a little more. Players felt more empowered and listened to and so tried harder too. 

    It's not easy though!

Children