I am onto my second season coaching my son's soccer team and my third season as a youth coach overall. I doubt I am even near the top tier of coaches but I have learned a few things that have helped me out a ton! This is for a 6-8YO league but can be extrapolated for any age or sport I think.

Like It Or Not, You Are The Team Leader and Manager

Sure the league sends out emails (sometimes), and they manage the schedule (sometimes), and they decide when to cancel games but your team and really the parents will look to you for information.

Get a good text group going and keep your team abreast of updates, even if the league sends the information too.

Before or after your first practice, make sure to check-in with parents and make sure they are getting your texts. For kiddos with different family situations where different parent's will be attending different events, be sure to get the additional family members' information as league registrations often include only one adult's contact information.

I like to send an early-week email with reminders for practice and game times as a reminder but also as a simple way to keep everyone on the same page and to know that information will come through that channel. This way, parents know they can contact you if they need anything for the season.

Also, its your job to coordinate snacks, so don't forget about that.

If you want to go the extra mile, bring a tent/awning, blankets to sit on, and other comforts based on weather to make the players comfortable as they sit on the bench eagerly waiting their turn.

Equipment

I hate to even recommend this but it is a reality – the league will not always provide all the equipment you need. Be prepared to head to the sports store to get some odds an ends: scrimmage pinnies, cones, agility ladders, whistles, timers, etc.

You can certainly do without these things but having them will make your practices and games run much smoother if you aren't having to MacGyver a solution on the fly.

Have A Practice Plan

Some leagues provide pre-made practice plans but many do not. Spend 5-10 minutes before practice and before a game to jot down ideas on what to practice.

I typically like to align my practices this way:

• 10 minutes warmup (or waiting for everyone to arrive)
• 10 minutes drill
• 10 minutes fun game (sharks and minnows, red/green light, etc.)
• 10 minutes drill
• 10 minutes fun game
• 10 minutes scrimmage

All of those can be adjusted as necessary.

I usually jot down notes during games of what we as a team should work on at the next practice. Things like learning positions, passing, how to restart play after an out-of-bounds, shooting goals, goalie kicks after getting the ball, etc.

If you show up without a plan, its going to be chaos. Remember, failing to plan is planning to fail.

Also, be sure to tell the kiddos your plan at the start of practice so they know what to expect.

They Are Kids

At the end of the day, these are kids and in a league like hours with 6-8 year-olds, there is often significant difference in skills, abilities, and attention span in that range. Accept that some kids will barely be able to play the game, let alone work on a specific skill, while other kids will act like super stars sprinting all over the field and scoring the majority of the goals.

This is all ok but as a coach, you have to do your best to balance your team. Try not to put all the 8-year-olds in at the same time. Similarly, don't put all the little ones out there at once too. If a kid has had a stellar game already, consider changing up the rotation to put them in a position that they don't play as often.

At the end of the day, especially at this age range, the goal is for them to have fun, learn what they do and don't like in sports, and encourage them to keep trying to find what works for them.

If you have kids that are just rocking it, use them to help assist and coach the other kids – if they can do so with maturity.

Have A Planned Rotation

On game day, have a plan for how you will rotate kids even if not everyone shows up. Parent's are expecting equal play time, equal position coverage, equal ball time, and for their kid to score all the goals. It is impossible to meet all demands but we can get close.

I prioritize even playing time and even position distribution. I have a clipboard and paper so that I can track who is playing what position. If you want to be fancy, you could have a printout for this as well. Then each period, you can rotate kids in and out so that the full bench always comes in and everyone adjusts position. It can be chaotic when subs happen but after a few times, your team will start to listen as you call out names of who needs to go where.

In younger leagues, the positions are less important but as the kids get older and they grasp the concept, yelling out position/name pairs becomes easy and second nature.

Specifically, I write down the name of each kid as they show up at the field. Then just before game time I get the first period line up set – D, D, O, O, S, G: Defense, Defense, Offense, Offense, Striker, Goalie. Because we went through the positions at practice, the kiddos know where to go and what to do. Then the next period I shift that line up by the number of kids on the bench and do so until everyone has had some rest on the bench. Then you start over but adjust the lineup to G, S, D, D, O, O. This way you don't end up with the same players/positions the second time through.

Have Fun

Just like we tell the kids, the whole reason we are out here is to have fun. Yeah, you were probably guilt-tripped into coaching and you would rather just sit on the sideline and relax, but here we are.

Have fun with it. The kids look up to you and want you to lead them to glorious victory. Even if we don't win, being there for the kids, understanding that this might be the best part of their day or week, and letting them find their own way to love sports is worth all the effort.