Managing an Under 7's Football Team - Hints and Tips

Managing an Under 7's Football Team - Hints and Tips

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48Valves

1,926 posts

208 months

Wednesday 18th January 2017
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SpeckledJim said:
anniesdad said:
SpeckledJim said:
Agree. But don't give it for scoring a goal, or making a save.

Give it for that one moment in a match, however inconsequential it turned out to be, when a player did something simple that completely embodied whatever it was you were teaching them that week.

If it is a simple head-up, pick a pass, make it and move to give an option to get it back, then use that. Or a perfect block by a defender, or a well-timed run into the right area by a striker. Or just a dropped shoulder that sent someone the wrong way. Whatever.

Especially good if you've got a 10 second video clip you can show everyone so they understand what their mate did so well that he got a prize for it.
Absolutely.
I think ignoring the obvious (mega goal, mega save) and choosing to celebrate something a bit more esoteric / obscure / 'small' will also enhance your credibility as a coach in their eyes.

You want the lads thinking you see and understand absolutely everything, and believing you are some kind of Footballing God Made Flesh, so if you work in mysterious ways sometimes, that'll help!
Agreed again,

We've tended not to have a man of the match as such but always point out one positive thing each player has done during a game.

We do have a trainer of the day when we do a training session. This can be for the most effort, best listening or that they have done the best of what we've asked of them. As the previous poster mentioned, giving praise for a small but good thing shows them that you are watching what they have been doing.

We quite often give out multiple trainer of the days in one session if needed.

stevep944

327 posts

217 months

Wednesday 18th January 2017
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This is a great thread. Well done to everyone who gave positive suggestions and to the OP for cracking on with it.
Just shows what football should be about.

GloverMart

11,773 posts

214 months

Thursday 19th January 2017
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Going to be lazy here and copy-and-paste my post from the other thread, sorry JQ.

I'm the team secretary for an under-16's side here in Bristol and assistant manager of the team too. Can only echo a lot of what has already been posted on here.

My twins (16) have been at my club since the age of five and love it. At eleven, their coach at the time told them and two other lads, that they might struggle athletically with Division One football and it would be best if they maybe found another team. I agreed on the proviso that they remained with the team till the end of the season giving me time to organise an alternative. So for one season, my lads played Saturday football with four of their mates because the Saturday league, you only needed 1 7-a-side team, not two so you could manager with 7-8 players.

At the end of our first season, we reached the cup final where we were mullahed by the best side in the division. While we were waiting for our medals, I noticed a coach stood with 5 or 6 other kids. I half recognised him and wandered over; he said they were just telling the kids that their team was folding due to lack of numbers. I asked him for a quick word, the kids kicked a ball around for 20 minutes while we had a chat, and we agreed to set up a team; my six or seven lads, his five or six.

That first season in Div 2 on Sundays was bloody hard. Four points from 22 games, those four from the same team. Lost 17-8 one week, many times by double figures but we'd given a dozen kids the chance of football. We were bottom by a mile so took a double relegation from Div 2 to Div 4. The rebirth continued..

The kids started to enjoy themselves at the lower level and enjoyment brought confidence, brought results and we won Div 4 in our first season. In Div 3, we finished third then last season, won promotion again as runners-up. Happy kids, we now have 17-18 kids fighting for places every week in a positive, energetic environment. We are now back in Div 2 and it's hard but we've picked up seven points from ten games so far. Took the league leaders on last week and lost 6-4, missing a penalty and our keeper throwing three goals in....

Sometimes, it pays to take a step or two back in order to brush yourself down and move on. The best thing we ever did was to take a double relegation and regroup. Obviously doesn't work if you're in the bottom division but there you go.

Update - and now, we are six games away from the end of the season! Next year, we should be going into an under-18 league but with player getting part time jobs, exams, college and girlfriends etc, I'm not sure we will be continuing. Hopefully we will because I've got a good group of lads but if not, then so be it. The best piece of advice I could give is to enjoy it, JQ. They will be grouchy teenagers in no time at all and then life will be a different kettle of fish altogether.

Good luck Sir and well done for stepping up. Youth football needs more people like you.

JQ

Original Poster:

5,691 posts

178 months

Thursday 19th January 2017
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GloverMart said:
Stuff
Brilliant stuff, that's exactly what I'd be happy with - just want the kids to enjoy it. I'm certainly enjoying it at the moment and I'm sure tough times will come, a mate had to disband an U16 team this year due to many of the boys discovering girls and alcohol, so I certainly do intend to make the most of it.

mark2705

63 posts

114 months

Thursday 19th January 2017
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Well done !! I'm in my 4th season with my U14s now. Had some minor issues over the years, but the pro's far outweigh the cons !!

We still run a MOM trophy on matchday, but I get the parents to vote ... sometimes you get a draw on votes, in which case I make the call, and sometimes you get some curve ball nominations, but hey thats football !!

Once you've done your level 1, I strongly suggest going on to do the old youth modules which are now part 1 & 2 of the 'new' level 2. It really helped me and since completing the 3rd module, I've changed my training again and made another leap forward. For example, I now use a whiteboard at the start of a training session to set out the 'plan' with a Theme and Objective. I then refer back to the whiteboard to check understanding check whether we have achieved the objective etc. Since introducing the whiteboard, I find training sessions run smoother and all the kids understand the drill much quicker which ties into the way we all learn differently.

Other thing to look at is an app called www.hivelearning.com and look for FA groups (The FA Coaching Community). Its a bit like facebook, but the FA post training plans and ideas on there.

mfmman

2,362 posts

182 months

Saturday 21st January 2017
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JQ said:
GloverMart said:
Stuff
Brilliant stuff, that's exactly what I'd be happy with - just want the kids to enjoy it. I'm certainly enjoying it at the moment and I'm sure tough times will come, a mate had to disband an U16 team this year due to many of the boys discovering girls and alcohol, so I certainly do intend to make the most of it.
At least they waited till U16, the team one of my sons played for a while back has since apparently done the same at u14 eek

Agree with everything GloverMart has written. For various reasons one of my boys has been with four sides in four seasons and this year, playing in division 5 of 5 has been his most enjoyable. The football can still be a good standard despite the apparent lowliness, last time out they played the top of the table team beating them by four goals including one of the midfielders lobbing the goalie from inside the centre circle smile

On the subject of recognition, always look at effort as well. In a recent game, the main striker got MoM even though he didn't score in a 4-1 win. He spent the entire game chasing down the defenders and goalie, forcing them to kick the ball away which kept going to the wide players who could re-start the attacks. Noted by all parents and the managers as well


Edited by mfmman on Saturday 21st January 14:13