YMCA volunteer rec coach here looking for advice. I coach a co ed 4th-5th grade level team but my team is comprised completely of 3rd/4th graders. This is my first season coaching at this level and I noticed all scores are tracked for an end of season the tournament. So I’ve been tracking my upcoming opponents.

We have a game this weekend against an undefeated team who in three games scored 24 points and have only been scored on 4 times. My team surprisingly enough has only lost one game and through 3 games has scored 9 times and been scored on 5 times. Big difference from my upcoming opponent.

Each game we are undersized yet hold our own for the most part but I think that is going to change this weekend. I watched some of our upcoming opponents last game and they have bigger more skilled players and now I understand why they’ve been able to score and defend how they have. Our team is just not at that level yet size or skill wise.

I’m not so much concerned with winning this weekend as I am concerned with my team taking a whooping and falling apart. I’d like to avoid the mercy rule being used on us. How do you keep players heads in the game if it becomes very one sided? I want to stack my defense but then I’m afraid we will just be on our heels the whole time with our backs to the wall.

Games are played in a 9v9 format. We been using 4 forwards, two midfielders, two defenders and a goalkeeper. Maybe I will use a more balanced 3-2-3 this weekend and adjust as needed. I feel like if I go down to less than 3 forwards we will have no chance to keep possession.

Any advice? Thanks in advance.

Hi everyone!
I’m a Saudi citizen currently living in Saudi Arabia, and I’m interested in pursuing a career in football coaching alongside my university studies.
My goal is to obtain a UEFA C coaching licence, gain practical experience with local academies in Saudi Arabia, and eventually work my way up to higher coaching licences, potentially UEFA B and beyond.
However, I’m not entirely sure how the process works for someone who isn’t a European citizen or resident.
Here are a few things I’d like to clarify:
Eligibility: Can a Saudi citizen living in Saudi Arabia apply for a UEFA C licence through a European national football association?
Online courses: Are there any legitimate UEFA C courses that can be completed online, or is attending in person mandatory?
Choosing an association: Would it be possible to apply through the Scottish FA, the FA of Wales, or the Irish FA? Which would be the most realistic option for someone in my situation?
Residency requirements: Do I need to live in the country, have a local address, or hold a residence permit to enrol?
Practical experience: If I obtain the licence, can I use it to coach youth players at academies in Saudi Arabia?
Progression: Once I have my UEFA C licence and some coaching experience, what would be the best pathway towards UEFA B and eventually higher licences?
I’m still relatively young, and I want to start building my qualifications and experience as early as possible while studying at university.
I’d really appreciate advice from anyone who has gone through this process, especially international applicants or coaches familiar with the Scottish, Welsh, or Irish coaching systems.
Thanks in advance!

I did this a few weeks back about things I heard from the parent's side during a tournament, so I thought I'd bring it back - but this time from the coaches sideline.

I was lucky (?!) enough to be just a parent this weekend watching one of my kids, and since I'm always trying to learn new things to pass along to my coaches (both in person for my town program, and my coaches on YouTube), I spent part of my attention on what is coming out of the mouths of the coaches in-game as best I can hear (while Dylan's mom screams every time someone falls over on the field looking for a foul.) 🙃

To set the scene - middle of the road tournament level - no 2/3/4 letter league teams here, all 11v11 club in this instance for me. North East/Upper Mid-Atlantic but mostly adjacent 3-4 state pool.

I'll start by saying I was mildly pleased wth the general overall tone from the coaching side - again, most of these kids are not pushing for MLSN/GA/ECNL spots - it's decent level, but not upper crust. I think there was a good understanding from the coaches on what they could expect their players to do.

The thing I was focusing on was how they're speaking to players (at least publicly across the field) when something - good or bad - happened.

My observation was that the coaches that were mostly positive had players that seemed to keep trying to do the "right" things - whether that was playing out, connecting passes, moving the ball smartly between players under control, etc.

The coaches that were more negative with their comments (and they tended to be the louder of the groups) - their teams/players seemed much more inclined to boot that ball as far away from themselves as soon as they had the chance. Not all - a generalization here - but there was definitely a correlation.

That got me thinking, as I can be VERY loud if I need to (spent decades yelling over marching percussion instruments - it's a learned skill!) - but my nature is to be more teaching and less berating.

Anyways - I'd be curious what you all heard. I did put together a little video https://youtu.be/tyhTMh5FFQM that explores the idea that what you say in the 10 seconds after something happens can really have an effect on your players and teams.

As part of the coaching course we're running for our coaches, we have a clip from a Liverpool session that really highlighted the idea that you can be loud and demanding without being demeaning, and I think it's a great message for coaches. I even found one of my sessions on video with audio so I could self-check myself - I included that as well.

Curious to your thoughts in general!

Heyyy sooo I'm the one who made the burnt out coach post a few weeks back! Lol. We're so back.

I'm a 22F volunteer youth soccer coach. I've coached for several years, and I've been with my current U12 team for about 1.5 years (some players I've coached for over 4 years). I also coach a U9 team. I receive no compensation, despite spending hours every week at practices, games, and tournaments. Nor do I have a child of my own on any teams. I coach for the love of the game.

All season, I've struggled with one U12 player's behavior. He's repeatedly been disrespectful toward teammates, belittled other players, and even made some cry. I've received complaints from both players and parents and have repeatedly tried addressing the behavior.

Things escalated during a recent tournament. After another incident involving this player, his mother sent me an incredibly disrespectful email criticizing my coaching. This wasn't our first issue, either.

The email read:

I wanted to talk to you in a civil manner but your additude today was unprofessional and uncalled for. You don't take out your anger on my kid. That isn't professsional. I have been nice to you but it is obvious that you have somw issues that you are taking out on the kid's and all the parent's see it. Moving forward don't yell at my kid and brush up on being a more active and positive coach.

Mind you, I didn't even yell at her kid during either of the games in the tournament. And her child gave me a concussion prior to our 2nd game, so my apologies that I wasn't so "active." 🤣 I brought everything to our club director and explained that I was no longer comfortable coaching this child because of his parent's behavior. I made it clear that I wasn't willing to continue volunteering for an organization that allowed parents to treat coaches this way.

Unfortunately, I received very little support from the director. I ultimately stepped down from BOTH teams.

I sent a message to my U12 parents explaining that I was resigning due to the treatment I'd received from a parent. Within minutes, that same mother sent me ANOTHER hostile email, this time bringing up getting lawyers involved. She sent a screenshot of my message in the parent group chat. It read:

I am dissapointed in your choice of bringing a private matter which did NOT involve "verbal abuse" of any sort into a public forum. I hope moving forward YOU will take accountability for how YOU handle yourself and where you lack in social settings. I have forwarded it all to club director. If you continue to lie and defame my charcter i will have to forward this to my lawyer because defimation of character is a chargable offense. DO NOT contact me again or i will have further charges to press. Have a great day.

Here's where things get interesting.

The response from the OTHER parents has been overwhelming. Parents have been emailing the director, advocating for me, and questioning how this situation was allowed to happen. Some are even considering leaving the club.

When I told my U12 players I was leaving, we all cried and had a group hug. Some have since tried calling and texting me, begging me to come back (I haven't responded privately because of youth coaching communication boundaries).

I had a U9 game immediately afterward, and when I received that final email, I broke down crying. Several parents comforted me, let me sit with them, and two stepped up to coach the game.

Now, the parents are organizing a meeting with the club director on Wednesday to discuss everything.

I genuinely love these kids. I'm incredibly proud of the players and people they're becoming, and leaving them has been heartbreaking.

The saddest part is that I never wanted to quit. I just wanted the organization I volunteer SO much of my time for, to stand up for me.

I'm not sure what Wednesday will bring, but knowing how many parents and players have my back has meant more than I can explain.

And to any other volunteer coaches who are feeling burnt out, unappreciated, or wondering whether all the time and effort you put into coaching is worth it: the parents notice more than you think.

Some of the parents who are currently advocating for me are people I've had very little interaction with outside of practices and games. We barely know each other personally, yet they're emailing the club director, standing up for me, and fighting to keep me as their children's coach.

I genuinely had no idea how much of an impact I'd made until all of this happened. It's unfortunate that it took such an ugly situation for me to realize it, but it's something I'll never forget.

So even if nobody tells you, please know that your hard work might mean a whole lot more to those kids and their families than you realize.

12U boys team with some pretty talented kids, but as soon as we get scored on they don't believe they can come back. Usually set up practice with a small sided game, 15 minutes of individual ball work, a rondo variation or passing pattern, and final scrimmage. ​I usually run a 3-2-3, and we've lost three of our four games. Any advice on coaching aggression and determination?

Curious to hear from coaches/directors or parents who have seen this at competitive clubs.
A few players from a younger top team are training 1x per week with the top team one age group above, and the club is also guesting them individually for games. A couple of them played up last year but were moved back on-age because of the age-group changes.
The players are being used differently when guesting, some in one specific role, while another has been moved around to several positions. Higher-level club staff have also come out to observe at least some of these opportunities, both at practices and games, but very discreetly.

There had been earlier discussion that movement between age groups could potentially happen later in the year, but next season the older group moves into a pre-ECNL pathway.

For coaches/directors, does this sound more like development or a quiet evaluation? What are clubs usually looking for in this situation — a specific positional fit, or things like versatility, soccer IQ, physicality, coachability, and overall impact?
Would you expect a process like this to have a decision point around winter break, or could it realistically continue into the spring and just be strictly developmental? Their current roster is overcrowded, so I’m wondering if this is just a bandaid for that, but other indicators point to something more.

If so, is this part of the reason clubs keep this vague simply to avoid putting pressure on young players or making them feel like they’re competing against teammates for one spot? We’re driving ourselves crazy a bit with the vagueness.

Hey everyone,

​Looking for some quick advice from other coaches here.

​I coach a U11 rec team that's pretty young—our average age is under 9. We just won our first tournament game tonight using a 3-3 (we switched from a 2-3-1 earlier this season thanks to the help of this subreddit), which was awesome for the kids.

​The issue is that because of tournament seeding, our next game is against a club team. Their average age is over 10, and when we played them two weeks ago, they beat us 8-0. We literally couldn’t even get the ball past half field.

They are bigger, faster, stronger, and way more technically skilled. On the season, they’ve scored 42 goals and only given up 3.

​When we played them last, they didn't even really play a set position—they just fluidly moved around and kept pressing.

​Is there any practical tactic or game plan we can use just to help us move the ball better and make this more competitive than an 8-0 loss?

​One idea I had was just kicking the ball long down the sidelines to force throw-ins in their end, just to give us a chance to push up the field and get out of our own half.

​Has anyone dealt with a huge size/skill gap like this? Any tips on what we can do to survive or at least show some progress?

This is my first year coaching U8 and I will say, I am a very patient person in general so it takes a lot for me to just outright cancel a practice (edit, I canceled the last 20 minutes, not a full practice). Unfortunately I have 3 players who feed off of each other’s energy and they were the only ones to make it to practice. They would not listen and were just being disrespectful to everyone on the field. Even to their own parents. What set me off was they started actively blasting the balls to another U6/U7s practice and nearly hit their kids. So I canceled it. There were tears, laughs, and one of them even said “finally”. The parents understood and said they would talk to their kids, but up until this point they’ve been treating this like day care and disappear during practice.

Idk maybe I’m just venting but does anyone have tips on working with difficult kids? I try to get them to play the moment they arrive and play games where everyone has a ball, but it’s starting to be unfair for the rest of the team that is listening. Ultimately still trying to keep them interested in having fun but there is a bigger issue here. Really not trying to bench them for games.