BIG ANNOUNCEMENT!

Coaches, months of hard work, long development hours, and constant refinement have paid off. What better time to open the doors than World Cup time?

I’d like to announce the grand opening of the Youth Soccer Coach site! This new site has been a labor of love for this beautiful game and aspiring soccer coaches around the world. This new site is a membership site where coaches can join to download coaching information that is much more detailed than what you might have seen in the past, and all applicable files can be edited to make them your own!

Yes, it’s true. No other website I’ve seen is offering information like this! You can edit the files and put your club or team logo on them, change the terminology to match your own, and modify them any way you see fit.

Many of the soccer formation diagrams we are famous for now have multiple versions of each diagram included, and up to 4, 5, and 6 or more pages of description, strategy recommendations, variation discussion, and more.

If you’ve seen what is available at the Coach Mark Soccer Club website, you’re going to be blown away by what you see at the new site!

We’ve got soccer player evaluation forms with 160 categories of skills and personality traits to assess. We’ve got over 130 of the best training, conditioning, skill development and technique videos to be seen anywhere on the Internet. Soccer information for coaches, players, parents and team managers are all available. I promise you’ve never seen anything like this before.

Please visit the Youth Soccer Coach site now and receive introductory pricing that won’t last for long. Join the site before the Fall price increase!

(Dedicated) To your soccer success,

Coach Mark

So, how does a youth soccer coach keep the players happy, engaged, and interested in “practicing” soccer? I think it is through the use of “games”, not “drills”. I never call them drills until the kids are at the U13 age or older. Younger players want to “play games”, not “run drills”.

If there is a competitive element to these games, that’s all the better. Many young players are already developing a competitive edge. So, use that and keep them engaged in the practice.

One of the oldest, but still tried and true practice “games” is Sharks and Minnows. It goes by many other names, but the concept remains sound. My absolute favorite practice game for the younger ages (and some later ages) is “Sharks and Minnows” – watch this video -

That video does a great job of explaining it. This game is called by many other names, but the concept is the same.  Keep the rules simpler than those described in the video for 9 year olds and younger. Start with one or two sharks. As he/she kicks the other player’s balls out of the circle or square (you can build one with cones or use the center circle like the video), each of those players then become sharks until only one or two minnows are left. That’s it, keep it simple.

This “game” teaches them 1) ball handling skills, 2) defensive positioning, 3) shielding the ball, 4) short burst movements and 5) lower body control. It’s a perfect “fun” game in a lot of ways, that teaches excellent ball handling and other useful skills without the players even knowing that they are learning something. It all appears just “fun” to them. And they learn some great techniques at the same time!

To your soccer success,

Coach Mark