I actually spent more time refereeing last weekend than coaching. I’ve always enjoyed refereeing. Especially when I get to work with new referees. I can see why so many young referees quit. It takes a level confidence that most kids just don’t have naturally. Experience and success breeds confidence but we don’t give them a chance to develop confidence so we lose young referees who could be very good in the future.

I talked about this way back in episode 7 A Coach’s Role in Developing Young Referees.  If you’re a coach or parent I’d highly recommend that you get certified.  It’s a way to give back to the game and maybe help some young referees develop some confidence.

This week’s question is from John.

He’s working with a U12 recreational team this fall and has a mix of new and experienced players.

John asks:

“What advice do you have for the Recreational youth soccer coach at these older youth ages and what you can really be expected to accomplish in the short timeframe with pretty significant player turnover from fall season to spring season to fall season? I almost see my role now as making sure the kids have a fun safe experience, teach them some of the soccer concepts and give them ideas on how to improve on their own. Teach them about not giving up, how to work for your team mates, and how to give your best effort. I was just curious to hear what your thoughts would be about these issues and what you would consider to be the happy medium.”

Thanks for the question John.

I gave him some advice on specific sessions to address issues he was having. But I think there’s a larger question here.  How can you match your expectations with the abilities of your team?

This is important to the enjoyment and development of your players as well as your sanity. I talk more about it in this episode.

Today I look at the issue of diving and faking injuries to win free kicks. This is an issue at every level because our players emulate what they see the professionals do.Some say it’s just part of the game and that it happens in other sports but I think it’s a much greater problem in soccer and I talk about why. I’ll also share some ideas of how we can stamp it out and why it’s so important that we do.

Here are some examples of what I’m talking about:

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Next Week

Next week I’m going to look at zonal defending and how you can train your team to use it more effectively.