The hardest guideline for a child to grasp in the game of soccer is “off sides”. Off sides can be explained to a child in a variety of ways, however, the easiest way to teach off sides all depends on the children’s age. Between 3 and 9, the fastest way to teach the concept of off sides is to explain that if the player is without a ball, that player should never be between the last defensive player and the opposing goaltender. Some younger leagues have chosen to ignore this rule to save playing time, but if it is not taught early, it will be a hard habit to break later on. If your league has chosen to enforce off sides then make sure each practice session includes an off sides drill because children struggle daily with area awareness.

As with any game, the most important rule when dealing with children is to make sure they have fun. As adults, we sometimes forget that rules governing games and quite frankly life, are often viewed by children as nothing more than guidelines. This can make an otherwise fun and exciting game, much more taxing on the adults who are trying to teach the youngsters how to play. Remembering this simple fact, can make a game practice session literally stress free.

The Original Post is Located Here: Soccer Rules for Kids

For example, if they lose their soccer game, try not to not get upset over it, or let them dwell on it. It is part of life, so try to use the loss as a stepping stone to teach them what they can do to get better. Let the loss be a motivator for them to become a better soccer player. These mistakes are great opportunities to learn from and it’s important that they understand losses are OK. They just need to pick themselves up, brush off, and get ready for the next game. Eventually, as they continue to learn what from each and every mistake, these losses will turn into a positive and they will not only become better soccer players, but also be better equipped for life.

Failure is never final. As Benjamin Franklin once said, “I didn’t fail the test, I just found 100 ways to do it wrong.” As you can see even the brightest of people experience failure. Thankfully Benjamin Franklin never stopped when he experienced failure. He persevered and never gave up which is exactly what kids need to learn to do. Teach the attitude of Benjamin Franklin and find the positive in each mistake.

Letting kids be hard on themselves will only make it worse. If they take 100 shots on goal and miss all 100 of them, encourage them to shoot again. The number rule in coping with failure is: NEVER ALLOW FAILURE TO GET IN YOUR WAY OF SUCCEEDING. This comes back to the simple fact that failure is never final. Failure is easy to overcome it just takes time and hard work.

The Original Post is Located Here: Turn Failure Into Success

Sports are about far more than having fun, even though fun should always be the prime directive. Studies have also shown that overachieving adults, striving to live vicariously through their kids, can do tremendous damage. Rather, a sport should be enjoyed for its innate joy, and the lessons learned should be an added benefit.

Soccer, for example, is a fun to play sport whose popularity continues to grow worldwide. There is good reason for that. It is a team affair, where the players can learn about gamesmanship and sacrifice in the context of a game. Team sports are very good tools for teaching the importance of working well with others.

Soccer also has clearly defined goals, literally, and clearly defined ways of achieving those goals. This teaches children the importance of having defined parameters and pursuits in life. Of course, creating confidence goes right along with setting and then achieving simple, straightforward goals.

Sports also offer every child a chance to achieve, and maintain, a healthy level of physical fitness. As much of the world is slowly succumbing to diseases related to poor diet and obesity, an activity like soccer will keep kids very active for extended periods of time, creating a healthy lifestyle as another added benefit.

And sports can instill a love of learning, in a different fashion than that of traditional classroom settings. A good coach teaches players the importance of having a plan, and then how to enact that plan. That is the essence of any model of success in later life. Creating confidence in children prepares them for future successes.

Again, creating confidence in the kids should be the goal of any parent or guardian. And one of the best way to do so will be through actual activities that can provide an arena of how winning, and just as importantly, losing, work in the real world. Real confidence is earned, and sports programs provide the necessary environment for that experience to play out.

The Original Post is Located Here: Youth Sports and Creating Confidence

Soccer for very young children has several benefits. There is a lot of running back and forth, so you can bet that your children will get a lot of exercise. While there is no doubt you love your children, they can be a handful sometimes. Enrolling them in a soccer class will get them off your hands for two hours.

Soccer will also help your kids develop leg coordination and reflex. They will learn how to time their movements with the ball. More importantly, it helps them build social skills like teamwork and effective communication. Best of all, they will learn a thing or two about sportsmanship. Teach your children about encouraging their fellow players, and not to berate them when they make a bad play.

Sometimes a tournament will be held. This is a chance for children to engage in friendly competition. If their team wins, that is great as it will boost their self-confidence. If their team loses, that is even better because they will learn that winning isn’t everything. By learning these skills at a young age, they will carry it over with them in their school and social life. Studies have also shown that children who become active in sports at a young age will more likely remain physically active as they get older.

Soccer for very young children is becoming an ever more popular past time for them to engage in. Soccer is offered in most recreational facilities with a certified coach. If none is available in your city, have your child play in the backyard with friends. Having them play soccer in a team environment sure beats the heck out of having them stay in their rooms and play video games all day long.

The Original Post is Located Here: Soccer for Very Young Children

A coach expects the team’s attention and cooperation during practices and especially during games. Some kids do have difficulty following the coach’s instruction and should understand that the coach is dedicating his/her time to them and that they should follow their instructions. Positive discipline along with instruction on how to behave while under the direction and supervision of the coach should be reinforced by the child’s parents or guardian.

Having children understand that when they join a team or league they have an obligation and a commitment to participate in directed activities. Children should also understand that when they become disorderly on a soccer team the whole team suffers when the training is disrupted because of their conduct. Positive discipline by a coach could include a team meeting and a discussion about the effects of disruptive behavior and lack of cooperation of individuals and as a team. Expectation on children in a team environment and in personal matters makes perfect sense, and when the situation calls for it the use of positive discipline in a way that educates the child and leaves them encourage with their dignity intact.

Good conduct should be rewarded as should good ability, which is why kids’ soccer is such an important sport. Soccer is a team sport and is a great opportunity to instill good sportsmanship qualities early in a child’s life, sportsmanship is a lesson that they will hopefully never forget. Kids’ soccer is also an opportune venue to show children that winning and competition isn’t what is most important. Sometimes through positive discipline children learn that winning isn’t everything, but it’s really about having fun.

The Original Post is Located Here: Providing Positive Discipline

First, make sure your child knows the proper rules to the game of soccer. This means no intentional kicks when running, pushing when guarded, shoving when angry and absolutely no hitting another player. If your child knows this and keeps their hands to themselves, they will be more likely to have hands kept off them as well. As soccer is an exciting game, tempers can flare between parents and within the teams, so a hand off policy is best kept strong.

Another way to ensure your child’s safety is being present. It is very important for parent’s eyes to always be on the child, as kidnapping or assault can usually only happen outside a parent’s vision. If there isn’t a parent or guardian available, be sure to know the team coach, other parents or hire a nanny. Your child’s safety is the most important thing, but watching is also important for child development, as well.

The best way to keep your child safe while playing soccer is to use proper safety gear. Cleats provide deep grind into the dirt, keeping ankles safe from rolling and give a great start to a fast run. Shin guards keep legs from being broken or hurt when accidentally kicked. Also, a well chosen uniform can make sure clothes fit well so your little player doesn’t trip or fall because of loose clothing. Mouth guards can also be used by smaller players, as these protect mouth, teeth and gums from cuts and tooth loss.

Stretching is a great way to prevent injury when your child plays soccer. Warming muscles up before using them, loosens them out and prevents strain, tearing and breakage. Be sure to allow plenty of time for your child to stretch, jog lightly and even have a cup of water and a little snack.

The best ways to keep your child safe when playing soccer include keeping their hands to themselves. It is also important to make sure you are present and watching at all times. Also, using protective gear, stretching before the game and having a light snack will also aid in having the safest game possible.

The Original Post is Located Here: Soccer Safety for Kids

Ideas for Practice and Drills:

1. Cone dribbling. You know how important it is to improve the dribbling skills of your players. A team that is filled with players that know how to dribble well will have many more scoring opportunities and have a much easier time regaining possession of the ball. With this drill, you will line up cones in a straight line from the mid-field line to the goal area line. The cones should be about 5 feet apart. Have the team line up at the first cone, the one near the mid-field line. Taking turns, have each player dribble a soccer ball around each of the cones. When the player gets to the goal area line, he will take a shot on goal. You can do about 3-4 rounds of this practice.
2. Following up on shots. In this drill, have the team line up again at the mid-field line. One by one, each player will dribble the ball down to the goal area and take a shot on goal. The goalie’s job is not to catch the ball. Instead, tell him to just deflect the ball back into play. The player taking the shot will then chase down the deflected shot and quickly take another shot on goal. The point of this drill is to emphasize the importance of following up on all shots taken.
3. Scrimmage. This is by far one of the favorite drills for players. In a scrimmage drill, you are playing a “practice game.” Now, there are two ways to do this. If you have enough players, you can split them up and play half the team against the other half. Just be sure to divide the team so that the talent level is somewhat even on each side. The other way to play a scrimmage is to have a players vs. parents game. Kids love this! Parents will be surprised at how tiring it can be to play soccer for more than a few minutes and get a better appreciation of what’s physically involved in playing a game. Kids really get a kick out of seeing their parents play, no pun intended of course.

When it comes to soccer and kids, the best ideas for practice are drills that are fun and that improve on soccer skill techniques. Be sure that whichever drills you do use, to change it up every once in a while. Kids get bored with the same drills and practices.

The Original Post is Located Here: Ideas for Practice

Soccer Positions For Kids:

1. The goalkeeper. Also knows as the “goalie,” this is the only position when you are able to use your hands while in the field of play. The goalkeeper’s main job is to prevent the other team from getting the soccer ball passed him and into the goal. Another job if you are the goalie is to help direct your team when you have the ball. What this means is that if you stop the other team from scoring and now see your forwards running up the sidelines, you can kick or throw the ball to whoever is open in order to try and get a quick goal. As a goalie, you are also able to control the pace of the game because you are able to pick up the ball and take your time putting it back into play.
2. Forwards. The priority of forwards is to use passing and dribbling skills in order to get into the best position to take shots on goal. As a forward, you get a lot of the attention because you tend to score the most goals. However, keep in mind that some of the best forwards do much more passing then scoring. If you are a forward, you also need to do extra practice with free kicks because forwards take most of these shots and many time these shots are close enough to have a chance to get into the goal.
3. Defenders. Having a strong defense is the key to winning lots of soccer matches. As a defender, your most important priority is protecting your goal. You do this by not letting the opposing team’s forwards and mid-fielders get passed you in order to take shots on goal. It is more important for you to clear the ball out of the defensive zone then it is to dribble up the field.
4. Mid-fielders. This position is optional among soccer teams consisting of younger players. Mid-fielders are a hybrid in that they act as both a forward and a defender, and if you are a mid-fielder, your position will be between your line of forwards and defenders. Because your responsibilities are much wider than other positions, you will also have the freedom of moving around the field much more as well.

You need to understand all of the soccer positions for kids in order to see which position best suits your personality and skill level. Everyone wants to be a forward at first. But you may find that being a goalie, defender or mid-fielder is much better for you.

The Original Post is Located Here: Soccer Positions for Kids

One very important thing for any successful person to know is the art of setting goals. Clearly, some sports can teach this well, as goals can be clearly defined and then met. Soccer is one such sport. On a literal level, what are required are physical goals, two of them, and the goal itself is the goal of the players.

A good soccer coach will have the ability to relate the fact that said goals can be both literal as well as symbolic. The best way to meet an aim is to have it clearly defined at the beginning. Whether this is, say, earning a particular grade in school, or earning a particular amount on a job, or even walking a certain amount of miles in a set time, clearly defined ends are highly desirable.

Perhaps for a soccer team this could relate to one extra point per game. Here is where the real life lessons come in to play. To get that one point the team must then work as a whole. They must decide where their strengths and weaknesses are, and use them accordingly. Mind you, in sport this is often never really expressed in such ways, it just happens.

But the ability to express the workings of a team is the way to instill the concepts behind setting goals. You have one, now what is the best way to go about reaching it? How can we reach it quickly? How can we reach it safely? How can we do this fairly?

All of these questions are valid in soccer matches, as well as in the duties of school or work. Children stand a much better chance of becoming a successful citizen if they have had the chance to see pragmatic and possible goal setting in their recreational life. Having fun can have a great impact on the character of kids, and sport, at its best, provides this opportunity.

Goal setting is a very valuable tool in any endeavor. Teaching this trait can be made easier if the goals are literal at first. For the younger ones, this may be the only way that the concept can be understood. Over time, and after some success, the art and impact of goal setting can come to light through something as simple as soccer.

The Original Post is Located Here: Setting Goals Through Soccer

When it comes to soccer training for kids, you can’t go wrong by focusing on basic skills. As coaches know and players sometimes forget, soccer isn’t just about scoring goals. Goals do get most of the attention, but there are many other aspects of the sport of soccer that are equally important. Soccer isn’t solely a sport to play and have fun with. It’s also a way to share and teach life lessons to young people, lessons that can be used far away from the soccer field.

Effective soccer training for kids allows you as a coach to teach them the concepts of leadership and teamwork. The ability to pass properly doesn’t come naturally for most kids. At first, they will try their hardest to run down the field and try to score, even though they might have three defenders on them and one of their teammates open and in a perfect position to take a shot. Passing the ball is all about teamwork. Soccer training drills that focus on this will not just teach players to be better passers, but also better teammates. When you are training kids on passing, the importance and benefits of working together should be emphasized.

Soccer training for kids should also consist of hard work and discipline. Drills involving running and taking accurate shots can be used to teach kids about the importance of practicing hard. Most coaches may only do shooting drills for 10-15 minutes. But is this enough? To be the best, you’ve got to train harder and longer than everyone else. Too many kids expect to succeed without putting in the effort to make it happen. Maybe it’s the media or society’s views on being successful without doing work.

Drills that combine running and shooting accuracy teach players to still maintain a high level of play despite not feeling at their best. It’s easy for a player to take free kick from just outside of the goal area and score a goal. But take that same player, have him run around the soccer field twice, and then have him take that same free kick. Will he be tired? Yes. Will it affect the accuracy and strength of his shot? Yes. Is this closer to a game-type situation? Yes. But being able to still take an accurate and strong shot even when physically exhausted can drastically make a difference during a game.

Soccer training for kids happens on many levels. On the surface, they simply help players improve on their soccer skills. But at a deeper level, training your young players can teach them many lessons that can be used for the rest of their lives.

The Original Post is Located Here: Soccer Training for Kids