Coaching

I'm currently coaching my three sons' soccer teams. Yes, all three. Apparently when you sign up your kids for soccer, you can check a box that says "I'm already coaching another team" which prevents a situation such as mine from happening! But, all in all, it's been fun and if I had to choose between watching the game or being involved somehow, I like the opportunity to be involved.

My oldest son plays U9 and this is the most advanced form of soccer for our family yet. Soccer up until this age- and sometimes still with this age- resembles a bit of blob ball, where a blob of kids just pushes the ball up and down the field. Hard to coach and sometimes even harder to watch! But at the U9 level, it's on. We play on bigger fields, have goalies, have referees, and 25 minutes halves which makes for a 50 minute game. There's a host of soccer etiquette and rules that I've been breaking (such as not having my subs come to the halfline and myself going onto the field to coach which are both apparently no-nos!) but it's been a fun experience and one that's taught me some real life lessons:

• It helps to listen to the coach- I know, this one is a duh and a bit biased since I am the coach, but generally speaking, you're better off listening to me when I say something like "throw it to the sideline" (as opposed to in the middle so that their other team's Pele can jump in and score another goal!). Whether it's a mentor, a boss, a friend, or even a book or passage of scripture, we're better off when we listen to a coach.


• It helps to have a co-coach- my knowledge of soccer is pretty limited- every game it seems like I am learning something that I should or shouldn't be doing! My co-coach has a much better understanding of the game and helps to get the players where they need to be, who's going to be subbing in for who, how they should be passing as well as spacing, etc. I manage the game, call for the subs, and do a whole lot of yelling (I mean, encourgagement!). We work very well together and I think if you find yourself in a coaching role, having a co-coach is always a good thing.


• It helps to practice- games are fun, and even more fun when you win, but games also give you an opportunity to know what things aren't going well and to work on those things in practice. Some things the team needs to practice and some things individual players need to practice. Of course, all the practice in the world doesn't mean anything if you don't have a game to test the practice out on.