When the persuasive Mick Doherty asked me to consider taking a role within the club in coaching players I decided to pick a group in which one of my own children was involved (for purely selfish reasons) and hence ended up coaching U6’s. Although my children have moved upwards (to better coaches fortunately) I am still coaching this particular age group.
With great enthusiasm at the start I bought the books “101 GREAT Youth Soccer Drills “and “Teaching the Skills of Soccer” to try to short circuit the learning process and make up for my own lack of knowledge as to how to coach kids most of whom are just starting school. However I learned more in a one day coaching course with Niall Harrison who is now the FAI Officer responsible for Emerging Talent about the important things in coaching young children than the books written by so called experts.
The simple truth about coaching this age group is that it is all about letting them enjoy themselves - nothing more nothing less. We practice a few basic drills over and over again - passing, trapping the ball, shooting, passing again, heading because soccer is basically a very simple game. The important thing at ages 4,5 and 6 is to encourage every child in his or her efforts.
OK - maybe they don’t always know which way they are supposed to be playing in a match or that they can’t just pick up the ball in the middle of a game and run off with it and really all 16 players shouldn’t be chasing the same ball at the same time but it’s great fun for them and it’s great to watch.
However we do have to impose some rules to keep law and order with 36 kids at a time and basically these are as follows:
1. Trips to toilet are limited to 1 each per night. Group travel to same place is often requested but strictly forbidden.
2. Count number of players coming in at 6 o’clock and recheck number going out at 7 o’clock. If a difference check in store room for missing bodies.
3. Pains in tummy tend to coincide with request’s to player to go into goals!
4. No one needs to be coached in how to celebrate a goal. The slide along the ground to adoring fans, the top pulled back over the head, the high 5 - they can do them all.
5. Say well done and call them by their name. We think the kids enjoy Monday nights 6 to 7.
For coaches it’s exhausting but rewarding. The best thing for me is to notice the improvement in the skills of a number players after they have been with us for a year or so. We don’t expect that all our 36 batch of kids will be great footballers. This is about giving them an opportunity to enjoy a sport and hopefully to develop a life long love of sport whether its soccer, gaelic, karate or swimming or whether it’s as an active participant or an observer. Sport is an international language and anywhere you travel in the world sport and particularly soccer will enable you to connect with other people.
Thank you to the parents for trusting their children to us each year. We know you could be (and probably are) bringing them 4 or 5 evenings a week to various activities and therefore we appreciate that you allow us as a Club the opportunity to work with them. While I have been involved with the U6’s from the start I am only part of a large number of coaches and parents who have contributed their time to the U6 group over the last few years. Thanks to Barry, Sean, Alan, Austin, Eugene, Paul, Mickey and , particularly this last two year’s, Carol who have all done trojan work. Thomas Kilfeather