Overheard on Sideline...

[Unregistered]

Coach is wrong. If this is truly 8 or 9 yo you want them to develop that individual creativity, ball control and attacking mentality. On the girls side, this is very hard to develop at older ages. Passing and combining will come later.

[Unregistered]

Coach is wrong. If this is truly 8 or 9 yo you want them to develop that individual creativity, ball control and attacking mentality. On the girls side, this is very hard to develop at older ages. Passing and combining will come later.

I agree. U9 coaches should encourage risk-taking. I am so tired of coaches who think it is all about implementing their system.

[Unregistered]

Coach is wrong. If this is truly 8 or 9 yo you want them to develop that individual creativity, ball control and attacking mentality. On the girls side, this is very hard to develop at older ages. Passing and combining will come later.

Absolutely. And even if someone wants to debate that point, like those with the smug replies, without being witness and only going on the post, I'd argue the worst part of this is taking the kid out of the game, as well as speaking as if to reprimand. U10 IS ALL ABOUT MAKING MISTAKES and if you applaud a coach who is all about dealing with that negatively, good luck to your kid, because they're on their way to being part of that "not fun anymore" statistic.

If you think the proper action in a coachable moment, teaching a love for playing the game, developing skill and game intelligence on top of that, requires taking a kid out and speaking assertively to them as a response to a mistake, whether mistake is debatable or not, then I'm guessing you've done little more than written a check and made some noise from a lawn chair.

[Unregistered]

Absolutely. And even if someone wants to debate that point, like those with the smug replies, without being witness and only going on the post, I'd argue the worst part of this is taking the kid out of the game, as well as speaking as if to reprimand. U10 IS ALL ABOUT MAKING MISTAKES and if you applaud a coach who is all about dealing with that negatively, good luck to your kid, because they're on their way to being part of that "not fun anymore" statistic.

If you think the proper action in a coachable moment, teaching a love for playing the game, developing skill and game intelligence on top of that, requires taking a kid out and speaking assertively to them as a response to a mistake, whether mistake is debatable or not, then I'm guessing you've done little more than written a check and made some noise from a lawn chair.

so let me get this straight. All of you that disagree with this coach think it's OK for a kid to be a selfish player all in the name of creativity??? On the point of Messi. The best thing about Messi is that he knows when to pass. This is a team sport and can only be won by the team. Being able to dribble through a few kids is awesome, but not having someone coach him on when it's appropriate to pass the ball is a huge mistake.

[Unregistered]

No way Messi gets the ball taken away. That is the difference.

He has not the ball taken away because he did TRY to dribble by four players lost the ball
when he tried to beat the fifth but continued to try until he did beat everyone.
BTW I would the other poster what club I am with but I don't want him dragging his stupid
ass here.

[Unregistered]

An herein lies the exact reason that the US cannot produce creative players. Still looking for the first true US #10. We might get one yet from 2 youth players: Mukwele Akale u18 '97 or Christian Pulisic U17 MNT '98. Both those players were coached by there dad's who encouraged them to dribble to their hearts content through their early childhood. Now they are both very strong on the ball and can compete internationally. (google them)

Encourage little kids to dribble all the way up to u12 then bring in the tactics. Must be strong technically before a coach can successfully introduce tactics.

I think the pass the ball mentality at u10 is coming from parents of weaker kids. Tell your boy to win the ball and dribble to his hearts content. Get him the extra training that allows him to feel confident with the ball at his feet. Dribbling 3 kids at U9 should be celebrated. Jealous much.

[Unregistered]

It is not being selfish to try to dribble through people at U8 or U9. They do not have the capacity to think about combining, passing. Their whole world is really in about a 5 ft radius around them.
Again, on the girls side it is so hard to find players that are comfortable with the ball at their feet and are able to take payers on. Encourage this at the younger age groups, don't quelch it.

[Unregistered]

so let me get this straight. All of you that disagree with this coach think it's OK for a kid to be a selfish player all in the name of creativity??? On the point of Messi. The best thing about Messi is that he knows when to pass. This is a team sport and can only be won by the team. Being able to dribble through a few kids is awesome, but not having someone coach him on when it's appropriate to pass the ball is a huge mistake.

Injecting Messi into this discussion is a red herring at best, ignorant otherwise.

At 8 or 9, which is the discussion, that a kid tried to take on player after player is great. That a kid didn't have the vision to avoid dribbling into a 1v2 or not execute a move to beat yet another player or see other options. For what it's worth, we're assuming the account is correct, that the coach is correct, and that players were actually there -- again, the "mistake" made by the 1st attacking in this illustration is debatable in circumstance or spirit. Even if you assume the kid made a glaring mistake, had options, had time and space to connect and dribbled head down into 2 defenders, those details have nothing to do with the coach's actions more suitable had the kid shown disrespect to the ref, the opponent or a teammate.

If anyone thinks, as the coach does, that subbing the kid out and asserting what the kid shouldn't do is going to result in the kid doing what they should do, you're ignorant. Plain and simple. Does that mean you won't plenty of parents who agree? No. I've seen plenty of coaches at U10, exceptions, but plenty, who engage in behavior that would otherwise have DCF open an investigation, and parents are paying thousands for the pleasure of watching their kids "develop" in that environment. That doesn't make it right. And oh by the way, you might find a handful of lunatics who call themselves coaches agree with this, but the best of the best are among the vast majority who won't.

[Unregistered]

Coach speaking to 8 or 9 yo in an assertive voice: "Do you know why I took you out of the game? Do you? You dribbled by 3 players, and then you try to go by the fourth and he takes the ball off you. We have six players on the field--they all play soccer!! You've got to pass the ball!! Either you play the way we teach you or you're gonna sit on that bench a long time."

Somehow I doubt Messi's U10 coach ever yelled at him for chosing to take on players. The proper instruction is to tell the kid it was great that he took on players, but each time he takes on the next player his chances of losing the ball increase, which means his team loses the chance to score a goal. In the future, when he takes on one player he should then be looking at his options. Should I keep the ball or would passing be a better choice?

[Unregistered]

It is not being selfish to try to dribble through people at U8 or U9. They do not have the capacity to think about combining, passing. Their whole world is really in about a 5 ft radius around them.
Again, on the girls side it is so hard to find players that are comfortable with the ball at their feet and are able to take payers on. Encourage this at the younger age groups, don't quelch it.

Thus the problems with parents like you coaching soccer. It's all about the win and getting the kid to score so you look good as a coach. The best teams out there at all levels pass the ball. That's how you open up the best opportunities to score, not with one player taking on an entire team. Thanks God you aren't my kid's coach.

[Unregistered]

It is not being selfish to try to dribble through people at U8 or U9. They do not have the capacity to think about combining, passing. Their whole world is really in about a 5 ft radius around them.
Again, on the girls side it is so hard to find players that are comfortable with the ball at their feet and are able to take payers on. Encourage this at the younger age groups, don't quelch it.

I disagree. I have seen U6s that understood when to pass and when to dribble. I actually have seen one perform a perfect drop pass to the only open player on the field. Blew the doors off the adults watching.

[Unregistered]

And on any given weekend you'll hear no shortage of "handball!" and "offsides!" and "Oooh! Ahhh! Nice!" as a youngster demonstrates all-world kickball ability.

Keep writing those checks though! LOL

[Unregistered]

You misunderstand. Its not so much about scoring but being comfortable with the ball at your feet and being able to go at people. There are very few girls who have this ability. Very difficult to teach at older age groups. This needs to be encouraged at the younger ages. Who cares about the score at u8 or u9.

[Unregistered]

Any town coach that's gone through an insignificant amount of licensing with USSF or NSCAA has come across the session topic "when to dribble, when to pass" ...never mind a club coach.

The desire by a 9 year old to beat players 1v1 should be encouraged, developing that ability should be the reason why the parent is writing the check, the cognitive ability to develop vision and awareness to make better tactical choices takes time. If this coach is going to pull a player off the field for tactical choices he doesn't like, he's going to have players that hate playing, for him or altogether.

[Unregistered]

I disagree. I have seen U6s that understood when to pass and when to dribble. I actually have seen one perform a perfect drop pass to the only open player on the field. Blew the doors off the adults watching.

That's right. And there are U15s and older who don't. There are always outliers, early and late bloomers. Citing them is a logical fallacy.

This is one of the dumbest threads I recall ever reading on TS...and that's saying something.

Coach is a jackass.