The coaching blog

Notes from the touchline

Short, practical pieces for anyone coaching kids: what to do on Tuesday, what to say on Saturday and what to stop worrying about entirely.

All posts 60 Club life 4 Coaching 10 Development 12 Goalkeeping 4 Match day 10 Parents 7 Sessions 13
ParentsThe nervous one: helping an anxious child actually enjoy match day
Parents21 July 20262 min

The nervous one: helping an anxious child actually enjoy match day

The stomach aches on Saturday morning, the quiet car, the child who plays brilliantly at training and hides in matches. What pre-game nerves really are and how adults can shrink them.

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ParentsThe parent meeting you should hold in week one
Parents19 July 20263 min

The parent meeting you should hold in week one

Twenty minutes in September saves you twenty conversations in February. What to say, in what order, and the one promise you should never make.

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ParentsThe touchline shouter: handling the parent who coaches from the side
Parents15 April 20262 min

The touchline shouter: handling the parent who coaches from the side

Shoot! Get rid! Pass it! Three adults yelling three instructions at one eight-year-old. Why sideline coaching hurts even when it is right, and how to fix it without a war.

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ParentsThe car ride home: the most important twenty minutes in youth football
Parents18 March 20262 min

The car ride home: the most important twenty minutes in youth football

More children are lost to football in the car after the match than on any pitch. What the research and the pros keep saying, and the six words that change the journey.

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ParentsThe team WhatsApp group: five rules that keep it useful
Parents3 December 20252 min

The team WhatsApp group: five rules that keep it useful

It starts as a way to say training is cancelled and becomes forty messages about a photograph. Some structure, set in September, keeps it doing its job.

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ParentsThe parent who is certain their child is a striker
Parents19 November 20253 min

The parent who is certain their child is a striker

It is one of the four conversations every youth coach has. It goes much better if you know what is actually being asked.

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ParentsHow to ask parents for help without begging
Parents5 November 20252 min

How to ask parents for help without begging

Every coach ends up doing the kit, the pitch, the subs, the fixtures and the tournament entry. The parents are not unwilling - they are unasked, and vague requests get vague results.

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