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
DevelopmentThe four game moments, without confusing an eleven-year-old
Development24 July 20263 min

The four game moments, without confusing an eleven-year-old

In possession, out of possession and the two transitions. A useful map of football - as long as you never say those words out loud to a child.

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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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SessionsHow to run a rondo that teaches something
Sessions14 July 20264 min

How to run a rondo that teaches something

Most rondos are a warm-up with a ball in the middle. Here is how to turn the same circle into the best fifteen minutes of your session.

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Match dayPenalty shootouts with kids: drama, tears and how to train for both
Match day11 July 20262 min

Penalty shootouts with kids: drama, tears and how to train for both

Sooner or later a tournament ends in penalties and a ten-year-old walks eighty metres alone. How to prepare young players for shootouts - technically, and for the feelings.

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SessionsSmall-sided games beat drills, and it is not close
Sessions9 July 20264 min

Small-sided games beat drills, and it is not close

Four against four gives a child five times the touches of a queue-based drill and forces a decision with every one of them. What the numbers look like, and how to run them well.

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Match dayPlaying time is not a reward
Match day4 July 20263 min

Playing time is not a reward

The kid who needs the minutes most is the kid getting the fewest. A look at why fair rotation is a development decision, not a kindness, and how to build one nobody argues with.

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CoachingWhy the best youth coaches talk less
Coaching29 June 20263 min

Why the best youth coaches talk less

Coaching feels like talking. It mostly is not. What happens when you cut your instructions in half, and the four questions worth more than any lecture.

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CoachingDoes a youth team need a captain? Yes - about fifteen of them
Coaching26 June 20262 min

Does a youth team need a captain? Yes - about fifteen of them

The armband usually goes to the best player or the loudest voice, and stays there for years. What captaincy is actually for at youth level, and the case for rotating it through everyone.

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