The Junior & Youth Football Soccer Coach
22nd January 2011

What does a junior football coach do and how demanding on time and energy is running a youth football team?  

Most clubs are often looking for new people to get involved and become new coaches running new teams; it’s the only way for a club to be sustainable and viable. The difficulty is making the new coach understand that they can do the job and they do have the time. Many youth football coaches started out believing they either didn’t have the knowledge or the time needed to coach a junior team, only to find when they get started they realise it doesn’t take up too much time nor do they need to be a professional coach to teach football to children.  

But what does a coach do, why does it seem to be such a demanding job?  

The role of a football coach can be split into three areas, the things that need to be attended to before the season starts, the actual football part of the role and the communication that has to be given to everyone involved.  

• Pre-Season
  Ensure the team have enough players to be sustainable throughout the entirety of the football season. Players need to be registered at the start of the season and any new players who join part way through the season need to be registered too.  
  
  The coach also has to ensure there is enough kit for whole team, and have spares in case anyone joins after the season has started, and they need to have enough equipment for training and matches, e.g. balls, bibs, cones etc.

• Match Days and Training
  A coach only needs to give up a few hours of his or her time in a week to organise the team on match days and during training sessions. Generally a coach needs to plan training sessions, making them interesting and fresh, helping to keep the young players enthusiastic. They also need to make team selections during match days and report the match scores to the league after each game.   

Before the match can take place the pitch needs to be made ready. Generally for mini-soccer games this is little more than getting the goals put up a short time before the game starts. If it is a home game it's normally the responsibility of the home team to provide a referee and the coach has to ensure there is one available, and they also have to provide a match ball. The role of the referee for mini-soccer games is often taken up by a parent or an assistant.  

During the game the coach needs to motivate and encourage, making substitutes as and when needed. The coach may provide water for the team at half time or at the end of the game. There should always be a medical bag available with general medical supplies included.  

• Communication
  Dealing with parents plays a big part in the coach’s role, constantly answering questions and issues while trying to please everyone all at the same time. Informing the parents and players when and where the next game is, and also telling the players when a match has been postponed at short notice. The coach will also need to keep the club updated on the progress of the team, and contact the league and the referee if a game has been called off for any reason.    

In many ways these are the “hard” things that a coach needs to do, but to be the most affective the coach needs to develop softer skills, especially when dealing with people and considering their needs. Sadly junior football is far more than just young players kicking a ball, and is acted out by many parents who all have an emotional attachment to the team. Parents need to be informed of every importannt decision that is made and why, and this is especially true when it comes to their own child’s inclusion or not. More people accept and warm to an honest coach and will back the decisions made, though you may have to develop a certain amount of tact when it comes to dealing with parents.  

It is equally important for a coach to find some help from a willing parent, because no matter how hard you try a coach will not be available for every training session or match and they will sometimes need to call upon some additional help. Also to make match days run more smoothly, additional parental help is a must to get the goals brought out and put away, as well as refereeing the matches. It is a team effort not only for the players on the field but also from the adults who have an interest in the game.  

Being a football coach is an extremely rewarding thing to do. Teaching children how to improve their sporting abilities while having fun, offers the coach a great deal of personal satisfaction. If you are tempted by running a football team, and either don’t believe you have the skills or time to do it, you should consider the rewards it brings. Coaching football doesn’t have to be time consuming and you don’t need to know the laws of the game inside out, all you need is a willingness  to have a go, and you’ll soon find out it is not as hard as it seems from the outside.  

For Charter Standard clubs, football coaches working with children need to be willing to go through a CRB check. In addition to this many clubs expect their coaches to take part in the FA’s level one coaching course.