Coaching Soccer to Young Children
5th January 2011

To get the best start in their football playing career children need to begin learning soccer skills at the earliest age, though teaching young children from 5 upwards requires more than just showing them how to kick a ball, and the coach needs to consider the psychology of the developing child.

At a young age children are not only physically growing their bodies, but are developing their mind and their social skills. They are still very hungry for attention and crave positive feedback all of the time. The junior football coach needs to understand the nature of the growing child and adapt their football coaching sessions to the age of the children.  

The important thing to understand is that children want to be liked, they want attention, and they are always seeking approval. Children thrive on positive feedback, and take criticism harshly. To get the most out of the child footballer, the coach needs to encourage and never criticise. The coach must look for every opportunity to find something positive from the actions of the child and praise them.

To an adult who is used to dealing with mature players this may seem quite alien, and we consider constructive criticism to be a very important part of learning, but to a young child criticism of any kind can be destructive, and tends to stick with them much longer than with older children. Very young children up to 8 years cannot easily differentiate constructive advice from being non-constructive and see the two things as the same. The trainer must find a way to coach faults out of the child’s play by saying and demonstrating only positive things and may focus on the positive aspects of a particular child’s ability to help to improve their weaker skills.  

As a child advances beyond 6 years of age, they start to have an understanding of the game and develop the concept of teamwork. They are also able to follow a few simple instructions, and have the mental capability to master combinations. At this age they are able to deliberately pass the ball to a teammate, though they probably do it reluctantly and not as often as they could, though they will develop the sense of team by doing this. The coach should encourage this behaviour, though it is not an easy task, as the child has spent all of its life, so far, being the centre of attention, it is difficult for them to let someone else have it. Again a system of praise at the right time will promote teamwork in the young footballer.  

Young children have a very competitive nature, and will try to outdo their teammates. So much so if a teammate is praised by the coach they will try to gain the same approval by competing with the player. They will also try to emulate their heroes they see on television, and if they have an older sibling they will not only try to copy them but also compete with them. The coach should spot this behaviour and when they see it, praise the child who has copied or competed with another player. Using reverse psychology the coach may get the best out of a player by praising their partner in drills, though this technique should be used sparingly as it could backfire.  

Of course children are not only growing psychologically and improving their mental awareness, they are also growing physically and at different rates to each other, which poses a problem for the coach. Children need to be pushed but because of their physical constraints they can only be pushed as far as the slowest developer.

What tends to affect the child is their ability to be able regulate their bodily temperature as much as older children, meaning they can get very hot, which not only affects their physical ability, but also means they may need to drink more liquid to replenish the water lost through perspiration. This is as important in children as it is in adults, and the child needs to be hydrated properly.

The coach must make the sessions short with many breaks, not only is this good for the child’s physical condition, it also helps them stay attentive, and with a very low attention span it’s easy for a child to switch off. The young child is also growing very rapidly and because their movements may not be as coordinated as you might expect, this needs to be considered when assessing their progress.  

Over 6, children are aware of their surroundings and who their teammates are, and will try to cooperate with them on the field. They are however still very much focussed on themselves and easily forget what they should be doing or have just learned. Because of this the coach should not be frustrated with the child’s apparent lack of interest and should realise it is natural behaviour for a young child. At this age children will also be easily distracted by events and other seemingly interesting activities going on outside of the training area, and the coach will find they are easily focussed on things other than the training itself. To prevent this happening the coach must make the sessions interesting and challenging for the child, and vary the drills within the coaching session. Once again praising the child and especially the effort made by the young player will help them to concentrate.

When coaching young children remember the following points:  

• Start as early as possible

• Praise children often

• Never criticise

• Have lots of breaks during training

• Children are easily distracted

• As many touches of the ball as possible

• Stick to small sided 4v4 games only