Tips You Need For Running A Youth Football Team
It doesn’t matter whether you are well-seasoned in the football coaching world, or you’re starting out to set up your child’s own youth team, you need to know some of the golden rules of making it work. You and your kids deserve to have the most enjoyable time possible, and we’ve put together some tips for making that happen.
- Make Playing Fun
Sometimes, kids coaches can make playing football too intense. You need to keep it as fun as possible so that the children feel like they’re having a great time. Football should be a team sport, a chance for children to feel connected and get that adrenaline pumping. If you are a successful coach, you will have a team full of kids who are excited to train together. They all have a common goal – to win – and you are the person fostering that excitement. It can be all too intense, sometimes, so keep it fun and make sure that parents know this lesson, too.
- Focus On Basics
It’s easy to forget that you’re coaching children, sometimes. You can’t give the kids the playbook and expect them to have a clue what all the squiggly lines and diagrams mean. Make it as simple as possible and just teach them the football basics and you will have happy, learning kids who want to play. You want to tell them how to block, to catch, to tackle. If you keep it as simple as learning and playing, you’re going to set up your team of kids for success.
- Sportsmanship Is Key
It’s easy for children to get caught up in the winners and losers of football, especially when they have super pushy parents. You should make one of the biggest lessons you teach about sportsmanship. It’s why you pay for custom football shirts – everyone is in it together! You don’t
have to stand around holding hands and singing Kumbaya, but you do have to consider how to encourage them to support and cheer each other on. When one of the kids doesn’t make a play, get their peers to gather around them and support them, not tease and ridicule.
- Make Playing Safe
For some children, football is an outlet. It’s the space where they can run their energy through and feel safe while they do it. You should, then, make their actual play as safe as possible, too. You want to make sure that children are wearing the right safety gear and are playing in a way that avoids injury as much as possible. Teach the kids what injuries football can give them, and teach them how to ask for help!
- Build A TEAM!
Lastly, you want your youth football team to gel well together. There will be a whole community of kids, parents and extended family that all want to be involved with football and cheering on the kids, so make this a team sport that everyone can enjoy together. This is an opportunity for the community to come together and be a real team.
