I had 8 of the 12 kids on my team at practice tonight. My own son is sick, so he had to sit out and watch - the practice field is behind my house.
I was very nervous before practice. More nervous than I’ve been about anything in recent memory, I think. I’ve never been a soccer coach, and it’s been probably 20 years since I’ve played. I want to do a good job - to teach the guys what they need to know, and to help them have fun. They’re all 6 years old, and it’s the first exposure to soccer for most of them, so I don’t need to be a soccer expert, but still…
I had a plan, and found some drills on the Internet. My biggest concern was keeping busy for a whole hour. This turned out not to be a problem.
I won’t go into the details, but as soon as we started, I completely tuned the parents out. I had a great time watching the boys work on the drills, and helping them figure out how to do them.
A couple of them stand out as interested, but shy and a little unsure of themselves. It was so cool to see how a little extra attention and getting in there with them got them excited. A few of them are trying really hard, and respond immediately to corrections and praise.
I was very nervous beforehand. But I had a blast during, and I’m excited about the next practice. This is a lot of fun!
6 is a great age to work with if you want to have fun. Sounds like you went in with the right mindset…tune out the parents, focus on the kids…glad you (and they) enjoyed it.
Comment by Gwynne — March 27, 2006 @ 10:01 pm
Brian, you may never know the full extent of the impact you can have on some of these kids; you may be the only source of loving correction AND praise in their lives (I hope not, but I’m not naive about how the world often works). Your excitement about them and their accomplishments will be something that many of them will remember for years to come… that should make you even more excited!
Comment by Eric — March 28, 2006 @ 3:08 pm
I remember some of my coaches. I can’t say I had a great one, but I do remember some lessons I learned with their help.
I *am* excited about it.
Comment by Brian — March 29, 2006 @ 6:58 am