SOCCER COACHING MANUAL

"Soccer Kids - Making Soccer FUN
For Four and Five Year Olds"

About the Author Soccer Kids™ author Tom McLoughlin has coached soccer to thousands of four and five-year old children over the past 25 years. A former physical education teacher and an original faculty member for Youth Sports with the National YMCA, he is currently Head Coach at Fairleigh Dickinson University, a member of the New Jersey State coaching staff, and runs his own school, McLoughlin Soccer.

Here is a practical soccer coaching manual that will help you:

• Create programs that preschoolers will enjoy
• Learn the five coaching methods that work best with four and five year olds

1. GOALS (page 1-4)

Although this is a soccer program, you will get many opportunities to positively influence these young children. The goals of the program are:

* To create a fun soccer experience appropriate for four and five-year old children
* To develop motor skills
* To develop decision making skills
* To build self-esteem
* To integrate learning with other curricular activities
* To develop social skills

2. TEACHING METHODS (page 2-1)

a. Developmental Appropriateness
b. Activities that are Child Centered
c. The importance of FUN
d. Class Structure
e. Appropriate Equipment, Time, Space and Numbers

3. INDIVIDUAL CHARACTERISTICS OF FOUR AND FIVE YEAR OLDS (page 3-4)

Knowledge of what to expect when coaching preschool aged children is essential for the coach. The following list of characteristics......

Preschoolers generally:
- Like games with which they are familiar. Repetition is important at this age.
- Do not care much about the actual rules of a game. You should emphasize a few rules such as not using hands and stopping when the ball goes out of bounds.

A total of 8 characteristics are talked about in this section

4. SAMPLE SCHEDULE Four Year Olds (page 4-3)

5. GAMES: Directions for playing 25 Soccer Games are provided

PINBALL SOCCER (page 5-17)

GOAL: Kids knock down as many cones as possible
HOW TO PLAY: Place a large number of cones irregularly spaced. Players dribble their balls knocking down as many cones as possible by kicking the ball against the cone.
NOTES: Emphasize team effort. As children become more competitive, challenge each individual player to knock down as many cones as possible.
SOCCER KIDS' SKILLS: Dribbling, kicking.

Pictures are also included in the book along with a list of supplies, scoring point info, and age appropriateness details.