My First Crack at Coaching Newbies
Honestly, I remember feeling pretty nervous when I volunteered to help out with the brand new kids joining our Huddersfield Junior league team last season. Never done it properly before, but hey, someone had to step up. Started by raiding my own garage – found old cones covered in cobwebs, some halfway-deflated balls, and a few bibs that might have seen better days. Looked a proper mess, honestly.
First proper session rolled around. Just gathered the little ones in a circle – easy enough, right? Wrong. Trying to get eight six-year-olds to stand still felt like herding hyperactive cats. Gave up after two minutes, switched to just letting them kick balls at the wall. Anything to burn off that energy. Lesson learned fast: start with chaos, not calm.
Focus for week two? Basics. And I mean real basics.
- How to stop the ball. Sounds simple? Watching them chase it every five seconds… not so much. Spent ages showing them to just put their foot on top of it. “Stomp on it like a bug!” seemed to work.
- Passing… sort of. Mostly just kicking it gently towards another kid. Forget accuracy; we celebrated if it went vaguely the right way. Lots of clapping, loads of “nice try!” even when it flew off into the bushes.
- No heading allowed. Seriously. League rules. So constantly yelling “No heads! Use your feet!” Felt like a broken record.
Water breaks became sacred times. I hauled a massive cooler along every week. Saw a kid turn beetroot red chasing a ball non-stop and nearly panicked. Stuck to a strict “every 15 minutes, water stop” rule after that. Parents looked relieved too.
Biggest surprise? Scrimmages. Figured tiny teams, smaller pitch. Used those old cones to mark out a mini-field. Started 3 v 3. Chaos still happened, but less running in circles. Kept the ‘goals’ really close together too. Trick was making it feel fast and fun, not frustrating. Blew the whistle constantly for stops and cheers.
Learned the hard way about kits. First match day, one kid shows up in wellies. Another had boots two sizes too big. Sent out a quick note the next week:
- Boots, not trainers. (Mud is slippery!)
- Check the fit. Kid’s feet grow fast!
- Bring both shirts. Just in case.
Most important thing though? Keeping it light. These kids aren’t pros. Laughed with them when I messed up a demo kick. High-fives for everything. Celebrated the kid who finally stopped chasing and stood in roughly the right spot. Wins weren’t the point. Seeing them run back to their parents grinning, covered in mud, shouting “We played!” – that was the real win.
Finished the season knackered, sure. But seeing those shy new players actually look forward to turning up? That made every bit of headless chicken herding totally worth it.
