Tips for a Successful Youth Soccer Team Season
- When your child expresses an interest in playing soccer, do a Google search for kiddie/kid/youth soccer teams and organizations in your area.
- Before you sign up for a kiddie/kid/youth soccer team or organization, join a Facebook group for your area or talk to mom/dad/parent friends with older kids. Get the intel. Most times, there will only be one kiddie/kid/youth soccer team organization to choose from, but your mom/dad/parent friends will know the scoop! Moms/dads/parents of older kids ALWAYS know what is the best and what is the worst when it comes to kiddie/kid/youth sports and activities. Trust me!
- Once you find a kiddie/kid/youth soccer team or organization, sign up IMMEDIATELY. Don’t wait. Teams fill up and you will want to put your child on a soccer team that practices close to your home. There is NOTHING worse than having to schlep on a school night to a faraway practice and have your child sad because his classmates are on the team that practices near you…ideally at your local elementary school.
- Before your child starts playing on the kiddie/kid/youth soccer team, purchase a soccer ball. You don’t have to get fancy and buy a soccer net. A ball will do the trick. You can also buy plastic soccer cones to mark out goalposts. Kick the ball around so that your child gets a feel for playing soccer.
- In the month your child starts soccer team, usually August for the fall season or March for the spring season, buy soccer cleats. Kids feet grow fast so don’t buy soccer cleats too soon. If you have an older child, buy black soccer cleats so that all kids can wear them. Once my children got to be about 9 or 10, then I bought them their own pair of soccer cleats but when they were little the kids were only wearing cleats twice a week for 2 months. Or find a local Play It Again Sports or consignment shop.
- Youth soccer teams are usually by divided by gender and age. Girls play with girls of their own age and so on.
- Plan to attend all soccer practices and all soccer games. Your child will not want to miss out on any of the fun. To make soccer practice nights go smoothly, cook dinner early, etc.
- Do not under any circumstances let your child wear the soccer uniform to practice! Unless you are a person who is always on top of laundry. I knew I would not be able to wash the soccer uniform. I won’t tell you how many times I Febreze-d a soccer uniform!
- Keep track of the practice and game schedule. Your coach may text or email or have you sign up for a sports team portal. Whatever method the coach uses, it is imperative that your child attends soccer practices and soccer games regularly. So have an online calendar. Text the family group chat. Soccer is as much about playing the game as it is about making friends and playing as a team.
- If you volunteer to bring the fruit for halftime, the snack for the after the game, or juice bags and water bottles, don’t forget! Every child is looking forward to the snack!!
Playing on a Soccer Team
I live in a rural area of my county. There is one youth soccer team organization. Kids from 4 years of age through 18 years of age can play. Weekly practices start mid-August. Weekly games are held on Saturdays for 10 consecutive weeks starting after Labor Day Weekend.
My kids played for the local youth soccer team organization from Kindergarten through 4th grade or 5th grade. Soccer was always a great experience for the kids and our family. We had great experiences overall. We made the soccer team part of our “life” for the season. The tips I mentioned above will work with other youth team sports…football, across, basketball, and volleyball.
Pros and Cons of Soccer Team
Soccer team was an overwhelmingly positive experience for my kids. But there were a few so-so experiences with youth soccer team organizations…sadly this is typical of youth team sports:
- One season, we had a coach who said of coaching a preschool soccer clinic “this 1-hour of coaching these kids is my worst hour of the week.” Sad. Especially sad as his twins were on my kid’s team. Some people should not coach little kids. The same coach told the kids after a poor showing at a game “Do you want to play soccer or play with dolls?!” Of course the girls all yelled out that they wanted to play with dolls.
- Another season, we had a coach who was high on enthusiasm, but didn’t know much about soccer. The kids weren’t taught many skills and lost almost all their games.
- One season, we had a husband and wife coach who were also coaching all their other kids’ soccer teams. I could tell it was going to be a season of possibly no coaches on the sidelines on game day.
- Another soccer season, one of the kids had a coach who had a heavy travel schedule for work. Why would anyone sign up knowing they wouldn’t be able to attend games?
- For a few years, my husband — Dad Knows Better — coached the kids’ soccer teams. He checked out DVDs from the library and watched YouTube videos to bone up on soccer skills. He never played soccer as a kid, but didn’t want to let his kids down. While coaching soccer was a new skill for him, he had plenty of experience coaching high school volleyball. He stopped coaching by the time the kids were in 3rd grade as he felt he didn’t have the skills to coach effectively.
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