Game Preparation

The Day Before the Game

Prepare the lineup and substitution schedule. Remember that over the course of the season, all players should have the chance to: 1) play different positions; 2) be captain; 3) start and finish games. These things are important to your players (ask them!); they will notice.

Check team equipment (balls, net, flags). Check the field location!

Game Day

Remember to bring your equipment bag and substitution schedule. Have a good quality ball with you to use as a game ball (some clubs will provide the game ball).

Have your team arrive at least 15-20 minutes before your scheduled kick-off time to allow an adequate warm-up period. It is important to stress this message to parents as well as players.

Field preparation

Check your local club rules to determine who is responsible for setting up and taking down the nets and corner flags. If the responsibility is yours, arrive early enough to get the job done before warming up your team. You may want to organize the team parents to handle the net and flags for you.

Team warm-up

Simple passing, dribbling, shooting drills; maximize touches. Have an assistant work with the players who will be goalkeepers for this game.

Rules

Your local club may have rules which amend or modify the FIFA Laws of the Game to accommodate the age and skill level of your players. The international rules are discussed in the "Summary of the FIFA Laws of Soccer" which is included in this manual. It is your responsibility as a coach to know what is expected of you, your players, the officials, and the spectators. You should know the rules and should carefully consider the spirit which underlies them.

Referee

Meet the referee and make note of his or her name. Ask any questions you may have about game duration, allowable substitution times, etc.
 
 

Coaching from the Touchline

Some clubs permit coaching by only one individual who identifies himself or herself to the referee prior to the start of the game. If this rule applies in your club, then you must decide on only one coach for game day.

Coaching responsibilities can be rotated with assistants if you desire. Naturally, the assistant coaches are not expected to remain mute during the game. They should join with the other parents in cheering and encouraging the players. Enlisting assistants to help on the sidelines with player substitutions is generally acceptable, but only the designated coach should communicate with the referee.

It is important to realize that although we as coaches are permitted to instruct from the sideline, this is not a license to take over the game from the players. Coaching is best done during practice time, not during the game.

A Few Things to AVOID:

1. Don’t continually shout instructions - they often reach the players too late (the action has moved to a new situation), and may be distracting.
1. Don’t send one of your assistants to instruct from the opposite touchline to "cover the field". It is doubly distracting to the players (often the instructions coming from opposite sides of the field differ!), it is irritating to the other team if they are located there, and it is also against the rules if only one coach is allowed to instruct.
1. Don’t send a parent or assistant to coach from behind the goal line; coaches and spectators do not belong there! The coach can be "carded" for permitting such a violation of the rules.

1. Your sideline coaching should be limited. Prepare your players to think for themselves as much as possible. Take notes of situations and skills that your team has problems with and work on them during practice.
1. Watch how the opposition plays and point out to your substitutes anything that can be to your team’s advantage (e.g. all their goal kicks go to a certain area, their defense plays far back or far forward, etc.).
1. Remind the players going in who they are substituting for and what their duties are at that position.

Another aspect of sideline coaching is finding the best place to do it. Just as good fences make good neighbors, when teams establish themselves on opposite sides of the field it is often more enjoyable for both parties. It significantly reduces the potential for friction between the sides.

If circumstances require teams to share one side of the field (sun in the eyes, or shade or shelter from the rain, for example), coaches need to be aware and temper their coaching methods accordingly.

Pacing up and down the touchline, which is not a great idea under the best of circumstances, is extremely irritating if it means running in front of the opposing coach and screaming over his coaching. The best solution is just to quit pacing. But if you must pace, or burst, then you should be the one to move to the less desirable side since you are the problem. A little consideration for others will increase everyone’s enjoyment of the game.

After the game, give the other team a proper cheer (discourage cheers such as "Two, four, six, eight, who did we eliminate!"; they are both arrogant and unsportsmanlike), then line up your squad and lead them across the field to congratulate the opposing players and coach. Teach your players to win humbly and to lose graciously.

Finally, remember that, as coach, you are responsible for the behavior of your spectators (parents and others) as well as your own and that of your team. Spectators must be educated about the proper place to stand to watch the game. All spectators should remain between the two 18 yard lines (marking the penalty area) and 2 yards behind the touchline. This provides a clear line of sight for the linesperson (even if you don’t use linespersons at your level of play, it is a good idea to get the spectators into the habit of watching from well off the touchline!). No one should ever be closer to the goal than 18 yards, and never directly behind the goal area.

Substituting

The coach’s main duty beside watching out for the welfare of his or her players is to keep track of playing time and to substitute players in and out so every player plays a comparable amount of time.

Know the situations when it is permissible to substitute.

Your club may have a requirement that each player must play a certain portion of the game (e.g. at least half). Only injury or, under exceptional circumstances, disciplinary action should prevent a registered, present, and properly equipped player from having his or her fair playing time.

EQUAL PLAYING TIME for all who regularly attend practice is a reasonable goal for every coach (even if your club does not demand it!). "Everyone plays and everyone sits out" is a good rule. Don’t use substitution as immediate punishment for mistakes made.

If you are still not convinced of the importance of this, consider the following. The most common reason that children express for not participating (or for ending their participation) in sports is "not getting to play" [Martens R Am J Sports Med 8:382 ‘80]. In another survey of more than 500 recreational players, 95% of the kids responding felt the most important thing about sports was having fun, not winning; 75% said they would rather play on a losing team than sit on the bench for a winning team [Henschen K, L Griffin in Psychology Today Sept ‘77].

1. Know the club rules and abide by them.
1. Explain to your parents (e.g. at the Parent Meeting) the restrictions that are placed on you in terms of when you can legally substitute players during a game.

TIP: to keep the subs interested in the game (a) ask them to observe the position where they will play next; (b) have them keep statistics (e.g. number of passes made/missed, shots on goal).

ROTATE your players, particularly in the earlier grades. Don’t limit the forward positions to a few; everyone should have a chance to play defender, midfield, and forward. Every player should be encouraged to try goalkeeping, but any player with a valid apprehension should not be forced to play this position. If you have difficulty getting volunteers, try to spread the task among a few players who can be rewarded by playing forward for the rest of their playing time. Giving each player some goalkeeping experience during practice scrimmages will increase their confidence to try it during a game.
 
 

Referee Relations

The referees in your program probably have various degrees of experience and ability. There may be times when your game is in the hands of a novice referee, possibly handling a game for the first time. Go easy on the referee! He or she has a hard job and they are usually teenagers. Just remember, it could be your child out there some day - how would you want them to be treated?

Set the example by treating all referees with respect, and insist that your players and parents do the same. Accept their decisions as part of the game. Don’t make calls for them, shout at or argue with them. Teach your players to focus on improving their own play and that of the team, not on criticizing the officials.

If the referee’s conduct of the game is, in your opinion, endangering your players, then find the home club’s field director (or other club administrator, if one is available) and ask him or her to observe play. He will then make a determination whether the play warrants intervention and he may then approach the referee and discuss the handling of the game. If no club administrator is in attendance, you may have to act in the best interests of your players. Any discussion with the referee should occur between quarters or at half-time.

Coaches need to be careful not to overreact to some of the inevitable bumping and incidental contact that occurs in a soccer game. Contrary to some misconceptions, soccer is a contact sport. Legal contact is clearly defined in the rules of the game. Before questioning the referee’s handling of the game, be certain that he or she is consistently failing to control illegal contact.

There will inevitably be calls with which you disagree. Don’t let it become a distraction for you or your team. Over the course of the game the "bad" calls will probably even out.

If the referee does a good job, be sure to let him/her know and thank them after the game. If you find that one of your referees is consistently missing calls, contact your club’s Referee Coordinator who will monitor and work with any referees needing help. Referee Coordinators should welcome any input from coaches regarding referee performance. Your club may have Referee Evaluation Forms which you can use for this purpose (a sample is shown below).