The Strikers 4 Rules for Soccer

RULE 1 
Don't be afraid to Fail

RULE 2 
Always Give 100% Effort
in Every Practice and Every Game and Fight for Every Ball!

RULE 3
Respect Your Teammates, Coaches, Opponents and Officials

RULE 4 
HAVE FUN
Playing the Game

 Coach Kevin McClintock’s

Youth Soccer Coaching Philosophy

          My Youth Soccer Coaching Philosophy is that I should prepare my players for the next level of competitive play while creating a fun and playful Soccer Environment.  I strive to improve all of my players skills as well as their competitive fighting spirit, each week.  I believe in having Practice Plans prepared in advance of the Training Sessions.  I always have my Practice Plans ready before arriving for a Training Session.  While I believe it is essential to have a Structured Practice Plan when arriving at a Training Session and that I should have my field grid ready to go when my players arrive, I also believe that as a Coach I must remain flexible and be prepared to change activities if something is just not working.  I keep notebooks of every Training Session that I develop.  I have developed 100 distinct Practice Plans up to this point.  I constantly study coaching literature such as Coaching Books and Coaching Magazines.  I have studied the Soccer Coaching Methods from around the World including England, Holland and Brazil.  I try to take things from all of those Countries to use with my players.  In addition to reading the literature, I also study many Soccer Training videos searching for training activities to use with my players. 

          I believe it is important to read the feedback from my players and when I detect boredom setting in, I move on to a new activity that I believe the players will find more engaging.  I remember one Practice Session that I was conducting with a U8 Recreation Team where the boys were having a short attention span day.  I was ready to move to the next activity when a boy named Garret asked if we could just play a scrimmage game.  At that moment, I decided to allow the players to choose and moved directly to the Scrimmage.  I believe that it is good to sometimes allow the players some input into the decisions regarding training since they will need to make the decisions on the field of play in an actual game.

          My Youth Soccer Coaching Philosophy includes placing Player Skill Development ahead of Winning.  I believe it is in the best interest of my Players to focus on the long term development of the Soccer Skills that will help them as they progress to the next level of competitive play.  I once watched a movie about Youth Soccer Coaching called Kicking and Screaming.  In this movie, the main character’s Father had a “Win at all Cost” philosophy.  When the main character became a Coach, he did not want to become like his Father, but slipped into the “Win at all Cost” mentality.  He recruited two Italian boys who were excellent players.  His strategy became “Kick it to the Italians”.  I have witnessed this type of mentality displayed by Youth Soccer Coaches.  I strive to avoid this mentality and to focus on the Long Term Skill Development of all of my players.

          I believe that it is my job as a coach to motivate the players to realize that it is OK to make a mistake because they need to not be afraid to make a mistake in order to grow their skills by taking risks.  I teach my players to let their teammates know that it is OK when their teammates make a mistake.  I believe that operating in this manner makes our Team better players and better people! 

I believe that I need to instill in my Players that they must give 100 percent effort in every practice and every game and that they must fight hard to win every lose ball.  I believe in teaching my players that if they give 100 percent effort in a game, it does not matter what the scoreboard says because they played like a Winner!  I want my players to develop a desire to want to always work on improving their skills and learning new skills.  I instill in my Players that they should always display good Sportsmanship with the Officials, their Teammates and their Opponents.  I teach my players that they should have FUN playing Soccer because it is a Game!

          To summarize, My Youth Soccer Coaching Philosophy is that I should prepare my players for the next level of competitive play while creating a fun and playful Soccer learning and skills growth environment that includes improving the players’ skills and competitive fighting spirit on a weekly basis while also helping them learn things that will serve them throughout their life beyond Soccer!