Over the years we’ve published a number of detailed and informative articles about youth soccer for coaches, team managers, and parents. As we approach 1000 articles on our site, it can be hard to find them all. So we’ve started this page to collect the ones we think are the most useful. If you come across other articles on our site that aren’t listed here, leave a comment with a link to the story and we’ll review it for inclusion here. If there are topics you’d like to see here that we’ve never covered at OTP, let us know that too. If this page is popular enough, we may start a more in depth guide that includes links to external reference information on other websites. Feel free to leave links to those in the comments as well.
OTP Youth Soccer Reference Guide
Coaches
- Coaching FAQs: Coaching | Equipment | Laws of the Game | Tournaments
- A Collection of Coaching and Soccer Skill Videos (Background)
- USSF Best Practices for Coaching Youth Soccer
- Top Ten Things Youth Soccer Coaches Should Do
- Tips For Having a ‘Professional’ Youth Soccer Team
- Random Advice For Rec Soccer Coaches
- Player Health and Fitness
- Formations and Strategy
- Ensuring Equitable Playing Time For Your Players
- Playing Time Is Not A Punishment
- Using Competitive Practices To Motivate Players
- Player Awards and Recognition
- Coaching From The Sidelines Without Distracting
- Giving Players Feedback – A Sample Evaluation Form
- Dealing With Players, Cellphones, and the Internet
- Should Practice Attire Be Required?
- A Practice Attire Success Story
Team Managers
- Team Manager FAQs: Tournaments
- An In Depth Team Manager’s Handbook
- Ideas For End of Season Soccer Parties (Maybe even Bowling!)
- Choosing A Team Snack
- Ideas for Off Field Team Activities
- Some Ideas for Unique Coaches Gifts
- How To Create Maps and Directions For Away Matches
Parents
- Parent FAQs: Parents | Equipment | Laws of the Game | Tournaments
- Top Ten Things Youth Soccer Parents Should Do
- A Soccer Rule Primer For Parents
- An Offside Primer For Parents
- Purchasing The Right Shin Guards For Youth Soccer Players (NOCSAE)
- Beware of Unsafe Chemicals in Many Plastic Water Bottles
- Taking Better Pictures of Your Soccer Player
- Ideas For Fighting Smelly Cleats
- An Inexpensive Way To Remove Moisture and Odor From Cleats
- Finding Shelter In A Sudden Lightning Storm
- USSF Guidelines For Player Hydration
- What Parents Should Shout From The Sidelines
League Administration
- League Administration FAQ
- Soccer League Surveys Using Google Docs
- How To Explain Field Closings On Sunny Days
We hope you find this resource helpful and feel free to link to it on your own team or league websites if you wish. For those of you who are new to On The Pitch, if you find any of these articles worthwhile, be sure to visit our blog or subscribe to our RSS feed for the latest articles. You can also keep tabs on our latest on most social media websites. Simply visit our homepage and look for the buttons in left sidebar.
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