People often ask me why I enjoy coaching soccer so much. Obvious answers are watching kids develop, helping them grow up even in a small way, being outside most weekends (when the weather is nice anyway), the thrill of a close victory, and helping them learn from the agony of a close defeat. And so on. All of which are true. Seeing kids start to ‘get’ what you teach and preach in practice and trying it in games is awesome and I saw some of that yesterday with my U9G Cheetahs. But there are also those moments that happen out of the blue that you just wish you had taped the whole match. The highlights. Doing soccer moves – on purpose. Stuff like that. Then there are those moments that just ‘happen’. One of my players has the ball pretty much ON the end line, maybe 5 yards from the near post. Like any coach, I’m encouraging her to look for options – a teammate in front of the goal to slot a pass to, etc. Instead she drills the ball up into the air. It sails across the goal, curves ever so slightly, and slams into the inner side of the far post – and falls into the net. *crazy* and so fun to watch. So my answer to the question? All of the above!
So much to write about – it’s been a crazy couple years for Soccer Dad – but things are finally calming down a bit. Hoping I can finally dedicate some time to writing again.
November 26th, 2013 at 10:33 pm
You do what you love doing. If it’s coaching then go for it. Great blog. Keep us updated.
March 19th, 2014 at 11:46 am
All the things that you mentioned in the post are what makes being a soccer coach so special. There is no better feeling than seeing the kids perform the moves in a game that you have been training them to do all week in practice. I couldnt agree more with you, that when the kids ‘get’ what you are teaching them, it is a brilliant feeling!