Are You A Successful Soccer Junior / Youth Coach?

This is a good checklist - courtesy of footy4kids. Take the test!

Get that black dog called "winning" off your back and go for development. The winning will take care of itself.

There are good reasons for not measuring a youth soccer coach's success in terms of a win/loss ratio.


For instance, a coach can prepare his team perfectly, they can outplay the opposition but still lose. Alternatively, a coach who has a squad of naturally gifted players may do nothing with them and his team will still win matches. So a win/loss ratio doesn't really tell us if a coach is good or not.

It is generally agreed that you should measure your success in terms of the development of your players. If you accept this, it is then fair to ask, 'How do I measure the development of a young soccer player?'

Unfortunately, while you might want a simple black and white answer, it's not possible. There are too many shades of grey. For example, which coach has done a better job? The coach who turns out a team of skilful players who play nice, attractive soccer? Or a coach who turns a player who couldn't kick a ball when he started, into an 'average' player?

Redefining success

It might be better to define success completely differently by remembering these essential points:

Fun - do your players smile? If you ask them 'did you have fun today at training?' would they say 'yes'?

Work ethic - do you encourage and reward players who try hard, regardless of the result of their efforts? Does your team always play to the best of its ability?

Fair play - do your players understand the difference between fair and unfair play? Can you honestly say they never try to cheat?

Fitness - is your training designed to make your players as fit as they can be? Do you encourage your players to eat healthily?

Friendship - are your players friendly with each other? Have they made new friends through playing soccer?

Skills - have your players learned new skills?

Retention - do your players stay with the team year after year, regardless of results?

Responsibility taking - do your players take responsibility for their own actions?

No fear - do your players take risks without worrying that they might be criticised?

If you answered 'yes' to all or most of these, I suggest you can consider yourself to be a successful soccer coach. If you can't answer 'yes' to all or most of them, don't worry. Decide on the coaching methods you need to change and implement them.