Welcome 'Mod' and 'Rec' Coaches!
By Duncan Munro Bio
Welcome to Woodland Soccer Club's Coach and Player Development resources. The materials here reflect my own personal experience as the coach of my two daughter's Modified (Mod) and Recreational (Rec) teams. They are currently playing at U14 and U17 and love soccer. They are not, however, 'select' level soccer players. As a consequence my perspective, and that of all subsequent materials, is that of a 'modified' or 'recreational' team coach.
'Modified' (Mod) and 'Recreational' (Rec) soccer programs at Seattle Youth Soccer Association (SYSA) clubs provide an opportunity for all kids to play soccer. Your approach to coaching should be molded to the fact that there will be a wide range of abilities in your pool of players. I have been lucky enough to learn about coaching methods in the company of coaches who coach teams at all levels. What I present here is unlikely to be appropriate for teams where abilities are much more uniform, e.g., 'select' or 'competitive' levels of play because I have designed the materials for a different audience.
I believe that coaching athletes who are all over the map developmentally is different to coaching athletes who are more uniformly able. I feel however that the rewards are the same. Watching young athletes develop is a fabulous thing and never fails to motivate me to try a new approach to solving a challenge with the players.
Who can be a good Mod or Rec coach?
Simple answer - everyone. Major caveat - you have to want to learn HOW to coach! I would be honest and say that coaches at the top levels of youth soccer generally appear to me to have very good technical skills but what really sets them apart is their education as coaches. For Mod and Rec soccer I believe that enthusiasm and a willingness to understand a method of teaching can take any individual to the level where they can coach through U19 regardless of where they started with regards to personal soccer playing ability.
How it all began for meIn 2001 I found myself 'volunteered' to coach at U10 and figuring that having played and watched soccer all my life I would simply show the girls some of my own brilliance and off we would go to one Championship after another, I picked up my bag of size 4 balls and headed off to practice. That first season was a truly humbling experience. The girls appeared to learn nothing, I regularly had to remove myself from the sideline during games to calm my apoplexy and I spent many a Saturday evening lamenting the cruel twist of fate that had dealt me twelve players with two left feet.
Then something amazing happened at a practice just before the last game of the season. One of the players, who was very challenged to pass the ball at all, said to me that she really hoped she would be able to come back to the team because she never had had so much fun in all her life. I realized that there is something very basic that should always be in your mind - it is not how much fun you have that matters but how much fun the players have. Kids are not small adults, they think differently and will take great pleasure in learning if you let them learn. Mentor your players to be as good as they can be, not to be 'the best', and you will inspire athletes of all abilities.
At that point I also realized that I was clueless when it came to coaching soccer and if I was to survive then some education was called for. Almost immediately I was lucky enough to stumble upon a United States Soccer Federation (USSF) 'E-license' course. I spent one of the most fun weekends I have ever had with 50 coaches who were all blown away to find out that yes, actually, there is a methodology for coaching soccer and yes, it is actually possible to teach well without having been a pro-level player. I was hooked and since then I have been lucky to have the opportunity to continue to learn from some of the best instructors in the region via the United States Soccer Federation (USSF) coach certificate and license program and above all else have had a ringside seat to watch my daughters grow into graceful and passionate soccer players who are able to appreciate skill and fair-play in their opponents and who strive to improve all aspects of their game.
A note about the following materialMy intent is to provide all our coaches with a set of materials that can help them continually improve and enjoy coaching. Coaching in our 'Modified' and 'Recreational' soccer programs can be really hard! Like most things that are really hard it is also hugely rewarding if you stick with it.
I started putting these materials together after realizing just how little support clubs made available to our Mod and Rec coaches and how this lack of support was contributing to turnover which just made things even harder for the players. In addition I repeatedly heard from coaches that they couldn't take their kids any further because they did not know how to. I have thus tried to add to the traditional approach to presenting practice sessions.
The key challenge I experience as a coach is 'what do I look for that is a 'coachable moment?' In other words, what do I look for that will give me an opportunity to maximize the learning for the player? For each session I present a starting set of 'coachable moments' that are actual behaviors you will see in the games and how to take advantage of them to teach. My hope is that this will free you from the sense that you must always be talking to be effective. The opposite is true. Make all your talking high value by only interjecting when there is a chance for positive reinforcement of good soccer technique or tactics.