Things I Learned From Coaching Soccer

Tessa and Jarem had their last soccer game on Friday, November 13th.  Jarem had his soccer party, Wednesday, November 17th and now we were officially done! Whew! When I finished coaching Jarem's soccer team, I had a lot of things in my mind that I wanted remember from the coach's perspective as well as a a few random other things I learned through the season. 
1) Being snack coordinator is not too much to ask.  I have always sat perfectly still when the coach asked for a snack coordinator.  With all the many teams my kids have been on, I have never once volunteered.  We've even been on teams where the coach ended up assigning snacks because no one volunteered.  Now I feel ashamed for being like that because it really isn't a big deal.  At our first meeting, it was very quiet when I first asked about someone volunteering for snack coordinator, but someone did finally step up.  And I was very grateful not to have that extra pressure on me.
    
2) The difference between a corner kick and a goal kick.  After embarrassing myself a couple of times at games for setting up in the wrong place, Eric finally explained to me the difference between when a corner or goal kick is played for an out of bounds ball.  You'd think after watching Alex play for years, I would have figured that out, but nope.  :)

3) It IS important for all players to arrive 15 minutes early.  In the past, I would usually arrive at games that our children were playing in about right on time or even sometimes a few minutes late.  We've gotten better over the years, but still struggle with it sometimes.  When the coach said 15 minutes early, I just thought that was a cushion time to make sure everyone arrived by game time.  Now, I understand that it is important to have a little warm-up time, but even more, it is VERY stressful for the coach waiting and wondering if they will have enough players.  Many times the ref was ready to start the game and I didn't have enough players.  Then a couple would show up a few minutes into game time but arrangements had already been made to play less on one field or whatever.  Having only 8 players on my team and needing 6 to play, many a game, I stressed on how many players I would have.

4) It IS important to let the coach know if you are not going to be there.  There again, having only 8 players, if only 2 didn't show up, we had the minimum number to play.  It was nice to know if they weren't going to be there so we could make necessary adjustments and not wait around.

5) Are trophies really necessary? Most people feel that their kids should get a trophy and a party for completing a season of any sport. After coaching the season, I was burned out and ready to be done. When people started asking about trophies and parties, I felt tired. However, I was happy I was able to redirect the question back to one of the askers and have her get the trophies. Still though, I had to collect much of the money. She told me they would be $5, and when they ended up being $11 something, many families thought that included the pizza too. I was quite surprised when a couple of families asked about pizza being included when they got to the party. Anyway, the trophies are cute and Jarem was happy with his, but are trophies really necessary in a non-competetive league? What about a nice participation ribbon or certificate made by someone besides the coach? :)

6) Don't EVER let your kids carry around empty giftcards at team parties.  At our end of season party, one of the boys on my team handed me a play jewelry ring and said that was for me.  When I looked up at his mom to see if she wanted me to have it, she said he'd been carrying it around all day for me.  I smiled and said, "Thank you".  Then in his other hand, he handed me an Aeropostale giftcard and said, "This goes with it".  I thought it was observant that his mom noticed I liked Aeropostale and I told him thank you and then proceeded to give his mom a sincere "thank you very much".  It was at that point that she said, "Oh, it doesn't have anything on it, he just likes to carry around my empty giftcards."  That was a little embarrassing! That said...

7) Do something for the coach.  Not that I expected anything, (because I coached out of sheer need and mostly so Jarem could have the experience), but I have to admit that when I walked out of Cici's pizza after the team party that night with only a play ring, I felt a little disappointed   A simple thank-you card from anyone would have been appreciated.  While I know I wasn't a super-coach or anything, I did show up and teach them every week at practice and coach every game.  I got a couple of thanks (in passing), but nothing that I really felt was sincere.  I know that I have sometimes been guilty of not doing anything for our kid's many coaches over the years.  I guess I figured they must do it cause they love it and that's their reward...(not so much)!  And I feel bad now.  I will not go another season without at least giving the coach a thank-you card for their effort.

Even though some of these sound a bit negative, I mostly had a very good experience coaching.  I enjoyed the time I got to spend with Jarem and the other boys and I enjoyed getting to know them and watch them play and progress.  My very favorite game was the second to last game where we didn't have enough players to play on two fields so all the players that were there played together.  (Typically, the team is divided in two and play on two fields so everyone gets to play nearly the whole game).  It was fun because normally I always had to separate the best two players and that was the only game where they both played together as well as the rest of the team.  We were able to do some fun moves and plays.  That said, I don't plan to ever coach again, but I will help, be snack coordinator, and have a new perspective on the coach's job. :)