"The soccer matters, of course, but you've got to build the team emotionally first," Lembryk said. "I've always thought you get success when the players take ownership in their program, because it's not my program. It's not the parents' program.

"It's the players' program, and for that to happen they've got to buy into it." - Coach Stan Lembryk, Clifton Girls Varsity Soccer upon returning to the Clifton team. see Art Stapleton's full column:

Stapletion: Coach Contagious ready to lead charge

!POSITIVE COACHING!

EVERYONE PLAYS!  GOOD SPORTSMANSHIP!  BALANCED TEAMS!  OPEN REGISTRATION!
The Sixth Philosophy

"Player Development" became the sixth philosophy of AYSO as over two thirds of the Executive Membership voted to add the first new philosophy of the organization in nearly 25 years. It joins Everyone Plays™, Balanced Teams, Open Registration, Positive Coaching and Good Sportsmanship as the foundation tenets of the organization. The vote took place May 24 at the organization’s National Annual General Meeting in Dallas, Texas.

The goal of Player Development is to embrace the objective of improving the soccer skills and knowledge of EVERY AYSO player, from VIP to U-19.

The new philosophy will be incorporated into AYSO’s by-laws and have as its description: 

We believe that ALL players should be able to develop their soccer skills and knowledge to the best of their abilities, both individually and as members of a team, in order to maximize their enjoyment of the game.

                                                                                       

 The Child Athlete as an Individual

"Children trust specific praise more than general praise. “You really ran fast” means more than “Good job!”  It is so powerful when coaches watch each player closely and praise the progress in what the child is trying to accomplish. Make the time to set goals with each player on your team, and set up practices to work toward those goals."  - Marianne Cane

Teaching the Game to Kids      Coaching with Constructive Criticism

 (click here)

Training Tips, Games & Drills

Coaching Kids Mythbusters

Links

(see "Reading List" and "Training Tips, Games & Drills" as well)

Institute for the Study of Youth Sports (ISYS@MSU)

*Research in Youth Sports: Critical Issues Status
By Ryan Hedstrom & Daniel Gould

Give Us Back Our Game!

Rick Wolff  The Sports Edge WFAN Sundays 8-9AM; 66AM & Online - Youth sports issues

FIFA       US Soccer      Premier League     uefa.com - Europe's football website

Women's Professional Soccer WPS       Sky Blue FC

United States Adult Soccer Association USASA

MLS - Major League Soccer         Red Bulls

ESPN360 - watch replays of soccer match from all over the globe

Reading List

Just Let the Kids Play; Bob Bigelow, Tom Moroney and Linda Bell

Catch Them Being Good; Tony DiCicco & Colleen Hacker, Ph.D. with Charles Salzberg

Sacred Hoops - Spiritual Lessons of a Hardwood Warrior; Phil Jackson & Hugh Delehanty

Coaching Kids for Dummies; Rick Wolff, Chairman, The Center for Sports Parenting

Coaching Soccer For Dummies; National Alliance for Youth Sports, Greg Bach

Game On - The All-American Race to Make Champions of our Children; Tom Farrey

Soccer Practice Games; Joe Luxbacher       The Creative Dribbler; Peter Schreiner

The Baffled Parent's Guide to Great Soccer Drills; Tom Fleck, Ron Quinn

Dutch Soccer Drills Volume 1: Individual Skills; Richard Kentwell

MLS Camps Self-Help Coaching Booklets - 5-6, 7-8, 9-11, 12-15

The Positive Coaches Bookshelf
A veritable Who's Who of coaching and youth sports from our AYSO partners, The Positive Coaching Alliance.

AYSO Training and Certification Matrix

Be an AYSO Leader! Coach, Referee, Instruction, Management on local, sectional & national levels

Safe Haven Certification - coach & referee, U8 & U10 coaches training, Basic Management

Must have your AYSO ID# to complete course. Courses are 20 - 45 minutes long and must pass test to complete.

Great as refresher courses.

How to Cross-Certify from USSF license to AYSO Coach