Participation in youth soccer continues to grow, creating a greater demand for coaches than ever before. You might be a parent who has never played soccer, but you now find yourself on the sidelines wondering what you’ve gotten yourself into.
Over the years, tens of thousands of coaches in your situation have turned to the American Sport Education Program’s (ASEP) Coaching Youth Soccer book, and this new fifth edition delivers even more information in an improved format to help calm your fears, identify and organize your tasks and responsibilities, and bolster your confidence as a coach.
Written by ASEP in conjunction with Sam Snow, director of coaching for US Youth Soccer, Coaching Youth Soccer is the resource for coaches of athletes ages 14 and under. It presents sport- and age-specific coaching tips and advice as well as general coaching principles and information on sport first aid that coaches need for success on and off the field.
This fifth edition includes over 45 activities and 40 coaching tips, combined with more than 70 photos and 50 illustrations, all in a reorganized format to make it even more practical for coaches. Chapters on attacking and defending, along with a new chapter on goalkeeping, are included to provide more in-depth information on playing these positions. The sport first aid section has been expanded to include guidelines from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention on dealing with concussion (soccer is second only to football in frequency of concussion).
Part of the long-running Coaching Youth Sport Series, Coaching Youth Soccer provides a dynamic and effective method for teaching soccer fundamentals, making it a must-read for youth soccer coaches preparing to meet the challenges and enjoy the rewards of working with young athletes.
Chapter 1 Stepping Into Coaching
Chapter 2 Communicating as a Coach
Chapter 3 Understanding Rules and Equipment
Chapter 4 Providing for Players’ Safety
Chapter 5 Making Training Sessions Fun and Practical
Chapter 6 Teaching and Shaping Skills
Chapter 7 Attacking
Chapter 8 Defending
Chapter 9 Goalkeeping
Chapter 10Coaching on Match Day
Chapter 11Developing Season and Training Plans
US Youth Soccer is the largest member of the United States Soccer Federation, with more than 3 million youth players and over 300,000 coaches. US Youth Soccer provides healthy activity through recreation and small-sided games programs that emphasize fun and de-emphasize winning at all costs.
Content expert Sam Snow is the director of coaching for US Youth Soccer. Snow joined the US Youth Soccer Technical Department in 2003 as the assistant director of coaching education and assumed his current role in 2004.
Snow has earned the United States Soccer Federation A license and National Youth license, a premier diploma, and a national goalkeeping coaching license. Coaching is second nature for him: He’s coached at the high school (Norfolk Catholic High School), collegiate (Florida Southern College, University of South Florida, Virginia Wesleyan College), state (Florida Youth Soccer Association), and regional (US Youth Soccer Olympic Development Program Region III) levels. Before joining the US Youth Soccer Technical Department, Snow held positions as a US Soccer national staff instructor and a director of coaching for the Louisiana Soccer Association. Snow received his bachelor’s degree from Virginia Wesleyan College in 1977 and his master’s degree in physical education from the University of South Florida in 1979.The American Sport Education Program (ASEP), a division of Human Kinetics, is the leading provider of youth, high school, and elite-level sport education programs in the United States. Rooted in the philosophy of “Athletes first, winning second,” ASEP has educated more than 1.5 million coaches, officials, sport administrators, parents, and athletes. For 30 years, local, state, and national sport organizations have partnered with ASEP to lead the way in making sport a safe, successful, and enjoyable experience for all involved.