Emphasize Winning or Fun In U-14 Soccer?

am a new coach (signed up for the premium soccer content)…… coaching girls U-14… I assume some of the girls will have previous experience in playing rec soccer….

My questions is…I am not sure how to direct the soccer coaching… should I emphasize winning.. or having fun?... I would imagine at the U-14 level it would move more toward the winning attitude and not just completely having fun… I realize having fun is very important, but at the u-14 level… is having fun the #1 point to make?

Thanks,

Coach Tony

Hi Tony,

I think having fun is always important -- it's just more fun to have fun than not, and if it isn't fun the girls won't show up. Now, you can have fun and still win. In fact, it's a lot more fun to win than to lose. By using the Premium program your team can have fun and also win as many games as they possibly can -- that's what Premium is designed for.

Tony, play the practice games at practice. Play "Dribble Across A Square" 3 times to start every practice. Also play "Dribble Around Cone & Pass Relay Race", "Chips/Lofted Passes" game and "Shoulder Tackle and Strength on the Ball Game". For coaching tips, start with "Most Important Things" and follow the links. Read the Testimonials and you will see that you can have fun and also win. If you buy any DVD's, buy the April Heinrichs set ("Training Girls and Women To Win").

David SoccerHelp