How to Plan Soccer Practice
How to have planned soccer practices and still have fun
Pre-planned soccer practices

Here's an idea for Rec coaches on subbing players:

Think about subbing every 5 minutes.

It will keep your players fresher, more motivated and more into the game. That's what I did and I found it worked well.

When they were in, I told them they better give it 100%, because they wouldn't be in long, and they did because they knew they didn't have time to cruise along. They also knew they didn't have to worry about getting tired, because they would be subbed soon. And when they were out, they couldn't sit down and get mentally out of the game -- they had to be ready to go back in, so they were more involved. It was like they were always in the game. They also stayed warmed up and I didn't have to worry about them wandering off. They stayed on the bench and I coached from in front of the bench so I could sub them.

I felt it made the games more fun for them, and the players could give it 100% and still last the 5 or 6 minutes it took me to sub.

Keep in mind that I Defended Deep, and didn't sub my Fullbacks much, because they didn't run much. But I subbed my Stoppers, Midfielders and Forwards a lot so they were always fresh.

If you try this, you need a sports watch with a countdown timer that rings when it reaches "0" (these can be bought at Target or Wal-Mart). Set it to "5", push the button, and try to sub when it goes off. Since you have to wait for a throw-in by your team, a Goal Kick, a goal, half time, etc., to sub, it will usually be about 6 minutes before you can actually sub.

If you aren't able to do this and still coach, assign a parent to help with it.

David at SoccerHelp