Soccer Coaching Success Stories
U11 Competitive Soccer Team
U8 and U14 Rec Soccer Teams
Formula for Success: fun, skill development, efficient & game realistic soccer practice games, choosing a formation and style of play that gives your team the best chance for success, and motivating players to give their all and listen to the coachFor more soccer Coaching success stories and tips from coaches, visit Soccer Coaching Success Stories Navigation Page.
Because I have learned so much from this site, I thought I would offer the following comments. We are a small town that plays teams from much larger communities. We had 22 girls that wanted to play competitive soccer at U11 but couldn't find a good way to do two teams. So, I didn't cut anyone and found a way to rotate five girls out each game--even my best players. We are playing competitive teams that are used to winning, especially against smaller towns like us (we're the smallest that fields a state competitive team regularly). We lost all of our first games but I kept trying ideas from Premium and we won our last 4 state league games 4-0, 6-1, 2-0, 3-0. These scores are not indicative of how much we dominated the other teams. Going from the worst team in the state in our bracket to 2nd place in overall play made me a believer. Coach B, U11 Competitive soccer coach, Premium Member ----------------------------------------------------- Doug and David: My girls won the championship tournament in a shootout. To get to the finals we were short two of our good players on Saturday. The girls who were normally our substitutes played extremely well and we won 1-0. On Sunday, we had all of our players and played to a 0-0 tie. We then had a shootout. One ball squibbed by the other team's goalie. That was it - we won. The SoccerHelp Coach Doug Program really worked well on two girls, who at the beginning of the year were very timid players. One cried every time she fell and the other just stood there. It was the Coach Doug DVD that gave me the tools and encouragement to train these two and help them obtain the confidence to play at a level beyond anyone's expectations. The examples Doug showed of the various personalities on his team were tremendous. Doug showed me that patience and fun works in the long run. These girls never scored a goal but they always stopped the ball and turned it around and helped the team. They were always in the right place at the right time. In the semi final, when it really counted, they performed and because of them the other team did not score a goal. The patch rewards and fun games worked extremely well for these girls. It was a fun road. Thanks again and again. Troy, Premium Member, U8 soccer coach ----------------------------------------------------- Dear David, I thought you'd enjoy hearing of my U14 girl's rec team fall season. We finished 6-1-3, winning the tournament final 1-0 over a previously undefeated team. We actually began the season in a nominal 4-3-3 soccer formation but played a 3-1-1-3-2 that worked like a charm. The Stopper and defensive mid worked together, going forward when on the ball, freeing up the mids and forwards to go on the attack, exactly as you've outlined. Thanks for all the tips and info at Soccerhelp - you are a great resource for all us rec coaches out here. Thank You, Chuck, Premium Member, Lexington, KY, U14 soccer coach ----------------------------------------------------- Last year this team (which I took over coaching duties after a 0-2 start) was 2-6-2 during the regular season and we went 0-2 in the tournament for a 2-8-2 season. This year, this same team with one new player who had never played a lick of soccer in her life, went 5-3-2 during the regular season and went 3-2 in the tournament for an 8-5-2 season. This team made it to the final 6 in the tournament and of my 5 losses; three of them were to the best team in the league who only allowed (at least so far) one goal, which my team scored. Fantastic season, amazing improvement and last night when I was talking with my wife, I asked her would she had ever imagined we would have won 8 games this year and she said absolutely not. The one thing I can say is that I know for a fact, I would not have been as successful as a soccer coach if it wasn't for SoccerHelp Premium and the help of reading the importance of the stopper position and creating a formation to fit the team you have vs. trying to make the team you have fit your formation. If I would have put my Stopper in any other position, she would not have excelled as much as she did and our team would not have controlled the games like we did without her being in her correct natural position. I can't wait for spring soccer to begin. Thanks a bunch, Aaron, Premium Member