Soccer Coaching: Let the Game be the Teacher

In 1998 as I was getting my National Level “C” soccer license in Dallas, Texas I vividly recall the instructor repeating “let the game be the teacher”. I had my own idea of this concept, but had not practiced this concept as of yet. So, what does “let the game be the teacher” mean exactly?

Even though this was drilled into my head during the course, it took a few years for me to truly understand and appreciate exactly what this meant. First of all, I think the most important thing to point out is that “less is more”. What that meant to me is less me time (coach time) and more them time (player time). The quickest way to teach players the game is by the players playing the game. Not drills, not skills, not fitness, but the game.

Ok, so now we know we need more player time and less coach time. How can we achieve this? In the United States we do not see pickup games on the playground after school without coaches. As a soccer coach, you should encourage your players to play at home whether it’s with family, friends, neighbors or school mates. When there are no coaches and no restrictions the game becomes the teacher. In this type of setting, mistakes will happen, but in order for that player to be successful he or she must make on the fly corrections in order to be successful at these small pick-up games.

If pickup games are not feasible for your age group, use the last 20 minutes of practice and allow the kids to play a pickup game against each other and you as a coach just sit back and watch. Sometimes a quick instruction or two is needed, however in game situations, the players will learn from their mistakes.

So next soccer practice, just sit back and let the kids play and observe the play from a “distance”. It might be beneficial to add some restrictions such as number of touches, number of passes, etc, but only if you want to focus on a certain aspect of the game such as combination play, possession, or dribbling skills.