The Complete Idiot's Guide to Coaching Youth Soccer (Complete Idiot's Guide to...)

Rating:
Summary: Not for Youth Soccer
Review: Very disappointed by this book. More than half is filler with agonizing repetition and exposition to create paragraphs and pages out of straightforward and self-explanatory concepts. I realize the series is for "idiots," but I believe perhaps it's really aimed at the curious, frustrated, and inexperienced, not the truly mentally deficient. The authors continually fail to address how different a job soccer coaching is for coaches of five year olds versus coaches of fifteen year olds, and they seem to only understand the latter. Very little space is devoted to the rules of the game or how to convey them to young children so they (both children and coaches) can enjoy the game. For example, the word "Substitution" is not even in the index, and the rules for when a coach can substitute players is not covered in the text. This is one of the many "simple" elements of the game with which most youth soccer coaches new to the game need guidance. On the other hand, too much space is devoted to field concepts too advanced for players under ten years of age. Trying to implement them with young children will only frustrate coaches and players. Little attention is given to practical ways to make the game fun and keep it safe, to coaching sportsmanship, or to keeping young children involved so that they will stay with soccer long enough to be well prepared for more advance play as a teenager.