The keys to great youth sports coaching, including culture, the right preparation/technology partner, and more.

When my son was six years old, I dropped him off for his first soccer practice. The training field was far from our house, in a remote area, so I opted to sit in my car and wait. 

About 20 minutes into practice, the boys were running around — and the coach just stood and watched. Fifteen more minutes passed, and still unorganized chaos. 

I got out of my car, and I approached the coach and asked, “Is everything OK?” 

“No,” he said. “I don’t know what to do. I don’t know anything about soccer.” 

“Would you like some help,” I asked.

He emphatically nodded. 

We corralled the kids, and we played a few basic possession-related games then finished with small-sided scrimmages. Needless to say, the coach asked me to help him at the next practice before phasing himself out. 

It was a stark reminder of the daunting position some good-hearted parents are put in — and the doomed-to-fail approach many youth sports organizations take in the development of young players without well-established framework for coaches, especially the new ones. 

Five Keys to Great Youth Sports Coaching

The reality is, volunteer coaches are essential throughout youth sports, and there are many willing to step into that important role. Below are five keys to help and guide a first-time coach:

#1 Key to Great Youth Sports Coaching: Culture is Key

My son’s coach only stepped up because no one else did, and I hadn’t volunteered because I was uncertain of my work schedule. But alas, my schedule did allow me to finish out that first season. I kept getting asked to coach my son’s teams, even after he entered the “academy” ranks at one club. I also welcomed the chance to coach my daughter for several years. 

With over 10 years of coaching at the club and school level, I say with 100 percent conviction that the most important role of a coach is to cultivate culture. You likely don’t need to start from scratch; familiarize yourself with the mission, vision and values of the club or school, and customize what you want to emphasize. But building a strong team culture is essential for success because it sets the tone for your players and parents. A positive culture fosters trust, consistency and clarity, while a negative one can breed the opposite. 

Culture isn’t the coach’s responsibility alone, but it is essential that the head coach lead by example, meaning they abide by the emphasized values. In short, your players will be what they see. And while older players can tolerate transactional coaches, younger players usually connect more with transformational coaches because they feel encouraged, supported and engaged. Lastly, make clear how you define success — and hopefully it’s not solely on wins and titles. 

One helpful resource is the book “The Culture System” by J.P. Nerbun. It’s a deep dive and organized in a clear way, including establishing culture, supporting culture and enforcing culture.

#2 Prepare

I love this quote from Benjamin Franklin, one of our nation’s Founding Fathers and an immensely and broadly talented man. 

“By failing to prepare, you’re preparing to fail.”

Over the years, I have discovered this to be one of the greatest barriers for a volunteer to say yes to becoming a first-time coach: They feel overwhelmed by what to do during the course of an hour-long or 90-minute practice.

Time is fleeting… except when you’re responsible for it. If you’re watching a great movie, two hours can fly by. But if you’ve ever been interviewed on TV or radio, or you’ve given a speech in front of a lot of people, time can sometimes feel like it’s at a standstill.

Planning and preparing is a must because “winging it” will likely breed chaos and confusion. That’s one of the odd paradoxes of youth sports. The most experienced coaches, especially those with licenses, are required to not only develop but strategize and dissect practice plans. Meanwhile, inexperienced coaches hardly know what a practice plan is, and they are usually called upon to steward what is often a young athlete’s first foray into a particular sport. 

Prepare

I don’t recall many resources to help address this problem when I started over a decade ago. It felt overwhelming to do a lot of my own research to figure out how best to use practice time. But there are increasingly more resources available now, including the TeamSnap+ Coaches Pack. This provides access to a library of drills and week-by-week curriculums for soccer, baseball, and softball. TeamSnap has partnered with the likes of MLS and Major League Baseball, and more sports and partnerships are coming. I’m a visual learner, so I love the video clips and illustrations the Coaches Pack features. 

But the preparation isn’t the only part. It’s incumbent on you, as the coach, to arrive early enough to set up, so the athletes can jump right in. This also reinforces a level of care to the players and parents. 

Keep in mind, though, you don’t have to reinvent the wheel every single practice. The longer I coach, the simpler my practice plans seem to become!

#3 Key to Great Youth Sports Coaching: Communicate 

Once you’ve done some advance work on culture and practices, it’s essential to communicate with the players and parents. Don’t overcomplicate this: Gather the parents before the first practice and tell them who you are, why you coach, and some of your values and goals for the season. Proactively highlight some potential issues; for instance, I try to make clear why parents yelling instructions (“Shoot! Pass! Run!”) conflicts with my style, which rails against joystick coaching. Answer any questions and then check in with parents again a few weeks later. 

With players at practice, communicate concisely and quickly. The kids want to move and play, not listen and watch. If a portion of your practice requires five minutes of instruction and 10 minutes of demonstration, then its odds of success are greatly diminished. If you draw up anything that has them waiting in lines, strongly consider scrapping that and replacing it with something more active and engaging. Don’t be shy to vocalize what is right in practice but be mindful of how you communicate what needs work; don’t call out or criticize a player if they make a mistake. If it’s something egregious, wait for a break — or call for one — to have a private chat with the individual.

Communicate

In games, be selective with your communication. I find that many newer coaches equate “coaching” to “incessantly screaming instructions” from the sideline. These are kids, and there’s no need for anyone to do play-by-play commentary. Besides, what’s usually more effective is peer-to-peer encouragements or adjustments. Hopefully, there are a few players who have a strong grasp of what your team is trying to do and are bold enough to communicate with teammates from the field or even the sideline. 

As the coach, though, you play a crucial role in how the players and parents communicate on the team, which sometimes call for some constructive and timely interventions. 

#4 Ask for Help

Oftentimes, when you’re starting something new, you feel insecure so you are hesitant to ask for help, choosing instead to take on the challenge alone. This is a massive mistake!

I am the first in my family to graduate from a four-year college, and I ventured into a new profession that no one in my family knew anything about (journalism). But I was able to navigate all of that through mentors. So it was natural for me to seek a few mentors when I decided to become a coach.

More specific to your team, though, it’s important to engage the parents and ask for help, especially for someone to serve as a team manager. That person can serve as a secondary or primary contact for parents, answering the common and repetitive questions that they may have missed from previous emails or announcements. 

My most frustrating season as a coach was one in which no parent stepped up to be a team manager, and I took on that role, too. It was overwhelming to juggle so many things, and it distracted me from my main duty as coach and lessened the joy I had in working with the players. 

Lastly, there should be someone within your club or school that you can check in with and ask questions. I have found many clubs don’t do this proactively, but they are usually responsive when a coach needs something. 

#5 Key to Great Youth Sports Coaching: Model Grace 

When I first meet with my players each season, I usually start out by saying, “I am not perfect…” I then go on to talk about the mistakes that I have made and will make, and I ask for the players’ grace along the way. 

As noted earlier, it’s so important for us to lead by example, and we want the players and parents to know that there isn’t an expectation of perfection. That’s simply impossible, and making that the standard will engender frustration and disappointment. 

Of course, it’s obvious to show grace to one another, among the players and parents. So respond with encouragement when a player makes a mistake. Show some patience if a parent gets caught up in the moment and blurts out a command. 

But perhaps most important, model grace toward the officials and referees because your rants at them conveys a negative message to your players and parents. And if you’re habitually complaining about poor officiating and referees, then that becomes a habitual sentiment within your team. 

Because ultimately, I have found in my life that the greatest lessons have come in the midst of challenges, disappointments and setbacks, and we want to encourage our players that what’s most important is how we respond to those inevitabilities. So if a foul is not called for your player, encourage them to keep their cool and continue to play hard, not seeking revenge or complaining to an official. If your team loses, in part, because of a controversial call or non-call, reflect on the other key moments and opportunities that were missed. 

Technology in Sports Coaching

Technology has a growing presence in the world of sports coaching, even at the youth and recreational levels. Much like technology’s growing presence everywhere, there are many tools available for today’s youth sports coaches. From practice planning to communication platforms to detail analytics, today’s youth sports coaches have options. While figuring out the right tools can be a challenge, we encourage youth sports coaches to take advantage of the tools available. 

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More Keys to Great Youth Sports Coaching

We’ve got a pair of great resources to share with your coaches in the meantime. 

• 7 Keys to Great Youth Sports Coaching 
• [Behind-the-Scenes] A Look at TeamSnap+ Coaches Pack from Two Soccer Coaches: TeamSnap CTO Reed Shaffner + Former NFL Reporter Sean Jensen

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Sean K. Jensen was born in South Korea, but he was raised in California, Massachusetts and Virginia, mostly on or near military bases. Given his unique background, he’s always been drawn to storytelling, a skill he developed at Northwestern University and crafted for 16 years as a reporter and columnist, almost exclusively covering the NFL. He’s now an inspirational speaker and author of The Middle School Rules, a book series that tells the defining moments of professional athletes. He is also the Head Boys Varsity Soccer Coach at Minnehaha Academy in Minneapolis and the host of Winning Is Not Everything, a podcast that aims to “bring sanity back to youth sports” through conversations with high-character athletes, coaches, and parents. TeamSnap is the Presenting Sponsor of the podcast.