Coaches

Having a good coach in soccer is very important. You can either end up with a really good coach or a really poor coach. I have had many of both in my soccer career.

My first soccer coaches were pretty much all parents of the kids on the teams in AYSO and just did it for fun. They were basically there just to watch the kids and make it fun and they didn't really know much about soccer. I didn't learn much from them but they are the ones that got me really into it so I thank them for that. One of my coaches that I had in elementary school took things way too seriously for our age and would tell the kids inappropriate things about their level of play. many kids ended up quitting because she was sucking the fun out of everything and when you are younger that's what it is all about.

In middle school the coaching was much better because when you become older you need more help to fully develope your skills. In middle school I played on the middle school co-ed team and my coach for that team was really good and knew exactly what he was doing. he was a former college player and had alot of experience with soccer. I really learned alot from him and taught me many basics about the sport.

When I reached highschool soccer I didn't have the best experience with the coach who happened to coach all four years I was there. When I was in ninth grade I had alot of knee pain and he would always tell me it was in my head and to just push through the pain. I ended up needing to get surgery from his stupid idea that it was all in my head. He would aslo make us run in sweat suits when it was really hot out to get ready for hot games and almost became fired because of it. I did not participate in these runs because I had an injury because of him. He would also be very rude and unfair to the players. There were two girls on the team that were his absolute favorites and would always tell us they were the best players on the team and to always get the ball to them. It hurt everybody elses feelings because we felt worthless and not needed. All of the players and parents had a very strong dislike for him and I am very glad I don't have to deal with his crap anymore.

I had the best coach of my life in club soccer. I learned more than any coach I have had put together. He taught me how to fix every flaw in soccer that I had and also taught me alot about life and how to be a good person. Everyone on the team loved him. He is the one that told me what to do with my knee when I told him what my highschool coach said and said I needed to get an MRI right away and to see a doctor. When I was done palying on his team I was devestated because he was such a great caoch and person.

As you can see the coaching in a sport has a great affect on people. I have had probably up to 15 different caoches throughout the years I have been playing soccer. Most of them were good but a small handful were very bad and I have learned from every one of them. Sadly I have learned even from the bad ones but more of what not to do.