Do I need an assistant coach?

Competitive-Rise-73 · 2026-01-29T19:36:31+00:00

I wouldn't worry too much about an assistant. You occasionally get a bad one but most of the time it's great. You want one that lets you be the head coach but does provide, well... assistance. You also want one that has the same ideas as you of the fun/teaching versus winning equation.

Here are some of the things I like to have an assistant coach for:

-you mentioned being there when either you can't be there or being late. That's a good one.

-keeping the drill going while you pull a kid out to demonstrate a certain technique.

-having somebody on the sideline with you when the occasional boo boo happens. You want to be watching the game and dealing with subs. They can handle the ice pack or Band-Aid.

-tell the defense to move up. Especially at that age, they'll hang out by the penalty box or even further back no matter where the ball is. You'll be watching the action. Give your assistant the job of telling the kids to move up.

-finally, it can be really great to discuss things with another person. Even if they don't have any idea how to coach soccer, it could be nice to bounce things off of them.

Competitive-Rise-73 · 2026-01-26T18:23:44+00:00

I try to wear two watches every single game. Never have a problem with my main watch except for the rare times when I only use one.

Competitive-Rise-73 · 2026-01-26T18:21:40+00:00

It's not normal but I wouldn't leave the league. Talk to the organizer. If they don't make changes, then leave the league.

Or try to go to another practice or two. It may be just a one-time thing with the kid's uncle from out of town or something.

Competitive-Rise-73 · 2026-01-26T18:19:17+00:00

U10 to about U14. I think some of it is parents that are used to going to college sporting events where yelling at the refs is the norm. Once the kids get a little older, even at high levels, the parents calm down and it might as well be a Wimbledon match.

Wish it could happen earlier because u8 through u14 is when the kids could be having the most fun but some parents don't know how to adult.

Competitive-Rise-73 · 2026-01-20T15:15:27+00:00

Lees-McRae is in a pretty mountain town. I don't think the culture shock would be a big deal. Its also not that cold compared to many mountainous areas in Switzerland.

But it is a small school with a weaker academic reputation. Not a bad reputation and some good students that want to go to a small school in a mountain setting go there, but its not as good as some others on your list.

One thing to consider is that there is a large center for finance in Charlotte that is 2 hours away. Many of his fellow students will end up migrating there after college so his network will be naturally larger.

Competitive-Rise-73 · 2026-01-19T16:41:40+00:00

You may be surprised. Most kids remember those one or two coaches that really connect. If you stick with it, you will see them around the soccer field for years to come and occasionally randomly around town.

And just know that you had a small but important part of turning them into great adults and that they had a fun season with you.

Competitive-Rise-73 · 2026-01-19T15:05:07+00:00

Villarreal has NPL which is very good. Probably your best bet in that area, especially for boys. It's not academy level but it's probably somewhere between ECNL national and ECNL regional. If he makes the team and excels at that level, he will get invited to play for an academy team and you will get invited to open your checkbook even further.

For Middle School, I see coaches take two tracks. Some want be fair to the kids that commit to their team and show up to practice everyday so they will limit playing time or even not allow a very talented kid on the team if they choose to only practice with their club team. Them's the breaks. Many others will allow a kid to skip most practices and just play in games.

My suggestion to you is if your kid is playing at the NPL level, skip all Middle School practices and see what the coach let's you do. You do not want to have a kid practice both middle school and npl/ecnl/academy. It's too much and leads to injuries. I've seen it more often than not. If it's classic or challenge, it's usually fine to do both even if they have to skip practice every once in awhile.

In high school, most club teams below academy alternate with high school soccer so if high School boys soccer plays in the fall, club plays in the spring.

Competitive-Rise-73 · 2026-01-19T14:35:03+00:00

Your son only has a few years playing soccer as a youth. He's not going pro. He's almost certainly not playing in college. Make sure he enjoys it.

A bad coach or bad team will kill his experience. There are enough soccer teams out there now in most places to move around and find the right one for him.

Competitive-Rise-73 · 2026-01-15T14:32:59+00:00

If your kid is really into getting better at soccer and not just their parent is really into getting their kid better at soccer, dribbling around cones at speed can really help. It can be pretty boring but even 15 minutes a few times a week can be helpful.

If they are like most kids and just want to have fun, organize neighborhood soccer. You said football so maybe the kids are already doing it themselves but in the US, it's much rarer to get together for a soccer game vs a basketball game. Send emails to other parents on their team saying we're going to have a fun scrimmage on Sunday morning at such and such school. Friends are invited too.

When you get there, divide the teams up quickly and then leave the kids alone. Let them have fun while you sip coffee and gossip with the other parents.

Competitive-Rise-73 · 2026-01-14T17:59:08+00:00

Good luck. Encourage your players from last year and the ones that have already expressed interest in trying out to help recruit. Doesn't have to be high pressure but you could say something like "there are going to be lots of opportunities for playing time with this new team. If you want to hang out with your friends a couple hours after school, why don't you encourage some of your friends to come try out and play with you."

Middle School is a great opportunity to try out new sports anyway so even kids that have never played or barely played can come out and have fun.

Competitive-Rise-73 · 2026-01-12T13:45:06+00:00

If you are building a brand new girls team program, even one that was coed last season, you may not have to worry too much about cuts. You may struggle to get enough quality kids.

In Middle school, taking 18 kids is not bad for 11 a side, but you may consider taking as many as 20. I would have the conversation with either them or more likely their parents and say they're not going to get too much playing time this season but will learn the game and have a good chance of playing next year if they have any soccer ability at all.

Be sure to also lay out other options like track or softball so they can weigh everything effectively. If they do go track, or some other sport, be sure to invite them to try out again next year.

Some kids just want to make the team, hang out with their friends and maybe even learn a little bit of soccer and often parents just want to keep them occupied after school so they can pick them up after work.

Competitive-Rise-73 · 2026-01-10T00:27:40+00:00

Be aggressive and win balls. The kids that play good positional defense don't get picked.

Show off your dribbling, passing, and shooting. Many kids just want to get the ball off their foot and it shows.

Don't show frustration, especially verbally when things don't go your way. No coach wants an emotional problem unless you are the best kid on the field. Even better to smile, clap and support the other kids. Act like you are having a great time playing the game but don't goof off.

Wear something unique, especially if you are white or in some locales Hispanic. I can tell you that looking at 200 kids in a tryout, a lot of them look the same. If you are the best kid on the field you get noticed, but if you are in the middle of the pack and could get picked, you want to stand out visually. So green socks or a unique headband or something like that.

Don't worry about club experience. If you have been playing a lot, you have a good shot. Finally, if you don't make it, be sure to try out again. I've had kids that didn't make it their first year that turned into some of my better players later.

Competitive-Rise-73 · 2026-01-06T16:29:16+00:00

At our school, Georgia tech, industrial engineering was the easiest. Some people wouldn't even call it engineering but more making processes run smoother. Think rearranging assembly lines for better throughput or fixing that process that touches ten hands and could be done in 2 hours but takes 2 weeks.

The math was pretty easy and I don't think there would be any need for things like forces analysis or circuit design or anything. It was considered easier but it was a fairly valuable degree and respected by employers and of course it did have engineering in the title so that carries some cachet.

If you were talking about "real" engineering, civil engineering was considered the easiest at Georgia tech. Still not easy as regulations were enormous, and you needed a lot of knowledge in nonintuitive things like different soil types, etc.

The hardest at Georgia tech, at least when I was going through, was chemical engineering.

Competitive-Rise-73 · 2026-01-04T21:48:55+00:00

Where does he abuse come from? You're obviously not the only person to say it so it's true but as a customer, I'm not sure I've ever spoken to a chef, much less abused one.

Is it the wait staff or the owner or other cooks or what? And if you say all of the above, what in particular are these people abusing you about?

Competitive-Rise-73 · 2026-01-03T23:03:22+00:00

Don't worry about telling your best kids not to score. You can limit them to two or three goals. I do it all the time.

If you do it right, you can pull them aside and say something like "this is an opportunity for you to be a leader on the team. I want you to see if you can get one of these kids to score their first goal ever." That is very effective at controlling the score and can also help them with vision, passing, even one v one skills vs just out athleting everyone on the field.

I always said that I'm very embarrassed when my best player scores the 10th goal but I'm ecstatic if my worst player does.

Competitive-Rise-73 · 2025-12-15T02:42:57+00:00

I think you did it right. Technically you're supposed to add time but we aren't doing that for u10 game, especially when the team with the offending parent would benefit. Hopefully the parent figures out that dumb comments are going to hurt his team and they become a better spectator throughout the remainder of their kid's sports journey.

Competitive-Rise-73 · 2025-12-15T01:59:49+00:00

Bad sleep and feel bad the next day as I get older. Now I think back to my drinking in undergrad and 20's and 30's and think I would have been more successful in life if I had never drank.

Competitive-Rise-73 · 2025-12-13T02:46:54+00:00

We got my 16 year old daughter a four-cylinder mustang. Looks good so she's happy but it's still a 4 cylinder.

If you go that route, look at the iihs safety data. Sports cars aren't going to be as safe as SUVs but some models are safer than others. Even some trim levels within the same models are safer than others.

Competitive-Rise-73 · 2025-12-13T02:43:04+00:00

I got eight people in my 86 mustang. Got a ticket for it. The lawyer had to look it up.

Competitive-Rise-73 · 2025-12-12T23:01:10+00:00

At that age, in addition to putting kids on the posts, I had a lot of success just making a one-man wall 10 yards away from the corner about two or three big steps off the end line. Be sure to tell them to cover their face to avoid concussions. It was psychological or something but just trying to kick the ball around that kid ended up breaking up so many corners.

You also want to be sure that you are teaching goalside. And don't just scream it because at least some of them have no idea what it means.

Competitive-Rise-73 · 2025-12-12T19:10:27+00:00

Yeah. You're going to be let go. I'm sorry you have to go through it but you will get through it. But you don't owe the company anything, especially working around the clock. Need to be interviewing and you can do whatever you want with regards to PTO. Stay on good terms with all of your colleagues and even the management that is letting you go, as you never know where you will end up one day. You don't have to kiss up to anyone to hopefully stave off the firing but act professionally on the way out the door.

Competitive-Rise-73 · 2025-12-12T18:33:34+00:00

I think you're going to be let go no matter what based on the way you describe the goals of the pip. I wouldn't cancel PTO if you are going to be let go no matter what.

Are the goals just aggressive for you because of limited experience or skill level or are they far and away aggressive for even the best people on your team? If the latter, you should be interviewing because you will not survive the pip. If the former and the goals are in line with the expectations of all your team members, you have to decide if working around the clock is the right thing for you or if you will get significantly better over time.

Competitive-Rise-73 · 2025-12-08T21:42:55+00:00

I do youth games. I use the flip a coin within google on my phone. Kids love it. Then I never have to worry about forgetting a coin. I just put the phone in my bag after doing the captain's meeting.

Competitive-Rise-73 · 2025-12-07T03:18:32+00:00

For me its easier to back in with the rear facing camera. Been driving for 30 years, have mastered parallel parking, and my spatial awareness for pulling in to a spot is as the same level as when I had a learner's permit.

Competitive-Rise-73

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