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Back to the basics

July 10, 2009 02:34 PM | Posted by   Ron Kuipers  

Ron Kuipers is a writer from Oakville, Ont., who has been coaching and teaching young kids how to play soccer for several years.

If I could go back in time, I would do all the usual things everyone else would do.

I’d try and reverse some stuff so the world would be a better place and animals would no longer be extinct. Then I’d try to reverse a whole bunch of other stuff so I’d be a bajillionaire.

But before all that, I’d go back just a few years so I could have a second chance at teaching our younger kids some basic soccer skills.

I say this because I’m constantly amazed at how many kids in our under-11 girl’s house league in Oakville still don’t know how to perform a proper throw-in or what to do with the ball during the opening kick-off.

I know the same thing exists in boy’s house leagues as well because I went through it when I coached my son when he was 10 and 11.

For some reason, we’re in no hurry to teach kids how to play soccer the right way from the very beginning. I know this to be true because I’m one of those coaches who should’ve spent a bit more time working on the essentials of the game.

The throw-in

The throw-in is a great example of what I’m talking about. On any given soccer night in Canada, kids who’ve played the game for a few years are still lifting their feet or they’re throwing it in like it’s a free throw in basketball or they’ve got both feet on the field.

That says to me they haven’t been taught how to do a throw-in correctly by any or all of their previous three or four coaches. Or maybe they have been taught how to do it correctly but only once or twice a season which is just not enough.

If I think back to how much time I devoted to throw-ins, the answer is very little. So what’s my excuse? I’m guessing the same as most of my fellow volunteer coaches; all those dribbling and kicking drills along with teaching the kids how to play their positions ate up my one hour of practice time very quickly each week.

But considering how many times kids are called upon to throw-in a soccer ball during a game, shouldn’t we teach them how to do it right from the very beginning?

At the very least, I think I owe it to my current players to correct this coaching oversight. So from now on, we’re practicing some throw-ins at every practice. My goal is to put an end to this vicious cycle of accidentally overlooking one of the most basic elements of a soccer game.

The kick-off

The throw-in, by the way, is just one example of why I think we should try and spend more time working on the ‘nuts and bolts’ of soccer as early as possible.

At the beginning of the game or after a goal has been scored, how many times have you watched a player take the ball at centre and simply kick that ball away to the other team? By the time they’re 11 or 12, they should know how to play the ball forward to a teammate and then maybe back to a midfielder in an effort to maintain possession of the ball.

On goal kicks, I continue to see players go after the ball inside the box because they still don’t know that the ball has to leave the penalty area before it can be played.

Do it right the first time

Bottom line is that the coaches who are teaching kids how to play at the younger ages like 5, 6 or 7, need to spend a bit more time helping the kids learn some of these fundamental aspects of the game.

Then, when they’re 11 or 12, the majority will be throwing the ball in with both feet on the ground and both hands behind their head because they’ve been practicing how to do it right for several seasons.

These same kids shouldn’t have to ask the ref if they’re allowed to kick the ball out of their hand on a goal kick because they’ve been performing goal kicks properly their entire soccer lives.

And I shouldn’t have to go back in time to improve throw-ins, save the world and extinct animals and become a bajillionaire.

Where is Marty McFly’s DeLorean when you really need it?

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