If you can remember a few months ago there was an uproar by many individuals in the province of Ontario who are both apart and unattached to the soccer community, with Don Cheery being the biggest critic (media wise) to the removal of standings in youth soccer up until the age of 12. This is a topic for another day, but with the introduction of LTPD players are able to play in a much less stressful environment (or at least it should be that way).
In the old system, coaches often hindered players development because the focus of play was on winning instead of actually developing players, and more importantly allowing players to be creative. As I watch rep games in the older age groups, I often see very little creativity from players, when in pressure they are quick to get rid of the ball instead of trying to take a player on, and I believe this can be attributed to the fact that from a very young age these players were never given the freedom to actually be creative as coaches wanted to win, and if the player tried to do something creative and made a mistake, they were often yelled at and in some cases taken right off the pitch. From a young age when players are in such an environment, they get scared of making mistakes because they don't want an ear full from the coach after.
With the removal of standings and having the kids just play, coach's should now (although they should have always been) be encouraging their players to try for them to be creative without getting on them negatively if they happen to be unsuccessful with what they are attempting. When we started to walk, our parents didn't yell at us, but instead would encourage us to keep trying until it became natural to us, and this is the approach that we should have with all young players in the game.
If a player is coming out of the back, or in the middle of the pitch tries to beat a player with a step-over and happens to get the ball taken from them, instead of instructing the player to get rid of it next time, coaches should be encouraging that player to keep trying it so that eventually as they do develop they aren't afraid to try it again or other tricks that are even more advanced, because one day they will eventually be able to do such things successfully. The u9 team I've coached for the last 2 years have conceded goals where players try to make a certain pass such as looking to play it back to a defender and it gets intercepted and the counter attack is on. Instead of yelling at the player to not try that again, it is important to recognize what they are trying to do, and point out it was a great idea, and maybe I will tell them next time they need to put a bit more pace on the ball to make sure it makes it to the player next time. If a player realizes that the coach isn't going to be upset with them with for making a mistake, it will only help build their confidence and they won't be nervous to try it again. Something like this is very important because as they get older, there will be many times where they need to knock the ball back to their defender to maintain possession, and if their confidence is shattered from a young age it will be much more detrimental to them as they get older.
Quite possibly the most important position where coaches should allow for "mistakes" to take place is the keeper. I was recently watching a u10 game where a coach was yelling at their keeper to stay deeper in their goal as the keeper was highly aggressive at challenging the shooter and got beat over their head a couple of times. I later had a talk with the coach and the keeper and told them that they should be encouraging the keeper to continue this style of play, because as they grow (and can touch the cross bar with ease) the goals lobbing over their head will decrease dramatically, and they will also be cutting down the angle on what the shooter has. There is nothing worse than seeing a keeper at the u13+ age group who afraid to come off of their line because from a young age their coach was instructing them to stay deep to avoid getting beat over their head.
With young kids we must remember that they are going to make mistakes as they aren't professionals, and instead of getting on them for making the mistake, we should be encouraging them to try it again. With there now being nothing on the line to play for from up until u13, we need coaches need to do their best to let players confidence grow so that when they are ready they can do something special like a rainbow to get by a defender instead of have them just knock the ball down the pitch in hope that their player can chase it down.
I conclude this entry with a quote from William Edward Hickson "IF AT FIRST YOU DON'T SUCCEED, TRY, TRY AGAIN." To all coaches, please remember this and encourage the creativity that your young players have inside of them.
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