Adults need to trust kids more. Period. In terms of youth soccer, this goes for both coaches and parents. It is easy to say that we trust our kids, and in fact, parents and coaches will often vocalize that they do. But their actions don’t show it. When we show and demonstrate – with our actions – that we trust our children, it empowers our youth players to excel and truly play at their best. I often hear coaches and parents telling their kids that they trust them to play well

Youth clubs are like cars. Yes, cars. Some clubs are like Toyotas, others are like Land Rovers. Everyone knows that Land Rovers are super fancy. They are a great status symbol and are incredibly nice looking with all of the bells and whistles. Toyotas, on the other hand, are not all that fancy. Their interior and exterior appearances are simply adequate – not bad, but certainly not fancy. However, Land Rovers break down all the time. They are simply not reliable. Toyotas, on

In my experience working with many different coaches, directors, and youth soccer parents, a lot of people often seem to interact with each other with their cards close to the vest – trying to reveal as little information as possible. It seems that if a parent has a concern, and wants to speak with a coach or a director, the parent won’t be completely honest and will be a bit guarded when confronting the other person. Likewise, when coaches and directors facilitate programs w

There is a relatively famous picture of Lionel Messi and Luis Suarez sitting back, relaxing, and watching their kids play soccer. You can see the image below: The caption accompanying this image is often something like “Here are two of the best players in the world not getting overly involved while their kids are playing soccer. If they can relax while watching their kids play soccer, even though they have the highest standards in the world, why can’t we?” One thing that oppo