1. Lexington United: A Player Centered Approach

2. Lexington United Soccer Club “Train them so well that they could leave, treat them so well they decide to stay.” - Jose Mourinho

3. What are we trying to accomplish here? To have fun playing To build friendships To instill the values of sportsmanship and fair play To be active and healthy To acquire new skills To learn to deal with both success and failure

4. A Word on Winning “We want our kids to win, we want our kids to want to win, but there are no consequences for not winning.” Romeo Jozak, Ph.D Croatian Football Federation Technical Director

5. Play to a Standard Be performance, not result driven “We don’t demand that youth teams win. We demand that they play good soccer.” - Jose Ramon Alexanco, FC Barcelona, youth director

6. Control What you Can Control? Practice Routine Keep it Consistent Simple to Complex

7. Control What you Can Control? Space Field Size Small or Big? Field Shape Long or Short? Narrow or Wide? Why?

8. Control What you Can Control? Numbers 4v1 5v2 6v3 4v4 +1 Why?

9. Corrections Give Feedback, Don’t Criticize When do we correct? Practice Games How do we correct? Practice Games Remove the But,

10. Coach Growth “Ever Tried. Ever Failed. No Matter. Try Again. Fail Again. Fail Better” Samuel Beckett We all learn through trial and error. Be Like Yo-Yo Ma, Welcome the first Mistake!

11. Be a Role Model The Coach that is punctual has players that are punctual. The Coach that is composed will instill composure not only in his/her players, but the parents as well. The Coach that is tardy, will have players that are consistently late The Coach that gets flustered at every misfortune and harps on the players and official, will have parents that follow suit.

12. Don’t Be a Puppet Master Trust Your Players! Soccer is a player’s game. We don’t get to orchestrate the plays and call timeouts. We have to trust our players and allow them to make decisions.

13. The Ride Home Return to being the Parent not the coach. “I really love watching you play”.

14. 1 Final Thought Enjoy the Journey! It’s supposed to be fun. The more you enjoy the experience of coaching, the more the kids you coach will enjoy playing as well.