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RE: Coaching Under 8s

Exile Osprey — Thu, 12 Jul 2007 22:18:27 GMT

I have coached through from U7's and am about to start U11's. The thing I find frustrating is getting them to stop behaving like 8 year old's ;) You prepare the sessions with great enthusiasm only to find 2 kids are making mud balls from the clods scraped from their studs, 2 keep thumping each other, 6 don't really want to be there, but their parents insist and keep bringing them back week in week out. None of them can tie their own shoe laces (bet you haven't a drill for that one!!) and there are always a couple who insist on shinning up the posts/trees/nearest electricity pylon. The parents who bring them to training are kitted out in North Face down jackets and GoreTex, but think shorts and T shirts are fine for their kids in January, and you would not believe how many ways there are to put a bib on:)

That said it is all the more rewarding when you do see improvements, but expect one step forward and three back.

As for your own son, I found that because you want to coach him more, he feels he is being picked on, and it's important to ensure he understands why you are doing it.

I think the greatest skill you can have as a coach of young kids is patients, and remember why they are there, to have fun.

RE: Coaching Under 8s

MMc — Wed, 30 May 2007 17:26:28 GMT

As someone who has coached through mini and into youth, I still find it refreshing that if you give the players a ball and tell them to get on with it, they will organise themselves, make up the rules and get on with it. This makes a change from being 'coached' and yiou often find they will do all the things that you want to coach them to do quite naturally.

RE: Coaching Under 8s

DanC — Tue, 22 May 2007 17:30:04 GMT

Thanks Scrumrus

Lots more to consider. I have already designed 20 games based on gamesense and questioning to draw out the key points.

My son is a great fan of designing his own drills (he is as sad as his father then!), but I have to modify them a little...

What I have found is that for any game: the fewer the rules the better. That's why some great ideas for games can be scuppered because the kids find it difficult to understand. With under 6s on the beach a few years ago I discovered that a simple game like "end ball" (or sometimes known as rugby netball) is great fun for about 10 minutes and I let the boys decide the rules. "That's unfair" was a good way of deciding if the rule should stick or not. I must say this was a trial and error process and if I had my time again with that particular age group I would have been less rules and drills orientated and more "let them play".

At the moment it is management issues we are discussing and implement codes of conduct, food after the game, kit etc.

Look forward to hearing more!

RE: Coaching Under 8s

Scrumsrus — Mon, 21 May 2007 16:48:57 GMT

[quote][b]DanC (17/05/2007)[/b][hr]I am just starting to coach my son's Under 8's team.

What are my biggest worries?

1. Coaching my own son.

2. Time to concentrate on the rugby versus time to organise everything else.

3. Getting frustrated by the behaviour of other teams (assuming I can get my lot to behave, and that includes the parents!)

4. Maintaining some levels of concentration.

I don't care if we win more than lose or vice versa. That's the aim anyway.

And I shall keep you updated on this as I go along....

Dan[/quote]

Hi Dan,

As a coach who is in this situation also, here is my take on everythg.

[p]Let your son know that when your coaching he is just another player in your squad. Then treat him exactly the same as the others, if anything I ask more of my kids than I do of others.[/p]
[p]Planning and organisation are everything. At my club I plan the sessions and other coaches deliver it, this allows me to be free to "Float". Doing it this way I can develop my Coaches and players at the same time. The coaches have the freedom to alter the practices according to the abilities of the kids they ae working with. I can correct the players errors and, in our set up just as importantly, the coaches errors too. In addition to this I deliver certain parts of the sesion as well so I get "Hands on" and hopefully give the other coaches a "Model" to work to.[/p]
[p]On the behavior front there is very little you can do about the behaviour of other sides, unless your the Referee as well. ;) As for your team and their parents, we have issued [b]everyone[/b] (Players, Coaches, Referees & Parents / Spectators) with a Code of Conduct, which we enforce. In addition we [b]NEVER[/b] have the kids doing nothing, as soon as the first child arrives for the session they are given an excersise to do and all new arrivals join in. One coach is given this role each week and because the kids are always active we have very few problems and none of the serious problems I've seen at other clubs. [/p]
[p]To maintain concentration we never work on any skill for more than 7 mins, and our "Actual" session is 1 hour long with a water break in the middle which also helps concentration. In hot weather we increase the number of water breaks, because dehidration is a significant factor in fatigue. The maximum length of time anyone can concentrate is 40 minuites, but even durring this time concentration levels will rise and fall. However a person can maintain a high level of concentration on one thing for 7 minuites so we work with these times.[/p]

Good Luck.

Coaching Under 8s

DanC — Thu, 17 May 2007 10:44:43 GMT

I am just starting to coach my son's Under 8's team. I have done my season plan and designed 15 rugby related games to illustrate skills and techniques.

What are my biggest worries?

1. Coaching my own son.

2. Time to concentrate on the rugby versus time to organise everything else.

3. Getting frustrated by the behaviour of other teams (assuming I can get my lot to behave, and that includes the parents!)

4. Maintaining some levels of concentration.

However I am looking forward to it because:

1. I love rugby

2. I love coaching rugby

3. I love watching players develop

I don't care if we win more than lose or vice versa. That's the aim anyway.

And I shall keep you updated on this as I go along....

Dan