hey man

coached quite a few teams of that age in a few different sports (cricket/rugby/basketball)

prob the best lesson i learned was to not 'coddle' them too much and try to treat them as grown up as they'll allow. if they've played badly, don't destroy them as being rubbish, but don't be afraid to let them know where they're going wrong, and let them know if they need to try harder.
Often, if you treat them as adults they'll try to live up to that.

another thing i found was to get involved in the drills/fitness sessions early. don't be uber competitive but show them that they've got stuff to learn from you. kids that age tend to respect the person more than the position.

hope any of this helps!

good luck

obviously you're not going to be chatting to them like your buddies, but kids like to feel they're being spoken to on even terms. they get talked down to a lot in classes and start to see sports in a same way if coached in a similar fashion.
making them feel it's their choice to be there, and that they're grown up enough to benefit from that, gives them the belief that they've got a bit more of a personal input into what they're doing in training, and will take a more active interest rather than going through the motions as if at school.

12-13 is old enough. i suspect like me you've been through some pretty tough training from a pretty early age. just remember what level you were 'playing to'/'training at' and how your coach dealt with you when you had a 'teenage' moment, and what had the most positive results.

obviously not all kids are able to apply themselves, but on average in my experience i've got the best reaction from them from this.

buckeye1022 wrote: Coach to try to win, but don't make it the most important thing. At the end of the season, if they had fun and learned new skills, then I'd say you did your job.

Great summary!

Gurudefence wrote: Hello all, Since I am finishing Uni this Summer, I have been asked to coach/manage my brothers football (Soccer!) team. My brother is 12, and will be 13 when the season starts in Autumn. Now, I am only 20 years of age, and although I think I know a lot, I probably do not know a lot Just wondered if anyone here has got any experience with coaching/managing young children? I know that there is a few of you who coach American football at older ages, but still feel free to give your advice and opinions. Andy.

I was assistant coach for two years. In Germany the sport is called handball. The boys were 13 years old. I coached Defense and made some drills to increase speed and strenght.

My advice is explain what you do. As long as they kids know what and why you are doing the drills they will give 100%.

And your right every game where your kids give 100% is a win, if not more important.

Piet Bringer wrote: I had an accident were i lost my leg above the knee when i was 19. ... So i put on my Equipment and played LB.

Wow



All my respect!