Soccer Guide for Parents

This article was written by Danillo Andrade, a 31-year-old soccer coach who is also Director of Zone 1 at MLS Next Club FC Westchester New York. Danillo has over 13 years of coaching experience in the youth landscape and has been with FC Westchester for 5 years in this role. Danillo also played for SNHU where he was 3x NE-10 champion and NCAA National Champion in 2013. Danillo was inducted into the SNHU Sports Hall of Fame along with all members of the 2013 National Championship Team. Danillo also played PDL for CFC Azul, Westchester Flames, & Seacoast United.

Read time: 3 minutes

In this insightful guide, Danillo shares key considerations for parents, emphasizing long-term growth and fostering a positive soccer environment. Let's delve into the wisdom that FutWise and Danillo bring to help navigate the path to success in your child's soccer journey.

Evaluating Intrinsic Passion

Any development should come from the child as they will be the ones who develop. Does the child have the desire to develop? Is the child playing with the ball without being told to? Is he or she truly passionate or do they just like to play?

These are questions parents should know the answer to before picking a club. When choosing a club, it should match the skill of their child and their level of commitment to the sport. Parents should prioritize long-term development versus short-term development. At the younger ages, when they play 7v7 or 9v9, is that club working on skills that will translate to the 11v11 game versus focusing on what will bring success to 7v7 or 9v9 ?For example, teaching players how to create their own scoring chances versus pressing and scoring on forced mistakes of the other team and being proficient in 1v1 attacking and defending versus giving them specific patterns to play out of the back. Is the club and environment allowing their child to be a self-thinker and being the best version of themselves or trying to fit them into what they believe a good player is?

Prioritizing Long-Term Development

Parents shouldn't be pushing their child in the beginning, and they should be working in a supporting role. Supporting would be understanding the landscape and doing their homework regarding coaches, leagues, and teams to help their child take advantage of opportunities as they grow.

Supporting without Pressuring

The encouragement should come by providing additional training if that player asks for it and shows he truly wants to be better and wants to invest their time in the sport. At a young age, they see the game as fun, and you cannot take that away by introducing pressure/expectations because they are not at a cognitive level to process that and will walk away from the sport.

Fostering Independence

I like to tell parents to enjoy these moments as they pass quickly. Please encourage them to work hard and not focus on skill and technical execution because they are still learning and developing.

Parental Involvement during Games

Parents should not be coaching from the sideline. Sometimes, what parents yell out during games is the opposite of what the coaches are trying to do for their development. I will give you a great example of people yelling, "Clear it or Boot it." We are developing players who are brave and try to find a solution versus kicking the ball away.

Embracing Learning Moments

For me, it is a huge red flag when a player is always looking for his parents on the sideline or speaking to them during the games. I always tell my parents to take into perspective that this is their moment to learn, and they will learn from their own mistakes. As parents, we want to give our kids the answer, and sometimes, we do not comprehend why kids make simple mistakes, but we need to be patient and allow them to figure it out independently.

Fostering Professional Aspirations

As you know, young kids do not fully understand the commitment it takes to become a professional player. Still, if you ask most kids their dreams, they will tell you it is to be a professional player. As a parent, I would explain it to them and create a schedule to help them along their way but leave it up to the child to follow. This will show the parents if they are self-motivated and are genuinely committed to their dreams.

Developing Resilience

I do not know about you, but I never needed motivation from my parents to play or train. I was the one asking for more and not the other way around.

 Parents need to look at development long-term. They also need to allow their child to go through bad moments and not take away adversity from their life. A big issue I see in the modern soccer landscape is that parents are too quick to take a player out of a club because of a problem versus allowing their child to learn from that experience. Dealing with adversity is a crucial attribute not only in soccer but in life, and as parents, we need to allow our children to practice dealing with it and not take that away from them.

Collaborating for Holistic Development

To collaborate with the coaches, I would ask them what you (parents) can do to assist. Does my child need extra help with his technique, fitness, personality, and game understanding? Then, I will provide my child with support in those areas outside of team training. Very few parents take evaluations from coaches and work in the areas noted, and later down the line, they get upset with the club and/or coach.

Fostering a Positive Team Environment

They can also collaborate by creating a fun parent/team environment during games and tournaments. This means that every parent is cheering for the other players and understanding that they are all in the same boat and enjoy it because kids will not remember beating a team 4-0 at U-10. They will remember the trips to tournaments and team activities.