Filed under: Dave Clarke, Soccer Coaching, Soccer Skills | Tags: angry parents, English FA, league and cup ban, trevor brooking, u8 ban, under 8 ban, under 8 coaching
The move by the English FA to ban competitive soccer for under 8s will be a disappointment to coaches up and down the country who have been preparing for league soccer for a couple of seasons. I think it is a good idea but coaches need advice and guidance over how to play what would amount to friendlies.
Here at Better Soccer Coaching we have constantly been telling coaches to put the fun back into soccer and the skills will follow. I would like my under 8s to be playing competitive matches but then I have prepared them for it.
I am also blessed with strong supportive parents who do not chastise and shout at matches. But I am one of the lucky ones. There are also matches I attend where the opposition are hostile and the parents shout, so something has to be done to control it.
Will this be enough? Will parents and coaches stop shouting at players and at each other? I hope over the summer the FA adds to its blueprint and gives coaches something to aim for with a skills charter.
My head says it’s a good thing, but my heart wants to see under 8s with a winner’s medal.
David Clarke, editor, Better Soccer Coaching
