3U – 5U Grasshopper and Munchkin Volunteer Coaches
The Grasshopper and Munchkin Program will always have qualified Skyline Soccer staff coaches at each park to run or assist in running a practice. As part of the Grassroots soccer philosophy we feel that parent involvement at a young age is absolutely vital to player development. This is where you come in.
If you’re interested in coaching your child’s team this season, we’d love to have you! Each week you’ll play games and run activities to help your players develop their soccer skills. Skyline has on-site staff available if you need any help with your team or have any questions about coaching. We also provide supplemental coaching resources and weekly coach plans before the season starts. As a coach, you’ll receive:
- Weekly coaching lesson plans for the duration of the season
- Weekly email updates prior to and throughout the season
- A t-shirt that matches your team’s
- Skyline also brings and sets up all the equipment you will need as a coach – goals, pinnies, cones, and even balls – so all you need to bring is yourself.
- Be involved! We request at least one parent from each team be present each practice to help coach the team. Parent coaches greet the team and play soccer games to help players develop their soccer skills. Weekly coaching plans are provided to all parent volunteers to assist with this. We also setup and provide all the equipment you will need. Please note, if no one volunteers to coach and we are short staffed that day, we will ask parents to step in and coach that practice.And don’t worry – you won’t be alone! Skyline has on-site staff available if you need any help with your team or have any questions about coaching. We also provide lots of coaching resources before the season starts.
- Participate in the warm-up! Each program starts with a group warm-up led by the Skyline staff. Your team will look to you as an example of how to loosen up, stretch, and get ready for a fun day of soccer!
- Review the coach plan each week. Before each session, you will be emailed a weekly plan to use with your team. The activities we use in each plan are developmentally appropriate for the 2.5 – 5 year old age group. Different teams have different personalities, so you may derive from the plan a bit or not use every activity. While this is understandable, we strive to ensure that each player within our program gets a similar experience regardless of the team they are on.
- Keep everyone on your team moving! We strive to teach children about the importance of staying active. As a coach, you have the ability to keep your players running, jumping, skipping and moving throughout the entire program. Please avoid drills that involve players waiting in lines, passing drills, or other activities where children have to stand around a lot or wait for their turn.
- Ask for help. Each program has a number of Club Coaches on hand to assist you with whatever you need. If you’d like an extra set of hands on the field, an assistant coach, or help with a game or two – do not hesitate to call over a Club Coach to help. Just look for the folks wearing blue Skyline Club Coach shirts
- Set realistic expectations for yourself and your team. Whether your team is scrimmaging for the first time or playing a simple game like red-light/green-light, 2.5 – 5 year old players can loose their focus. Just remember that this experience is many kids first time being in an organized sport. They are still figuring out how to follow instructions and listen! As long as you are trying your best, having fun, using positive reinforcement, and using the tips we provide you in the volunteer parent coach manual, you will keep your players engaged and ensure they have a positive experience.
- Bring a smile to the field and have fun! Your team looks to you as their soccer role model. If you’re excited to play and happy to be at the field, they will be too!
- Go to our online registration page.
- Select the, “PARENT COACHES – GRASSHOPPERS & MUNCHKINS” link for the correct season under the Grasshoppers and Munchkins title.
- Log-in and fill out the necessary fields.
- Remember to indicate your child’s name.
- Also note any important information that we should know about your needs as a coach (such as t-shirt size, head or assistant coach preference, etc.)
- Once your registration is complete, you will receive a confirmation email.
6U-8U Volunteer Coaches
The success of our program relies on dedicated volunteer parent coaches. Without these amazing contributions we would be unable to provide our families the service they deserve.
If you’re interested in coaching your son or daughter’s team this season, we’d love to have you! Each week, you’ll greet your team, lead them through warm-up, and play soccer games to help your players develop their soccer skill. Skyline has staff are available if you need any help with your team or have any questions about coaching. We also provide supplemental coaching resources and weekly coach plans before the season starts. As a coach, you’ll receive:
- Coach plans for the entire season
- Equipment such as cones, balls and pennies to help your practices run smoothly
- Team Communications You as the coach are in charge of all team communications for your team. You will be asked to confirm your team understands when and where you practice, have a copy of the game schedule, are aware of any reschedules and any other information that comes up throughout the season.
- Set Up Practices At this age each team will have one practice each week. We will work with you as the coach to determine when and where the practice will be held each week. We will work with you to find a practice location and time that will work for your team each season.
- Run A Weekly Practice You will be in charge of running a weekly practice each week or find a substitute if you are unable to make a practice. We provide coaching plans for you to use if the soccer side of things are unfamiliar to you or you are new to coaching. If you ever have questions about practices or what your players should be learning please speak with the Skyline Staff! We would love to help you!
- Handle Game Day Operations Your team will have a game each week on Saturdays. You are responsible for running your team during the game. You will take care of substitutions, lineups and keeping the game fun for your players! We do not push winning at this age group so please help us keep the game fun and enjoyable for your players!
Here are some helpful tips to running a highly successful season no matter what your teams age group or ability level is!
- Create a Team Focus Find a few areas of the game that you want your players to be very skilled at and emphasize that during your training sessions. At 6U we encourage coaches to focus on coordination and familiarity with the ball while also working towards being more comfortable on the soccer ball. At 7U & 8U we encourage coaches to focus on ball control and technical ability. If you choose to focus on a different area we encourage you to still keep the above focus as a high priority to ensure players develop properly.
- Keep Soccer Fun! As a youth coach you should rate your success according to the number of players who return each season because the sport is fun. If practices are dull and overly difficult or if the games are stressful because the coach or a parent is giving a player more than they can handle then they will drop the sport quickly for something more fun. As the coach you are the “Captain of Fun!”
- Don’t Joystick Coach Many coaches will fall into the trap of “joystick coaching.” This is where the coach tells the player every single thing they should do when they are on the field. Players will learn best by trying something, making mistakes and learning from the mistakes. Coaches should focus on creating an environment where players are encouraged to take risks and are not punished for failing. This will develop problem solvers and decision makers.
To get signed up:
- Go to our online registration page.
- Select the, “COACH” link for the correct age group under the Recreational title.
- Log-in and fill out the necessary fields.
- Remember to indicate your player’s name (First & Last name included).
- Also note any important information that we should know about your needs as a coach (such as t-shirt size, head of assistant coach preference, etc.)
- Once your registration is complete, your will receive a confirmation email.
6U-8U Coach Resources
- Overview
- Dribbling Session Plans
- Shooting & Ball Striking Session Plans
- Passing Session Plans
- Goalkeeper Session Plans
- Archived Session Plans
In an effort to create a comprehensive curriculum for the 6U-8U program, and to foster a strong coaching culture at Skyline, we’ve created a Coaching Plan index for you to use thought the season. The coaching plans are organized in a way that will hopefully direct you to the best coaching plan for your team! As you look at the plans on the right you will see several different categories available online.
- 6U Session Plans – These session plans are recommended for 6U teams. Players at this age group are still very uncoordinated and must work to build balance and coordination, are very egocentric as they cannot see the world through others eyes yet and are incredibly imaginative. By taking special care to develop sessions that would connect best with this age group players at the 6U age group are given the best opportunity to succeed. Ball control is very important at this age. The sooner players get more comfortable with the ball at their feet the better.
- 7U/8U Session Plans – These session plans are recommended for 7U & 8U teams. Players at this age are beginning to develop physical confidence and coordination, love to imitate their heroes (athletes, super heroes, etc.) and enjoy playing group activities with their friends. By taking special care to develop sessions that would connect best with this age group players at the 7U & 8U age group are given the best opportunity to succeed. Again, ball control and mastery is very important. You can start out with the 6U sessions on ball control to see where your players ball control ability is before moving on to more in depth or challenging dribbling activities.
- Archived Session Plans – Skyline has been producing high quality session plans for our 6U-8U Coaches for years. In this section we have a list of some of the old session plans that were produced for our coaches in the past!
Please use these sessions to help give your players better training and improve overall development. Feel free to customize and tweak these sessions as needed for your team. Do not be afraid to repeat a session if it works well! Players will be able to master skills they learned if they go through a session again.
- Running vs Dribbling Touches #1 (6U)
- Running vs Dribbling Touches #2 (6U/7U)
- Running vs Dribbling Touches #3 (6U)
- Running vs Dribbling Touches #4 (7U/8U)
- 90* Change of Direction #1 (6U)
- 90* Change of Direction #2 (7U/8U)
- 180* Change of Direction #1 (6U)
- 180* Change of Direction #2 (7U/8U)
- Shielding (8U)
- 2v1
- 2v2
- Passing – Technique
- Passing – When/Where
- Pattern Play – Target Play
- Pattern Play – Possession Through Defense
- Pattern Play – Dutch Box
- Goalkeeper – Basic Catching
- Goalkeeper – Basic Footwork
- Goalkeeper – Keeper within the Team