How To Coach Players Who Are Not Interested

Why Soccer – For The Game or For My Friends

“They are killing me, they are driving me nuts.” words of one of my coaching colleagues (A.T), making reference to his under 10 girls team. “They just don’t pay attention at practice, they are more interested in socializing, than playing,” he bemoaned.

If you are coaching a youth team it is highly unlikely you will have a group of players with a passion for the game. Some may not like soccer at all. To compound your problems, you may end up with players with very low skills and no interest to improve.

Who’s Interested – Parent or Player

Having coached in multiple programs – recreation, after-school, camps, clinics, and tournaments I get to experience different personalities and interests. Those differences are on full display during practices and at games.

There are kids who have an issue with everything during practice, after practice, and at games. Those personalities have brought out the worst in me. I have issued time outs, ignored questions, told them to be quiet, and raised my voice. I have been frustrated to the point you blurt out the question, ‘why do you enroll in soccer, if you don’t like soccer?

Coaching With Detractors (Social Ones)

Have you not said to yourself, ‘this is killing me.’ ‘I can’t do this much longer.’ I can imagine you have a ‘ring leader’ or two who try to gain the attention of other players to bond socially. Their interest is not soccer, the practice, or the game. However, the environment of being around friends is an opportunity to exchange social ideas

As a coach, you want to prepare your players through training, and planning for competition. I know nothing is more annoying than the player(s) who don’t make the group better and is more about them than the team.

Performance Environment

If you are training young teams, getting them going is a task when you have those who have a multitude of questions. That often sets off a trend as they all crave coach’s attention.

In addition, there is no getting around disinterested, provoking, and disrupting players. That is the ‘raw fabric’ of youth sports regardless of whether they are selected or not. You will have those who try to bend/break every rule, those who need all the attention, those who think every action should be centered around them. On top of that are those who are not interested in the sport.

You need to learn how to manage this environment so that you can coach with confidence, and enjoy your experiences on the field. By nature, young players are always going to be disruptive. There are those who participate for the opportunity to socialize, to be with friends, and to say I am on a team.

They are not passionate about soccer as you.

Player Management

Managing your training environment is the key for you to coach with confidence while getting the best out of your players.

Follow these 5 steps to manage your environment.

Master the art of preparing and planning. Practices are most effective when they are planned prior to getting to the field. Design your training, taking into consideration if all players will attend, and how to adapt if they don’t.
Organization (setup). Avoid getting into conversations with players or parents before you setup your training environment.
Area of Concentration. Focus on your players who want to play. Players who are not interested will either follow along with the group or choose to opt-out.
The Best Teacher. Your players will be active and involved when you create games.
Coaching. Recognize effort. Praise, encourage, and support. Value the contribution of those participating. Players not interested want attention and recognition. Recognize them for participation.

Adapt or Die

There is no getting away from players who are not interested in practice or games. They attend for other reasons. If given the opportunity they were will interfere and distract other players making your task a lot harder.

You need to manage your group, and that starts with knowing personalities, planning, and organizing.

Let me know how you have been managing your players.

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