How JoyStick Coaching in Soccer Exploits Parents and Undermines Genuine Coaching Efforts.

Back in 2019 When I was the Director of Arkansas Rush FC in Little Rock. Grateful for the group of people I was fortunate to work with.

This topic is something that needs to be address in the process of working towards making American/US Soccer a global competitor. Otherwise, what is happening in Youth Club Soccer with the exploitation of parents will continue to destroy the potential of developing quality players that can compete at the highest level.

I remember coaching club soccer and having a system that used to frustrate the parent, but the players (kids) loved it. As a result, I have always had great relationships with the players I have worked with and still do till this day, no matter their age. In my system, I would work towards what Football/Soccer considers to be “Total Football”. I would develop players to be able to figure the game out on their own come game day, with a few coaching points here and there (Coaching points - more like questions that would trigger or ignite something in the players to think and find a solution as a team). My half-time team talks always allowed time for both the players to give feedback based on what they see from the perspective of being on the field. Followed by my perspective of whaat I am seeing from outside the field. With those two perspectives considered, we as a team, would then discuss a way forward and how to handle the game. The true reason behind this approach to games was because I am aware that on game-day and based on how Football/Soccer is like having 11 Quarter-backs in American Football on the field and therefore, things change a lot.

Joystick catching takes away from the brain power of a player. It doesn’t allow the player to be able to one(1) - Read the game; two(2) - See what the game is giving you, three(3) - develop a plan on what might be best to do based on what has been worked on at practice, four(4) - apply the coaches tactics to see if they work against the opponent or whether they need adjustment (Coaches Side Note: This is a point where a coach can tell which players are coachable and which cannot follow a team plan and five(5) - should the player figure it out, the joy and fun of overcoming adversity. This is just five(5) points and there are many more to consider. Not to mention that JOyStick Coaching I believe is also a way for coaches to hide the fact that they are tactically lacking and don’t know what else or how else to coach Soccer players and help them truly develop and so they hide behind a frustrated loud voice yelling instructions on every play with a mix comments like “Don’t do that”, or “Who was that to?” and loud question like “Why would you do that?” in moments that leave the player ponding the same thing all the while dealing with the transition of offense to defense.

The part that frustrated the parents the most was due to the fact that - In order to be able to develop a player to become anything that resembles “Total-Football” I would first have to limit the player from what they are used to doing at practices. For example - Shooting practice for the first two (2) months, We would see where everyone is on Ball control (The fundamentals of the sport), then we would move on to passing and spacing, and then ball possession. As a result, In the first two months, I would have parents calling after practice, my board of directors telling me about how displeased some parents were because we never shoot or work on shooting, and on game days I would have parents coaching and yelling instructions that went against their own Childs development (Some kids had more potential than their own parents even realized and some. parents have cause their kids to burn-out as a result of too much pressure and not allowing the kid to develop genuinely within the sport).

This game is not an American Sport that is soul but;d around the coach. This is a players sport where the Coach contributes more at practice and less on game day. simple as that, and if parent; coaches and players(kids) can come together to understand that part. We can potentially get rid of JoyStick Coaching.