Course Components
The course fee includes the Coaching Youth Soccer book (as a PDF), access to the online course and test, one-year access to the course and Coaching Aids (PDF downloads), automatic test scoring, certificate of course completion printable from the website, and entry in the National Coaches Registry. Nothing will be shipped to you, and you will have immediate access to the course upon purchase.

Course Description
Learn fundamental coaching concepts and responsibilities and come away with the most important coaching points of the major skills and tactics of youth soccer.

In this interactive online course, you’ll learn to prepare for your season and provide the best possible experience for your athletes. The course is supplemented by the Coaching Youth Soccer book—written by Human Kinetics Coach Education in conjunction with Sam Snow, director of coaching for US Youth Soccer—which is provided as a PDF from within the online course. As you progress through the online course, you’ll be prompted to read chapters to complete course activities.

The course includes many interactive exercises that apply and enrich concepts from the book. The course introduces volunteer coaches to the games approach to coaching, which uses small-sided games to teach skills and tactics. It also includes a handy Coaches’ Clipboard utility with forms, documents, and detailed plans for successful practice sessions and game-day coaching. The course concludes with an online 30-question test.

Learning Objectives
In this course, you’ll learn how to

• meet your coaching responsibilities, including examining your priorities as a coach;
• communicate effectively with players, parents, and officials;
• provide for safety and respond to injuries;
• develop a training program for players to promote lifelong fitness;
• understand the basic rules of soccer;
• create plans for your season and for individual practices;
• prepare for and coach on game day;
• teach and shape tactics and skills;
• teach five offensive tactics;
• teach three defensive tactics;
• teach five offensive skills; and
• teach three defensive skills.

Audience

This course is for coaches of athletes ages 6 to 13 participating in a recreational, noncompetitive setting.

Guided by a mentor coach, coaches face learning challenges in the following units:

• Your Responsibilities as Coach
• Communication
• Safety and Fitness
• Rules
• The Games Approach to Coaching
• Season and Practice Plans
• Game-Day Tactics and Skill Instruction
• Offensive and Defensive Tactics
• Offensive and Defensive Skills

Established in 1981 and rooted in an athlete-centered philosophy that places the developmental needs of athletes ahead of winning at all costs, Human Kinetics Coach Education courses and resources are customized and widely used by youth sport organizations, state high school associations, school districts, state departments of education, colleges and universities, and national governing bodies of Olympic sports to teach, train, and certify coaches.