Youth Soccer
"A Very Dumb Question? - NOT!"

My question is: how many defenders are you allowed to have? I wanted to play four my last game and the coach from the other team totally disagreed. Can you help me with this???

Koach Karl - FUNdamental Response...

Soccer is unlike any American sport and the opposing coach is pulling your leg :)

You need to develop 'Total' players:

Whenever a player receives the ball they become the quarterback (1st Attacker) of the team.

When they lose the ball they most become the best defender (1st Defender) on the team...

Teach your players to become 'total' soccer players which means:
Our ball - ALL players think and act like an attacker - GO for goal to score!

Their ball - ALL players think and act like a defender - Get the ball back -so that we can go to goal and score!

Hope this is of some help to you and let me know if you need more?

Your FUNdamental,
Koach Karl

Coach Lisa - Koach Karl, Thanks soooo much for the free advice!

Koach Karl - My pleasure!!!

Coach Lisa - It helped me alot for todays game.

Koach Karl - That is great to read..!

Coach Lisa - We played one of the toughest teams, we lost, but they only scored one point.

Koach Karl - No winners or losers at this age as long as the children are able to step on the field, run after the ball, know which goal to attack/defend after half-time and have a good time :)

Coach Lisa - Not bad for a bunch of 5-6 year olds.

Koach Karl - Not bad if they Played and had a Great Time :)

Coach Lisa - Out of 13 kids I have 4 that have played before, the rest are new to the game.

Koach Karl - Believe me, they are/will all be "new to the game" until after they have mastered all the techniques that this game demands. Experts have guess-timated that it takes approximatly 10,000 hours to accomplish this feat. So, your current squad has another 10 years to actually learn this game :)

Coach Lisa - With my being a first year coach I had no idea who to pick when it was draft time.

Koach Karl - It is not who you pick ... It is what you are able to teach the one's you pick! If you are able to instill the 'love of the game' in these children and they end up playing soccer for a life-time ... then you have accomplished the greatest results any youth coach can reach..!

Coach Lisa - But that is what makes coaching so fun, watching the new kids grow and progress.

Koach Karl - Could not have said it better :)

Coach Lisa - The fact that you offered me free advice was just awsome. Koach Karl - The fact that you asked for advice is just as awesome. Most adults working with children in soccer for the first time seem very hesitant to ask for advice and I compliment you for doing so..!

Coach Lisa - I was sad to see that almost all of the web sites that I checked wanted money just to answer a question or two. Something that I don't have alot of.

Koach Karl - FUNdamental Soccer was created to help change the playing environment for our children and it is the least I can do. If you have more questions (in the future) don't hesitate to send them to me ... I will respond as quickly as possible ... however, it may take some time to get back to you because of my hectic schedule :)

Coach Lisa - Thanks again for the advice!!!!

Koach Karl - You are very welcome!!!