27/05/2025
CAN PARENTS COACH?
I once saw a lady coaching her son (I assumed it was her son) football. I am not sure if she is a single parent, but her kid was about maybe 8 or less.
I could not help but notice the distance between them as she was kicking the ball to him, it was not the ideal distance for him to kick the ball to her. It was easy for her, but she did not understand that her kid did not lack the power to kick the ball towards her from a distance that was just too far, it was about 15 or more meters away, not ideal at that age.
It was a struggle for him, but he was giving her the clues as he was "pushing" the ball forward before kicking it, but he did not understand how to do it and she did not understand it either. He obviously did not have the power or muscle strength.
This is actually a problem with some qualified coaches too, who don't understand the concept or perception of space or time by kids.
If you were exposed to physical education as I was, we would understand this. I am not sure if parents would like a mentorship of sorts to be coached on how to coach a kid, but this is something I would like to do.
I would encourage the kid to be in a team environment if you are 10 above, but a kid can even be better even without a team environment and learning solo with their parents and doing it later as Son Heung Min of Spurs and South Korea did with his father.
This is all the more if psychologically the kid is timid, unless you have an understanding coach, but too much pressure nowdays in sports too and this is not what sports is for, here I have a graphic of how a parent or coach should behave...a guide line of sorts and if a parent needs help in coaching, please message me, because it is not just about football, but mastery of body and movement that can make your kid achieve what we call physical literacy.
