The lofted kick is very useful, especially for defenders. Although it’s slightly more difficult to learn than a laces kick, it can be mastered by most players. Very tiny and light players sometimes have difficulty getting good air, because…

The referee is a central part of the game, although ideally you will hardly notice him, like the grass on the field. As well as making matter-of-fact decisions, most refs use what they observe to develop and refine a mental model of how the game is and should be going. If you give the ref suitable positive feedback, you will find that sometimes it is possible to influence his mental model, possibly to the benefit of your team or both teams.

What you think are mistakes or missed calls might just be legitimate differences of interpretation. The law is clear that…

It is possible to begin a game with players running from the parking lot onto the playing field just before the whistle blows. It is also possible to be on the short side of a 1 - 0 score within a few minutes of kickoff because your team wasn’t ready to play, physically or mentally. Showing up to a game on time means being on time for all warm-up activities. A coach can encourage punctuality by ...

Pre-game
Half-time
Post-game

If you have a lot of players on your roster, it can be a nightmare to organize who is going in when. In addition, you can be constantly interrupted with questions about “when do I go in, coach?”, which will distract your attention from the game. With all of these distractions, you can forget to put a player in - or lose track of the time to sub. This is a sure-fire way to get lots of players and parents upset with you.

What works? One of the easiest ways ...

Game time - but you don’t know anything about your opponents (or, when you scouted them, it turns out that 2 of their best players were missing, so it looks like you may have goofed in your assessment of them). What do you do now? ...