Soccer for kids: Build skills, goals will come

Soccer teams should not be so concerned with results says Bart Choufour, head coach of the Vancouver Whitecaps Under 14 and 15 residency team. Instead, players should be encouraged to become creative, confident players.

In an interview with Kimiya Shokoohi that ran in the Province newspaper Choufour talked about the importance of player-focused practices.

“In building technique, skill and patience with the ball,” writes Shokoohi, “the goals will come.”

Choufour’s team is a good example. In the Whitecaps Showcase tournament in March they won 8-0, 2-1 and 2-0 against some of the best teams in Canada.

In the article, Choufour also described a few soccer training concepts that will help players of all ages become more skilled, and therefore better players. “Soccer games are made up of all kinds of different small-sided games,” he explained.

Choufour is using some of the basic principles we promote at Active for Life. It’s a simple, circular logic: players with good skills are able succeed in games. That leads to them being more confident. Which makes them better players.