Private soccer coaching

[Unregistered]

Yes it Is

Thank you all for this discussion, as a parent just getting started in the world of soccer parenting this has been very helpful.

However, my family lives outside of Portland, in the Yamhill county area, does anyone know of a good personal trainer who works in this area?

Additionally, my kids are young 8 and 5, the reason I am looking for a trainer is that there is not a very strong club around here, particularly for younger kids, there is only Park and Rec as far as I can tell and although I play a lot with the kids and played the game myself, I want them to learn from someone else.

The ideal would be to find a good team for them, but as far as I can tell that is not an option around here, so is the idea of a personal trainer at those ages preposterous?

Sorry for writing a novel, thanks in advance for any help.

Kids that age don't need a personal trainer. Find them a team and if you want to help them encourage them the kick a ball as often as possible. Kick it to each other or against a wall or with a friend. The more times they kick a ball the better off they'll be. Even if you haven't played the fundamentals of hitting a ball and trying to control it is something you can learn well enough to get your kids started. Plus you get to spend time with them and it's fun. Double bonus. Even at the older ages I'm not a fan of personal trainers. It's about playing, and playing a lot away from practice. Not being "trained."

[Unregistered]

Kids that age don't need a personal trainer. Find them a team and if you want to help them encourage them the kick a ball as often as possible. Kick it to each other or against a wall or with a friend. The more times they kick a ball the better off they'll be. Even if you haven't played the fundamentals of hitting a ball and trying to control it is something you can learn well enough to get your kids started. Plus you get to spend time with them and it's fun. Double bonus. Even at the older ages I'm not a fan of personal trainers. It's about playing, and playing a lot away from practice. Not being "trained."

Obviously you're not a fan of personal training. I am. I think you will need to not only look at where you can find one, but also a developmental program to enroll the kids in. You mentioned there not being a strong program in your area. All the more reason. Fundamentals are extremely important in the early years. If they are being taught incorrectly it could be tough down the road when playing against kids who have had the extra training.
I'm sure this post will meet with a ton of resistance so in the end, do whats best for your children and you.

[Unregistered]

Not Resistance

Personal training is all well and fine but in my view it's not a difference maker and can create as many problems as it solves. Namely, disagreements between a coach and trainer. I agree that kids need to be properly taught, but basic foot skills can be taught to little kids by nearly anyone who has played or coached. The difference maker is getting out and playing. If it takes a trainer to make that happen, go for it, but the best players are and will always be those that are self motivated and love to play.

[Unregistered]

Personal training is all well and fine but in my view it's not a difference maker and can create as many problems as it solves. Namely, disagreements between a coach and trainer. I agree that kids need to be properly taught, but basic foot skills can be taught to little kids by nearly anyone who has played or coached. The difference maker is getting out and playing. If it takes a trainer to make that happen, go for it, but the best players are and will always be those that are self motivated and love to play.

To me, the critical component is learning the fundamentals. If "dad" can teach that, then great. However, most are not qualified enough to do more than playing with the kid (myself included). All too often a child reaches high school without knowing the fundamentals - no different than a proper batting swing or jump shot. Repetitively doing a bad habit only reinforces the bad habit. I view a personal trainer as merely supplementing the time that a child absolutely has to put in - not a substitute, but nothing wrong with it.

[Unregistered]

Thank you all for this discussion, as a parent just getting started in the world of soccer parenting this has been very helpful.

However, my family lives outside of Portland, in the Yamhill county area, does anyone know of a good personal trainer who works in this area?

Additionally, my kids are young 8 and 5, the reason I am looking for a trainer is that there is not a very strong club around here, particularly for younger kids, there is only Park and Rec as far as I can tell and although I play a lot with the kids and played the game myself, I want them to learn from someone else.

The ideal would be to find a good team for them, but as far as I can tell that is not an option around here, so is the idea of a personal trainer at those ages preposterous?

Sorry for writing a novel, thanks in advance for any help.

We too live in Yamhill County area. My teen daughter played parks and rec for a year and half in McMinnville before moving onto a bigger club in the Portland area. The parks and rec is a good start for the young ones, it gives them plenty of touches on the ball, time to learn and time to make mistakes, when they get to be about 9 or 10 and their level of play is far & above the others then its good to move them.

I give her parks n rec coach the credit for teaching my daughter the basics of soccer, seeing that she had natural talent and fostering it, teaching her amazing foot skills. Yes, he was one in a million, wouldn't say their are alot of rec coaches that have his talent with kids (most are parent volunteers).

She is now an amazing player (yes I'm bias-but it is true) because she had a good foundation to build on. Never under-estimate those volunteer coaches. Take the time to see what is out there in your area.

One of the best things you can do right now is have them playing with a ball all the time, they should have a ball at their feet constantly, sitting at the table, in their bedroom, when they go for walks. Also, juggling the ball. These are all things they can do on their own that will teach them to control and feel the ball as if it was a part of them.

Remember they are little kids and whatever they are doing needs to be fun. Let them learn the basics, encourage them to try hard but most importantly they need to love it. My daughter loved soccer, she loved being challenged. she loved the idea that if she set a goal and met it she was praised and rewarded (at that age it is so important). Get them every opportunity to play soccer, indoor, futsal, outside in the mud & rain. Take them out the the local soccer fields and have them run with the ball, shoot the ball, head the ball. It is all about time with the ball.

If your truely serious about getting them training, a group setting at their age will be more beneficial. There are several clubs that offer developmental academies. You'll have to drive but you will find that over time it's worth the time & gas. We were very happy with the club we moved our daughter to when she outgrew her local team. She was 9 when we moved her. Best choice we made. We see the girls who she played with local playing here still and the level of soccer can't begin to compare (classic vs Gold). We relyed on the great coaching staff at her club to take her to the next level. She's had several mates who've had personal coaching and I can say that I truely never saw much of a difference (if any at all) between them and her. It all comes down to your child and their work ethic & having them with the right club/coaches.

[Soca lova]

Bottom line

The poster above is right on the money. It all comes down to what motivates your kids. At their age they are still developing fine motor skills, and most elementary age kids I know are all about playing. Find out what motivates them (them, not you, a mistake many of us parents make) and make it fun. One kid practiced all summer with the goal of being able to juggle 1,000 times before dropping the ball. Not only is this a tremendous footskill exercise, it also is counting, and focus oriented.

What I have seen of personal trainers is they are great at fine tuning, but if they are used to teach "the basics" it is a waste of their time and your money. Sign em up for parks and rec and see if they have the passion, talk about your passion, play with them. Someday you may decide they need a trainer, but it is too early now.

[Unregistered]

Getting out and playing will always be better than personal training. While I'm not against personal training I would much rather see kids play in pick up games. They learn to be more creative. That's how the rest of the world is so good. I don't like it when people compare it to "well if my kid wanted to play piano I wouldn't teach them myselves". It's not the same. We're already paying the coach to teach the game. If your child plays the piano are you going to pay the trainer to teach them and then pay another trainer to teach them as well?

[Unregistered]

Right on the Money (both ways)

The poster above is right on the money. It all comes down to what motivates your kids. At their age they are still developing fine motor skills, and most elementary age kids I know are all about playing. Find out what motivates them (them, not you, a mistake many of us parents make) and make it fun. One kid practiced all summer with the goal of being able to juggle 1,000 times before dropping the ball. Not only is this a tremendous footskill exercise, it also is counting, and focus oriented.

What I have seen of personal trainers is they are great at fine tuning, but if they are used to teach "the basics" it is a waste of their time and your money. Sign em up for parks and rec and see if they have the passion, talk about your passion, play with them. Someday you may decide they need a trainer, but it is too early now.

If you really want to help your kid along, get out there and kick the ball. If you didn't play someone can show you (a friend, neighbor, coach) the basics of passing, shooting and trapping. It's no different than playing catch. You don't need to be a big league manager to teach a grade schooler how to catch and throw. But, most important of all: make sure that you spend as much or more time with the weak foot than strong. That more than anything else will help your young player along.

[Logic]

We too live in Yamhill County area. My teen daughter played parks and rec for a year and half in McMinnville before moving onto a bigger club in the Portland area. The parks and rec is a good start for the young ones, it gives them plenty of touches on the ball, time to learn and time to make mistakes, when they get to be about 9 or 10 and their level of play is far & above the others then its good to move them.

I give her parks n rec coach the credit for teaching my daughter the basics of soccer, seeing that she had natural talent and fostering it, teaching her amazing foot skills. Yes, he was one in a million, wouldn't say their are a lot of rec coaches that have his talent with kids (most are parent volunteers).

She is now an amazing player (yes I'm bias-but it is true) because she had a good foundation to build on. Never under-estimate those volunteer coaches. Take the time to see what is out there in your area.

One of the best things you can do right now is have them playing with a ball all the time, they should have a ball at their feet constantly, sitting at the table, in their bedroom, when they go for walks. Also, juggling the ball. These are all things they can do on their own that will teach them to control and feel the ball as if it was a part of them.

Remember they are little kids and whatever they are doing needs to be fun. Let them learn the basics, encourage them to try hard but most importantly they need to love it. My daughter loved soccer, she loved being challenged. she loved the idea that if she set a goal and met it she was praised and rewarded (at that age it is so important). Get them every opportunity to play soccer, indoor, futsal, outside in the mud & rain. Take them out the the local soccer fields and have them run with the ball, shoot the ball, head the ball. It is all about time with the ball.

If your truely serious about getting them training, a group setting at their age will be more beneficial. There are several clubs that offer developmental academies. You'll have to drive but you will find that over time it's worth the time & gas. We were very happy with the club we moved our daughter to when she outgrew her local team. She was 9 when we moved her. Best choice we made. We see the girls who she played with local playing here still and the level of soccer can't begin to compare (classic vs Gold). We relyed on the great coaching staff at her club to take her to the next level. She's had several mates who've had personal coaching and I can say that I truely never saw much of a difference (if any at all) between them and her. It all comes down to your child and their work ethic & having them with the right club/coaches.

Sorry this is so long:

Thanks for the info, much appreciated, I decided to register here, so people could keep track of who they were replying to. I was the original poster that you quoted.

I probably should have given more info overall in my original question. I live in Mac and I have two daughters playing like I said, one is 5 and one is 8. I am new to soccer parenting, but I am not new to soccer. I played a lot myself growing up.

I play with my girls all the time, we have neighborhood kids come by for pickup games in our backyard, I teach my girls proper technique and concentrate on foot skills and having fun.

The problems I need help with at this point is deciding what to do from here. The 8 year old plays on the local club team and is having fun doing her thing, they are coached by local parent coaches, but they are good guys and know their stuff pretty well. However, the club is pretty small and essentially divided up into the teams and there is not a lot of individual instruction or interaction with anyone else at the club. Thus my curiosity about an individual trainer.

The eight year old is not my biggest question though, the 5 year old is the one I am kind of lost on. She has a lot of drive and wants to do everything her older sister does, she wants to be on a club team and travel, get a cool uniform and all that.

She wanted to be on a team, so we had her on a U6 Rec team (the first level) when she was 4, she loved it, but she was a little beyond that level of play at the time. She then played Park and Rec again this year at the appropriate age and had a blast. However, it was a complete disaster for her teammates, coach, opponents and her parents.

She should play up, but the city does not allow that from what I can tell. So now Park and rec is out of the question AND there are no clubs around for her age group.

Now her sister will be playing futsal with the local club this winter, but they don't have anything below U9 and my 5 year old feels left out, so I thought a personal trainer for both of them might be a good solution.

Long story short; I want to be their dad, not their coach. I don't want to be one of "those" parents, but they want to play and I don't have a lot of options in my area, so I came on here to see if anyone knew about something I didn't. Is there a weekend thing with one of the Portland clubs we could do? Is there something in the Yamhill area I am not aware of? Would a personal trainer make sense, anyone have any other suggestions?

Feel free to PM me if you would prefer.

Thank you all for your help and insight.

[Logic]

The poster above is right on the money. It all comes down to what motivates your kids. At their age they are still developing fine motor skills, and most elementary age kids I know are all about playing. Find out what motivates them (them, not you, a mistake many of us parents make) and make it fun. One kid practiced all summer with the goal of being able to juggle 1,000 times before dropping the ball. Not only is this a tremendous footskill exercise, it also is counting, and focus oriented.

What I have seen of personal trainers is they are great at fine tuning, but if they are used to teach "the basics" it is a waste of their time and your money. Sign em up for parks and rec and see if they have the passion, talk about your passion, play with them. Someday you may decide they need a trainer, but it is too early now.

I get what you are saying, but my problem is my younger daughter, who's motivation is to play and compete and do everything her older sister does. She did park and rec like you said and she has the passion, I have been trying to put the breaks on her, but she wants to play.

Park and rec was not a good experience, the coaches were nice, but I basically ran the practices because their only experience was football. My daughter ruined the experience for her teammates and opponents and made watching an uncomfortable experience for my wife and I.

I thought a personal trainer might help the 8 year old, as her club team concentrates more on tactics and I like her to learn from someone other than me and it would allow my 5 year old to keep playing since I don't know what else to do with her.

I agree that it is not a very good solution and I think you and everyone else has talked me out of it, but I still need to figure out something for my younger daughter to do and I would also like my 8 year old to get better instruction than she is getting now.

Any ideas?

[Unregistered]

I know it's a long drive but the clubs in the Portland area do offer U10 and U9 on the weekends. My child played U10 when he was 5 and other than a size difference did just fine.

[Logic]

I know it's a long drive but the clubs in the Portland area do offer U10 and U9 on the weekends. My child played U10 when he was 5 and other than a size difference did just fine.

Awesome, that is what I am looking for, a solution!

What club, do you know who I should contact?

[Unregistered]

Awesome, that is what I am looking for, a solution!

What club, do you know who I should contact?

Most of the big clubs will be playing indoor this winter and will participate in a U9 and U10 league in the fall. You can contact any of them. Since you have daughters I would suggest FC Portland or THUSC.

THUSC (Tualatin Hills United Soccer Club) www.thusc.org
WSM (Westside Metro) www.westsidemetros.com
FC Portland www.fcportland.org
Lake Oswego Soccer Club www.losc.bonzidev.com
Southside Soccer Club www.southsidesoccer.org

[Soca lova]

Awesome, that is what I am looking for, a solution!

What club, do you know who I should contact?

Those are great club contacts above, since we have winter upon us you might also contact some of the indoor centers (google will get you their info) many of them have Programs.

Good luck finding a home, it may feel like it, but you are not the first to face these problems.

Other resources are the folks at Far post or Tursi's. They usually have a pretty good grasp of the different options.

[Unregistered]

More Info

Sorry this is so long:

Thanks for the info, much appreciated, I decided to register here, so people could keep track of who they were replying to. I was the original poster that you quoted.

I probably should have given more info overall in my original question. I live in Mac and I have two daughters playing like I said, one is 5 and one is 8. I am new to soccer parenting, but I am not new to soccer. I played a lot myself growing up.

I play with my girls all the time, we have neighborhood kids come by for pickup games in our backyard, I teach my girls proper technique and concentrate on foot skills and having fun.

The problems I need help with at this point is deciding what to do from here. The 8 year old plays on the local club team and is having fun doing her thing, they are coached by local parent coaches, but they are good guys and know their stuff pretty well. However, the club is pretty small and essentially divided up into the teams and there is not a lot of individual instruction or interaction with anyone else at the club. Thus my curiosity about an individual trainer.

The eight year old is not my biggest question though, the 5 year old is the one I am kind of lost on. She has a lot of drive and wants to do everything her older sister does, she wants to be on a club team and travel, get a cool uniform and all that.

She wanted to be on a team, so we had her on a U6 Rec team (the first level) when she was 4, she loved it, but she was a little beyond that level of play at the time. She then played Park and Rec again this year at the appropriate age and had a blast. However, it was a complete disaster for her teammates, coach, opponents and her parents.

She should play up, but the city does not allow that from what I can tell. So now Park and rec is out of the question AND there are no clubs around for her age group.

Now her sister will be playing futsal with the local club this winter, but they don't have anything below U9 and my 5 year old feels left out, so I thought a personal trainer for both of them might be a good solution.

Long story short; I want to be their dad, not their coach. I don't want to be one of "those" parents, but they want to play and I don't have a lot of options in my area, so I came on here to see if anyone knew about something I didn't. Is there a weekend thing with one of the Portland clubs we could do? Is there something in the Yamhill area I am not aware of? Would a personal trainer make sense, anyone have any other suggestions?

Feel free to PM me if you would prefer.

Thank you all for your help and insight.

Okay, I signed up to PM you but I'm having some problems getting it to work. I have a name of someone here local that would be benefical to talk to. As soon as I get it to work, I'll send you the info.

Also, I would vote for contacting FC Portland off Hwy 26 (50 minute drive), has a great program for both the kids.