Charlestown Youth Soccer
Association
Community Soccer for All
www.charlestownsoccer.com email: info@charlestownsoccer.com
Charlestown Youth Soccer Association (CYSA) Coaches Guidelines
[DAVID JACOBY CYSA BOARD MEMBER]
Development of Travel Team Coaches
The mission of CYSA is to encourage and develop the game of soccer in Charlestown.
Currently CYSA is the largest town sports program with over 380 players, supported by over
50 volunteers at the organizational, coaching and administrative levels. Our efforts and
energies for the Travel program are directed to the following objectives:
CYSA strives to develop all participating players to their highest capabilities by building
and improving their skills, confidence, fitness, initiative and a sense of teamwork.
CYSA is committed to developing coaches through a quality instructional program.
CYSA will actively promote and encourage the highest standards of sportsmanship and
fair play on and off the field.
CYSA will endeavor to offer travel team soccer to all deserving players in an economicneeds independent fashion.
This guideline is to provide recommendations for Travel team coaches concerning the
expectations the program has for coaches. The goals of these guidelines are to continue to
build on the growth of the program and to nurture a spirit of collaboration, education and
dedication of the coaches to the children in our program. CYSA depends critically on the
efforts and commitments of its coaches, and we wish to provide a framework by which each
coach can successfully develop their skills and communicate with their players and families.
Travel Coach Guidelines
1. Player Development Curriculum: just like in school, coaches at each age group should strive
to provide age appropriate development expectations for players. In order for players to
advance their skills and technique, this should be done at the earliest stages in a player’s
career, and developed as they progress. An example of an excellent age defined curriculum
is the Mass Youth Soccer Curriculum.
2. Coaching Development: coaching is a constantly evolving field and coaches need continuous
development. CYSA will provide courses and clinics for coaches, for which we strongly
encourage all coaches to attend and participate. All coaches should be at least a NSCAA ‘G’
level coach, which is obtained by an on-line tutorial. All coaches should supplement clinics
with discussions, videos, books, game analysis and supplemental resources. There are a
large number of on-line resources for drills, strategies, fitness and agility which each coach
should survey and incorporate into their lesson plans. CYSA will develop resources in a
shared on-line repository in which programs, lessons, drills and websites can be deposited
as a collective database.
3. Coaching Lesson Plans: the key to successful practices is to have a structured plan in place
for every practice. We highly recommend that this plan have an overall structure; for
example that early in the season the practices have greater fitness and agility content, and
as the season progresses, the emphasis should shift to player technical development
(dribbling, first touch, passing, shooting, tackling), to team technical development (onetouch passing, short-sided games), to situational development (corners, overlapping runs,
penetrating passes). We strongly encourage that practices have little ‘down’ time such as
waiting in lines, and that each practice has a structure with individual work (with or without
the ball), technical games and finish with a scrimmage or game. We also strongly
recommend that scrimmages be short sided so that all players are involved in game
situations. For example, for a practice of 16 players, it may be advantageous to run two 4 v 4
short-sided games, than a large 8 v 8, in which some players may not stay involved.
Encourage ‘homework’. Coaches only have 2 hours of practice; players should be committed
to the game by doing fitness sessions and some drills (juggling, feints) outside of practice.
4. Coaching Evaluations: we hope to provide more help to our coaches by having a nonintrusive amount of oversight to practice sessions. This is intended to provide constructive
feedback to coaches and help coaches with issues, rosters, practice plans and
communication problems. We hope to nurture an atmosphere in which we support and
work together with coaches.
5. Player Evaluations with feedback: part of coaching is to communicate with players and their
families the strengths and weaknesses of the player in a constructive manner to help the
player understand how they can improve as players and teammates. Coaches should
provide formalized feedback to players early in the season so players can focus on
strengthening weaknesses during practice; and at the end of the year so the player can
understand their progress during the season. This also becomes an integral part of the CYSA
evaluation and helps the family during placement and roster selections.
6. Player Conduct: Travel team play is a privilege, and players and families are expected to
respect the teams, coaches and players. CYSA has a code of conduct form that we expect all
players and families to sign and adhere to. If there are issues about player or family conduct,
the coach is expected to inform the Board Sportsmanship Committee, and allow the Board
to adjudicate.
7. Playing time and position assignment: coaches are responsible for fielding a team and
developing players. There are overarching guidelines for travel teams in terms of playing
time and positions:
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Coaches determine starting line-up and positions
Playing time is addressed in the separate document. CYSA believes that
development of skill and ability is crucial ay all age groups. Playing time therefore is
dependent on the willingness of the participants to listen, commit and apply the
coaching lessons
Position play should be flexible until the under-14 level. At the under-10 and under
12 levels, players should understand responsibilities and roles of a number of
positions and be able to play on both sides (R and L) of the field
Goalkeepers should be restricted to a half of play at the under-10 and under-12 age
groups and play in the field at other times. These age groups are too young to
commit to this position.
8. Family Communication: an important tool for trouble-shooting issues during a season is to
provide a structured and defined communication process for players and families. We
recommend at least one classroom session for players and families in which philosophy of
playing time, positions, shape, fitness and expectations can all be addressed. Having time
after games or practices to provide feedback to families is important; as is a policy of
listening to players and families concerns and issues during the season. If there are
difficulties in the relationship with families, the Board will provide a formal process to
provide feedback to all parties concerned. A key to the relationship with players and family
is to articulate that the primary goal of the coach is to player development, and that winning
is a secondary goal.
9. Provide a safe, fun, caring environment for enjoyment of the beautiful game. Be a teacher,
role model, friend and motivator. Encourage sportsmanship, courage, strength of body and
character, nutrition, good habits on and off the field. Drive the players to achieve and revel
in their success.
10. Health and injuries: issues occur with regularity in soccer. It is an impact sport with a high
degree of physical strain and cardiovascular stress. Although we do not expect coaches to be
health experts, commonsense principles apply. Please be conservative in the assessment of
knocks; allow kids to recover at their own pace, and if there is any concern of injury, please
hold out until there are no signs or symptoms or the player has been cleared to play by a
health professional. Coaches should have cell phones with them on the practice and playing
fields. If any injury does occur, prognosis is dependent on the length of time to treatment,
so access to emergency help may be critical. CYSA will distribute concussion guidelines and
any interested coaches will be sponsored for basic life support training.
11. Cultivate a soccer community: we encourage coaches to spend time with teams
watching/participating in soccer related activities. For example, there are nationally
prominent men’s and women’s college soccer teams in the area (Bunker Hill CC, Harvard,
BC, BU, NE, MIT, Brandeis, Tufts, among others) and team trips to support local teams
provide a great link for players and families to potential athletic goals. Motivating a player
to work towards the goal of playing at a higher level is a prime mission of CYSA. The coach
should also recommend players for club teams, or ODP.
12. Interact with the CYSA Board: coaches are a highly valued asset to the program and clear
interaction for improvements, feedback, licensure, courses is extremely important. The
Board will set up meetings with the coaches in an informal format twice a year to discuss
issues and improvements. The Board will assign age group coordinators and overall Director
of Coaching as reference points for communication and feedback. The AGCs will provide
resources and help with operational details of coaching such as website/email
communications, equipment, fields and logistics. The Director of Coaching will provide
guidance, training, teaching, help adjudicate on-field issues.
These guidelines are intended to articulate the expectations that exist as a function of
participating as a CYSA coach. They are intended to help achieve a fulfilling experience for all
members of the CYSA community.