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Women & Girls Soccer

Women’s soccer is already big in the States and is rapidly growing in Europe and the rest of the world. It is therefore important that girls receive the best coaching to encourage more and more to take up the sport. Within the female game there can often be judgements and ignorance that can inhibit the development of young girls within the sport, so ensuring that the right steps are taken by the coach can be useful for the women’s game.

Girls Soccer

Use the Women & Girls section on Cupello to gain useful advice and insight into the female game. By reading these pieces you will see that the development of your players will grow exponentially, from tips on finding talent to motivation, filling them with confidence and the best technique. 

Watch your girls become the next Rapinoe, Bronze or Kerr!

Soccer Coaching Tips

When working with young players I always try to reflect upon the recent training sessions and link all my key messages for matchday back to training.

 Females love to learn, so help all players feel involved, even if they are starting the game on the side

Think about how a young players' development could be enhanced playing different positions.

Physical test on the pitch
  • Women & Girls

Why Fitness Is Important for Female Players

The first in a series looking at why high levels of physical fitness are extreme...

Free

Relationships
  • Women & Girls

Player to Coach Relationships

Player – coach relationships are so important within all sports and genders, i...

Tactics
  • Women & Girls

Coaching a New Team

It’s a new season and as we know lots of players will be joining new teams, we...

Trials
  • Women & Girls

Top Tips for Identifying Talent

It’s summer and many teams and organisations will be looking to recruit player...

Girls coaching session
  • Women & Girls

Five tips for planning a session

Here are my tips for planning a session working with female players, the dos and...

Tips for coaching girls
  • Women & Girls

Five tips for engaging female players

Coaching female players means you have to have a different approach to gaining t...

Parents on the touchline
  • Women & Girls

Five tips for dealing with parents

Five tips to help you to deal with the parents of your players which can be tric...

female soccer, football, coach in black coach shirt standing in the sun watching her team play at an outdoor football field
  • Women & Girls

Taking a Step Back & Out of The ‘Practice’

Sometimes when coaching, we need to take a step back, breathe and look at the pr...

Coaching Female Players
  • Women & Girls

The Importance of Why When Coaching Female Pl...

Have you noticed how often girls ask questions during your sessions? How much do...

Free

Game tempo
  • Women & Girls

Tempo of Sessions

How many minutes do you think the ball is ‘rolling’ in a typical session you...

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Coaching young players FAQ's

Coaches regularly discuss problems, ideas, and solutions. Here are the most frequently asked player coaching questions.

How do I get my defenders to understand pressing?

I have a simple exercise for this:

Get four players to stand 2v2 facing each other about 3 yards apart. One side are attackers the other defenders. The attackers stay still but give one of them the ball and make the defender facing the player with the ball move forward so she is right in front of her to "press".

Players stay still and you explain this is pressing with the second player staying back to cover. Now get the attacker to pass the ball to the attacker next to her.

Now the first defender drops back 3 yards to cover as the second defender moves right up to "press" the attacker with the ball.

Do this a few times to show the defenders what it is they should do when the ball is in play.

Should the same players be subs every match?

We all like winning but here at Cupello we advise that player development should be a priority over results. In our experience player development creates a better squad of players and therefore has much more chance of being successful over the course of a season.

Playing your strongest team every week at the expense of the same players sitting on the bench will probably mean you have a great start to the season – but once injuries kick in and the players who have spent weeks on the bench have to play when they are not up to speed your team will suffer.

Pep Guardiola said: " What makes you grow is defeat, making mistakes. It is what keeps you alert. When you win you think 'great we've won'. And we'd surely have done some things wrong but you're relaxed. The only thing that winning is useful for is a good nights sleep".

You will find that the parents of the players who are always on the pitch and not on the subs bench will give you their full backing – but you will get comments from parents whose child is always starting on the bench. All parents have to pay the same for each youth player so they should all be getting their money's worth during matches – it is only fair.

I also want all my players experiencing coming onto the pitch when it is in full flow because it is a different proposition to starting a match. There is no chance to get up to speed they have to be 100% ready when they come on.

So at the beginning of the season you may struggle but that soon goes and players you thought should be on the bench will be flying and the first name on your team sheet.

Finally, make sure the same players do not start on the bench every week even if they are getting the same game time. Starting on the bench is disappointing and something everyone should share around.

My girls give up the ball too easily how can I get them to be more aggressive?

If your players are being brushed off the ball you need to play games like 2v2 or games with overloads so they have more of the ball and encourage them to win it back if the lose it. I wouldn't say they need to be more aggressive just less accepting when they have the ball or when they lose it – guard it and win it back in 6 seconds.

Games like 2v2 or 3v2 can in themselves mean the girls will not want to let their team mates down in such small sided games. 

Try playing these games and you will see that on the pitch they are less likely to lose the ball and more likely to be keen to win it back!

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