📣 A Quick Chat from Your Child's Coach

Here are five things I wish every single parent knew when they signed their child up for a team.

Alright, let’s huddle up. No drills, I promise.

I’m a coach. I’ve been on the sidelines for a long, long time. I’ve seen the magic of a kid's first goal, and I’ve seen the heartbreaking tears of a 6-year-old who thinks they’ve disappointed their dad.

We all want the same thing: to see our kids grow into happy, confident, healthy people. But in the middle of all the weekend games, the bright-colored jerseys, and the orange slices, we parents can sometimes... well, we can get a little crazed. We mean well! But we sometimes lose sight of the long game.

If you’re a parent on my sideline, here are the five things I’d love for you to know.

1. The Car Ride Home is Sacred

This is my number one. The most important.

After playing. a sport, your child is emotionally tired and physically spent. The last thing their brain needs is a performance review.

Please, don't be the "what happened on that one play?" or "you should have run faster" parent. That is the single fastest way to suck the joy out of the sport. Your car is not a film-review session.

There is only one thing your kid needs to hear from you after a game:

"I love watching you play."

That’s it. If they want to talk about the game, they’ll bring it up. If they don't, they just want to be your kid, not your player.

2. We’re Building a Person, Not a Player

You might be worried that your 5-year-old "has two left feet" or "isn't aggressive enough." Can I be honest? Your Soccer Shots coach won't care.

At this age, my job isn't to create the next soccer superstar. My job is to help you build a good human.

In our program, "winning" is:

A player who falls, scrapes their knee, and gets back up without a tantrum.

A player who learns to wait their turn.

A player who passes the ball, even when they really, really want to score.

A player who learns to listen to an adult (who isn't their parent) for 30 seconds at a time.

Soccer is just the classroom. The lessons are resilience, teamwork, and listening. These are the skills that actually matter for the rest of their life.

3. Your Child Can Only Listen to One Voice

I know you see the opening. You see the kid open on the side. You know your child should shoot. It comes from a place of love and a desire to help.

But when you are yelling "Shoot!" from the sideline, and I am yelling "Pass!" or "Find space!"... your child's brain just freezes. A young child cannot process multiple, conflicting instructions in a high-energy moment. They just panic and feel like they’ve failed both of us.

You have one job on the sideline, and it's the most important one: Be the fan.

Think about it this way: Taylor Swift's parents are fans. They don't tell her how to write her music. They attend and enjoy her shows. They helped build her up, but not by force, and definitely not while she's on stage.

Cheer for everyone. Yell "Nice try!" and "Great hustle!" Let the coach handle the instructions. We need you on Team Positivity.

4. All That "Goofing Off" Is the Practice

I know. You look over at practice, and it looks like total chaos. We're playing "Sharks and Minnows" or "Dragon's Treasure" or "Red Light, Green Light." You’re thinking, "I paid money for this? When are they going to learn soccer?!"

Here's the secret: they are.

Sharks and Minnows is how we teach acceleration, deceleration, and changing direction (agility).

Dragon's Treasure (running to steal a ball) is how we teach dribbling in traffic and spatial awareness.

Red Light, Green Light is how we teach body control and how to stop the ball on command.

Young kids do not learn by standing in lines and waiting for a drill. They learn through imagination and play. Through games, we help them into developing their balance, coordination, and fundamental motor skills. It’s supposed to look like play. That’s the work.

5. Your Child Is Right on Time

Stop comparing your child to the other kids on the field. Please.

That kid over there who looks like a future pro? He may have an older sibling he’s been kicking a ball with since he could walk. That other kid who is picking flowers near the goal? This might be their very first time in a group setting.

Every child develops on a different, wonderfully messy timeline. Some kids are coordinated first. Some are fast first. Some are brave first. Some are just social first. All of it is okay. Many elite athletes peaked and developed much later. Certainly not before they were teens. That's ok.

My goal isn't to make sure your 4-year-old is keeping up. My goal is to make sure your 14-year-old still wants to play. We get there by letting them develop at their own pace, not by worrying that they're behind in kindergarten. They're not behind. They're exactly where they need to be.