How the coach coaches: questions, feedback, demonstrations, talking to players, playing time and substitutions on match day · 15 stories
Stories that name no age are only under all ages. A story for U8 to U12 is in both of those bands.
Aprende Entrenando published a guide for parent coaches in grassroots football, setting out age-by-age demands from benjamín to juvenil and three traps to avoid, such as over-demanding your own child. It asks for equal minutes in fútbol 8 (at least 50% per child), errors treated as learning and a session where players are moving or on the ball about 80% of the time.
A youth coach describes how praising a 6-0 win led his U11s to chase goals instead of playing, and offers a three-step post-match review built on one game criterion set before kickoff. He asks players what worked, what needs rework and who helped unseen, then closes on the next session.
A 10u rec coach who plays everyone equally all season asks whether to go more competitive in a single elimination tournament. Most replies say keep equal playing time: the kids remember riding the bench, not the result. Some coaches say shortened minutes in playoffs are normal, but only if parents and players are told first.
A parent of an 11 year old on a premier B team says the coach, who runs four other teams, offers no instruction and is on his phone at practice. Most replies split: some say sitting back and letting the game teach is developmentally right for this age, but the phone and the workload are not defensible.
A parent argues that locking kids into one position kills their love of the game. Most replies push back on parts of the premise, saying defense is where players develop, and several note the poster is likely new. The most experienced coach agrees players should rotate over time, using 2 to 3 week position blocks.
A Spanish youth coaching guide sets out a minute-management model: equal quarters in F7 and F8 initiation stages, a guaranteed minimum share of playing time from Infantil upward, and rotating squad lists for large F11 squads. It suggests planning changes before leaving home and recording minutes monthly, not match by match.
A coach's guide sets out how to divide minutes fairly from Fútbol 7 to Cadete and Juvenil. In Fútbol 7 every called-up player should get at least 50% of the minutes; in Infantil at least 30 to 35 minutes; in Cadete and Juvenil, starting places are earned in training, with pre-planned windows instead of minute-89 substitutions.