By Tim Bradbury, Director of Coaching, Eastern New York Youth Soccer Association
Over the past two months, many coaches have done a great job staying connected with their youth teams and players by offering virtual coaching sessions. I have seen some great efforts to engage players.
Some of these sessions have been tactical ones with video analysis. Other virtual sessions have encouraged core values and team building with lively discussions and debates. Some have engaged players with Kahoot! and other fun learning games based in soccer. Of course, many virtual sessions have involved one player with one ball moves and juggling work.
All of these virtual sessions have been a great attempt to stay connected with kids and give them some hope and light during this troubling time. We all long to be outside training and playing with our teams. However, it is imperative that we follow all safety guidelines set forth by state government, local government and all governing soccer bodies. The virtual coaching arena is not an exception to any of these guidelines.
For the safety of all players and coaches, we must not rush back to the field or entertain any virtual sessions with groups of players together. Currently, the only number of players that should be training at any time is 1.