Through District 1 all member associations have access to

The Byte Size Coaching Curriculum

Go to the Links Page and click on your Association Page.

Byte Size Coaching gives coaches the tools they need to succeed.

The Byte Size Coaching program is a customizable coaching website containing a balanced and progressive curriculum designed to benefit the players and coaches alike. It\'s a fact that because of time-challenges more than 80% of coaches have little or no formal soccer coach training.

Community soccer organizations rely on volunteer parent coaches, many of which are new to coaching and may not have played the game of soccer.
Over 60% of the children playing soccer in North America are under the age of 12.

Paradoxically, over 75% of the coaches in North America coach this age group.
How can that be?

Small-sided programs are the basis of house league play and have one coach and an assistant or co-coach with squads of 6 - 8 players (as opposed to 11-a-side with squads of 14 plus players). As well, there is a high turnover of coaches in the younger age group. We believe that the Byte Size Coaching will begin to reduce that by making the coaching of soccer a more rewarding and fun experience for the coach as well as the players.

The program for the 3-, 4- & 5-year olds is non-competitive. It is not 1 versus 1, or 2 versus 2, nor 3 versus 3. It is One-with-One® where a child takes his or her first kicks in soccer with Mom or Dad (or some significant person in their lives – brother, sister, aunt, uncle, grandparents) as their first team-mates. A soccer-themed adventure formula is used to make it a fun experience for everyone.

From U7 to U12 for each of the 6 age groups there are 12 sessions of 4 to 5 activities per session – most of which are games-based, making it challenging and fun for the children. There is a separate curriculum for both outdoor and indoor practice.

In the Indoor Practice segment we have assumed that most of these take place in a relatively small school gymnasium and have scaled things accordingly.
The U13 to U18 age groups have a searchable database by the skills of the game - such as shooting, passing, dribbling, etc. Most coaches by this time will have been involved for a few seasons. As well, the coach will base much of the practice session from the evaluation of the team performance in 11 vs. 11 games.

In the Byte Size Coaching program coaches should explore practice plans of older and younger age groups to build a further base of ideas. Even professional teams still perform some of the practices found in the U7 plans because they are simple and provide a change of pace from the more complicated activities. This keeps the training environment in a state of constant change and that in turn, keeps players tuned in.

Also added are over 200 single pages of soccer activities that can be printed out. They provide fun for the whole of the family around the kitchen table or in the backyard with a soccer ball. Beware of any exercises that keep players in lines or waiting for their turn. If you have an assistant coach or two, get a couple of practice areas going at the same time. But don’t forget the water breaks.