Parents/Coaches shouting instructions

Football CoachCoach

In my opinion i wouldn`t tell the player that has the ball anything. I would let them do what they think is best but while a player has a ball the right thing i think you should do is to tell the other players without the ball to move or push up, or to ask for the ball or to support.

alex Coach, Australia

I would also maybe look at how you phrase your command, make it a question such as `can you help `johnny`? `can you get forward`. That way they can make a decision themselves and this will help them in the long run as footballers.

Dan RogersCoach, England

I have the same situation. Just started a team and wanting the players to learn from the experiences they gave in the game. My sessions are the time when I can instruct the players. During the game I`m trying to focus my comments on encouraging the players, giving instructions regarding positioning as that`s our main problem at this early stage. The main issue I have is parents (one in particular) bombarding players with instructions like you say. We are in the process of writing our team philosophy which will include something about match-day instructions.

Steven BaxterCoach, England

I think that giving instructions during a match is a good thing as it's hard to replicate situations in training that would come up in games. It is a problem that comes up a lot in youth football with parents thinking they know what the players should do. We even get it in training where parents are instructing the players on what to do even though 9 times out of 10 it is completely the opposite to what we are trying to get the players to do. The hardest bit is that with the parents giving contradicting instructions to what the coaches are giving and the kids get confused as to who they should listen to, we always make sure we tell the players before each game to try there best to forget that parents are watching and to just try to listen to us coaches which is obviously hard for an under 8s team to do.
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Colin CrowderCoach, Australia

I`ve just told my parents if they want to coach feel free to go and find their own team. Gladly provide encouragement to the kids, but leave instructions to me. It does help that here in Melbourne, spectators aren`t allowed within 5m of the pitch. As we mostly play on crickey oval, the parents aren`t to close.