You need some basic soccer training equipment in order to have your practice sessions go smoothly. It doesn't matter if you're coaching high school soccer, indoor soccer or other specific soccer coaching style. Make a checklist at the beginning of the season, and give yourself enough time to organize everything so that you are ready when your players arrive for practice.
Ready Reference List Of Equipment
- The first obvious thing is one ball per player. You can ask each of your players to invest in a ball of their own. However, you would need to keep a spare of about 5-10, since you wouldn’t want your practice session to be arrested for want of a soccer ball.
- Ensure you have a ball pump handy. Flat balls are of no use.
- You will need about fifty cones for your practice drills, when you need to mark practice areas, lines etc. Also keep some tall cones for when you need to mark goals to differentiate from the small cones.
- You will need corner flags (to help with soccer crossing drills), practice sticks to mark the practice area, and you can also use these during your fitness training - for example, when you do the soccer ladder drill, footwork exercises etc.
- Since your practice sessions will have plenty of small-sided games and skill development drills, let your players wear practice vests. You might need different colors to recognize the teams.
- Keep a realistic looking foldable goal so that your players get a feel of the real game situation. If you work with older players, you should preferably be able to practice in a soccer field or be able to reach a full size goal. Perhaps you can get your players to share the cost of one.
Having your players come well equipped in appropriate clothing and sturdy football boots goes without saying, along with their bottle of water. You must arrive early, well before your players arrive, so that you have enough time to arrange everything.
These are some general "soccer rules" and you must agree that any coaching calls for good organizing skills, and soccer coaching is no exception. To make sure everything goes well, always make it a point to be there before everyone else.
In addition to your list of soccer training equipment, make your practice plans with adequate preparation. You will need to put everything down in writing so that you can refer to it during practice. Make sure you have an alternate plan in case something changes in the last minute and also insist that your players reach practice on time.
