Welcome to the Pickering Soccer Club Coaching Curriculum

Byte Size Coaching Program can give all PSC coaches the tools they need to succeed. 

We are very pleased to have teamed up with former Canadian National Team Coach, Tony Waiters, in the preparation and delivery of the Byte Size Coaching Program for all PSC Coaches.

The Byte Size Coaching program is a system of plans that have been developed and designed to assist coaches at all levels of play from U4 to U18. It is presented in a game-based format so as to stimulate and make it fun for the players and make it easier for the coaches to organize and plan their weekly training activities.

Hopefully this program will provide the right environment for players to learn basic techniques and skills with the ball. In the FUNdamental stage, Agility, Balance, Co-ordination and Speed – Running, Jumping and Throwing as well as Catching, Passing and Kicking are technical aspects to focus on and improve.

If you are a relatively inexperienced coach, don’t be afraid of following the plans to the letter. Print out the respective Activities and Session Plans and you are good to go.

Feel free to explore the curriculum for older players to build your base of ideas. You will be surprised to know that most professional teams still use basic exercises from the U7 curriculum to work on technique and maintain a stimulating training environment while providing a variety of activities for the players.

If you are an experienced coach, or as you become more confident, don’t be afraid of adding your own personal touch to the sessions.   Be creative, but still use the content of the Byte Size Coaching curriculum as a foundation.

When running your practice session, attempt to avoid activities that keep players waiting in lines. For new or beginning coaches, recruit an assistant or two and have them run a parallel, duplicated practice. This will help maintain the interest of the players and will keep the kids constantly moving and motivated. Remember, the time we have as coaches in working with the kids is limited, so always try and get the most out of each practice session and maximize the benefit to the players.

By using the plans in this program, they will provide all our coaches with a good base of ideas to work from. However, we hope the Byte Size Coaching Program goes even farther than that and facilitates the development of your own ideas and training methods

Do no forget to check out the Activity Pages

The soccer activity pages are age-appropriate, although some activities may well be suited to both older and younger children.

It could be that there will be pages that require the co-operation and assistance of adults, or at least an older child. In this respect the activity pages are for the family. They should encourage parents and children, brothers and sisters, to share time together, perhaps around the kitchen table, playing, discussing, and learning about the game of soccer.

Activity pages are presented at various levels of difficulty.

The activities range from soccer related pages such as how to play the game, some of the rules, games you can play in the backyard, to others that a just plain fun (mazes and “spot the ball”). As well, there is some soccer math and other age-appropriate learning (the educational pages have been vetted by an experienced elementary school teacher).

The team coach can print the Activity Page PDFs to hand out to the players or parents. The coach/team manager might set the “Fun Work” for that coming week. One activity that most children enjoy is where the team has a “competition” on who can design the best team uniform in one of the “Soccer Uniforms” pages.

Browse through the pages to see where you think they will be most advantageous to your team.

This program helps demonstrate our club’s commitment to all our coaches by providing the resources that will assist them in the development of our players and will create a positive and rewarding experience for all.

Have a good look around at the program and then zero in on your particular age group.    

Please remember to keep the User Name/Password within the club as this is your program that we have purchased for the benefit of you and your players.

Train Smart                    Play Hard                    Have Fun

Tony La Ferrara                                                                                             Club Head Coach