EMYSC MISSION
• To provide children with an emotionally healthy and physically challenging atmosphere of good sportsmanship and athletic activity through the game of soccer.
• To provide an activity where children have the opportunity to play regardless of athletic skills or family income.
• To provide a healthy competitive atmosphere while teaching respect for others, fair play, humbleness in winning, and stature in defeat.
• To provide a rewarding and enriching experience for all those adult volunteers who make it work.
• To teach teamwork and cooperation.
EMYSC COACHING PHILOSOPHY
1. Have fun playing soccer
• Practices and games should be fun – when the game stops being fun, players tend not to play as well and both coaches and players may get frustrated and eventually leave the game.
2. Focus should be on long-term player development, not winning games
• Coaches' ultimate focus should be on long-term player and child development and not short-term goals. Coaches should use ageappropriate games and activities during practices.
• Ideally, all players should play for equal durations during games. At the very least, each player should play at least half the duration of every game.
• Encourage and let all players play all positions, i.e. don't just play your best player as a forward so that your team can score more goals. This will help with their overall development as soccer players.
3. Emphasize teamwork, respect and fair play
• In addition to achieving a sense of accomplishment through mastery of skills, soccer is a great way for young players to learn good values that they can carry in other aspects of their lives:
* Friendship and the value of being part of a team.
* Respecting coaches, teammates, opponents, and the referee.
* Sportsmanship and fair play.
REMEMBER THAT AS A COACH, YOU ARE A ROLE MODEL FOR THESE IMPRESSIONABLE YOUNG PLAYERS AND THEY TAKE NOTE OF YOUR BEHAVIOR AND ACTIONS.