COACHING DOESN’T HAVE TO SUCK

I BECAME a coach just like every other mom or dad: I was volun-told. Twelve years ago, my oldest son, then four, joined a soccer team, and the team needed a coach.

That didn’t mean I didn’t take the job seriously. Weeks before our first practice, I defaulted to my. I scoured the web and watched FC Barcelona and Liverpool Academy training videos. I carefully studied a well-known Dutch youth-sports curriculum. (Soccer dads, you know the YouTube channel.) I developed plans and spreadsheets.