Youth Soccer Learning Center

A youth soccer coach holds up three fingers under field lights on a rainy night while young players run a 3v3 scrimmage

How Youth Soccer Coaches Can Teach Scanning to Young Players

by Matt McWilliams | Oct 12, 2026 | Coaches

Scanning is the single most important habit I coach, and it only sticks if you drill it on purpose instead of telling players to look up.

A father watches his daughter practice first touch against the back wall of an open garage on a rainy evening

How to Improve Your Kid's First Touch at Home

by Matt McWilliams | Oct 10, 2026 | Parents

First touch is one of the most trainable skills in soccer, and you don't need a field or a coach to build it, just a wall, a ball, and about ten minutes.

A youth soccer club director holding a tablet and watching teams practice at a multi-field complex on a sunny morning

Should Youth Soccer Clubs or Parents Pay for Soccer Training Apps?

by Matt McWilliams | Oct 9, 2026 | Club Directors

I co-founded Train Daily, and directors ask me every season which payment model to pick. This post compares a club paying directly with letting parents pay, plus the compliance questions to check either way.

A youth soccer coach demonstrating a passing drill between orange cones on a frosty morning practice field while players wait with balls

9v9 Soccer Practice Plan for Youth Soccer Coaches

by Matt McWilliams | Oct 8, 2026 | Coaches

I coach a 9v9 roster and built this practice plan around a shared warm-up, a seven-exercise bank, and an honest list of what each drill still doesn't teach.

A high school soccer coach on the sideline under stadium lights at night, signaling a substitute into a tournament game

How School Soccer Coaches Can Handle Postseason Playing Time

by Matt McWilliams | Oct 7, 2026 | School Coaches

A fair postseason playing-time policy trades your season-long equal-minutes goal for a flat floor, set before the bracket starts, so a close game doesn't force you to invent the rule on the sideline.

A 9-year-old boy passing a soccer ball against the garage door in his driveway on an overcast afternoon

Soccer Skills for a 9-Year-Old: What They Should Do and Practice at Home

by Matt McWilliams | Oct 6, 2026 | Parents

A 9-year-old's soccer skills come down to both feet, scanning, and good decisions in small spaces. These are the home drills that build them and what changes once the field opens up to 9v9.

A youth soccer coach setting out blue cones on a misty, empty field before sunrise, with a bag of balls and a clipboard on the grass

How Youth Soccer Coaches Can Plan a Practice With Play-Practice-Play

by Matt McWilliams | Oct 5, 2026 | Coaches

How I plan every two-hour practice with U.S. Soccer's Play-Practice-Play, including the three challenge levels and the closing scrimmage I use to check what landed.

A child dribbling a soccer ball around cones on a basement floor

Best Soccer Training Apps for Kids in 2026

by Matt McWilliams | Oct 3, 2026 | Parents

Five soccer training apps for kids compared on price, equipment, and coach tools, checked on each company's own site on October 1, 2026. I co-founded one of them.

A youth soccer club complex at night with several teams training on lit fields while a director in a jacket watches from a covered walkway

How Youth Soccer Clubs Can Get Every Team Training Between Sessions

by Matt McWilliams | Oct 2, 2026 | Club Directors

I'm a head coach, not a club director, so I share what I know about getting every team training between sessions: one format, one record, one owner.