If our coaching development is to be successful, shouldn’t long-term results for a happy life in football be the goal? I was a former coaching instructor myself for over 20 years and left, being frustrated by the system. Rarely (if ever) does child well-being come up in the curriculum. Many instructors try to incorporate it, but far from all.
Everything is technical, fitness, tactical, and how coaches can utilize those tools to develop a better PLAYER. The children and why they play the GAME are not core to the curriculum.
(Editor’s Note) The children and why they play the GAME are at the core of our D-7 curriculum.
We are all taught the same way, and any movement upward in the system depends on a coach’s regurgitation of what was presented to them. The game is not just technical. Children play to enjoy it, not to sign a contract (parents).
Nothing in the coaches’ handbook says learning must be serious. That is just a perception we have placed on the process. 
Drills, statistics, charts, and graphs might be helpful for some motivated children as they mature, but far from everyone.
Make it fun and see how long the interest remains. Let them drive the push forward, if and when they want it.
ADOPT THIS LONG-TERM MOTTO
