Great Soccer Books!

With so many choices in soccer books, how do we find the best ones? I have spent countless dollars to help you answer that question!

Every caring soccer coach buys books, hoping to capture that secret or next great drill. Now, instead of technique I classify coaching books into philosophy, such as the fun philosophy, the individual skill philosophy, and the Dutch philosophy (my current favorite).

If you are a brand new soccer coach this is the book you have to get.

Coaching Youth Soccer: A Baffled Parent's Guide

It includes everything from surviving your first practice to winning over problem players (and parents). It is entertaining and well written, making it easy to pick up. Best of all it explains how and why to make practices fun, as well as the drills to use.

You'll need more, though, and this soccer book is probably the bible of the youth soccer coaching.

This book serves the intermediate coach well, discussing moves, coaching technques, philosophy, and team play. 120 more fun drills (although you won't need this many!)Every youth soccer coach will probably want this book in their library.

I've recently done a lot of reading about the Dutch training system. How do so many great players come from such a small country? So many important ideas (such as using top coaches with young players and focusing practice time on team strategy rather than individual skill) that could improve American soccer.

The book you probably want is Coaching Soccer: The Official Coaching Book of the Dutch Soccer Association.

Not for the novice coach, and not simply a list of drills (the drills there are suggestions to start you in new directions) this book will change the way you think about practice and coaching players. I hope every serious coach will buy this book and think about what it says.

My current favorite source of soccer drills.

I'll be periodically adding book reviews to this page as I find great titles. There are sure to be other great soccer books out there! Keep checking back.

You might also want to check out some children's soccer books.

Videos

I've noticed a recent explosion in soccer coaching videos, and I think I've purchased most of them. Check out our soccer videos page!