Best Club Coaches in SoCal

The Red Dragon said:
lol...Sam Nicholson is one of the best technical directors/coaches in SoCal...don't take my word for it, ask the parents who play for him and the strong results on the pitch his teams get. And, yes, they are up and coming on the girls side when you have a young, talented coach like Ben Gardea leading the charge. And most parents of strong girls on the Youngers side know who he is regardless if they play on his team through his work and reputation at TOCA, OC Premier futsal, etc...
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I’ve never seen him train his teams, so you may be correct. But I’ve certainly seen him screaming like a maniac on the sidelines. That used to be common for Laguna United teams, but they seemed a little more mellow this past season.
 
Over the years I've seen many types of coaches. Some are good with youngers, some are good with olders, some are excellent trainers but can't game coach, some are excellent game coaches but can't run training, some are very good recruiters and don't need to coach, some have to coach their ass off because they can't recruit. They come in all shapes and sizes (and accents). Former professionals and people who never kicked soccer ball in their life. Many former pro's think they can coach because they played - not necessarily true. Coaching is an Art - you either can do it or you can't. Many tried and more will.
For me personally, if I remember the coach - he/she did something right.
The Big Lewandowski said:
Sam screaming??? Man I’d love to see that. Sure it was Sam?
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Agreed, this guy never screams and I've seen plenty games he coached.
 
Eagle33 said:
Over the years I've seen many types of coaches. Some are good with youngers, some are good with olders, some are excellent trainers but can't game coach, some are excellent game coaches but can't run training, some are very good recruiters and don't need to coach, some have to coach their ass off because they can't recruit. They come in all shapes and sizes (and accents). Former professionals and people who never kicked soccer ball in their life. Many former pro's think they can coach because they played - not necessarily true. Coaching is an Art - you either can do it or you can't. Many tried and more will.
For me personally, if I remember the coach - he/she did something right.


Agreed, this guy never screams and I've seen plenty games he coached.
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Wish I could get that waste of time back.
 
timbuck said:
I’ve never seen him train his teams, so you may be correct. But I’ve certainly seen him screaming like a maniac on the sidelines. That used to be common for Laguna United teams, but they seemed a little more mellow this past season.
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Its
The Red Dragon said:
lol...Sam Nicholson is one of the best technical directors/coaches in SoCal...don't take my word for it, ask the parents who play for him and the strong results on the pitch his teams get. And, yes, they are up and coming on the girls side when you have a young, talented coach like Ben Gardea leading the charge. And most parents of strong girls on the Youngers side know who he is regardless if they play on his team through his work and reputation at TOCA, OC Premier futsal, etc...
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Y
The Red Dragon said:
lol...Sam Nicholson is one of the best technical directors/coaches in SoCal...don't take my word for it, ask the parents who play for him and the strong results on the pitch his teams get. And, yes, they are up and coming on the girls side when you have a young, talented coach like Ben Gardea leading the charge. And most parents of strong girls on the Youngers side know who he is regardless if they play on his team through his work and reputation at TOCA, OC Premier futsal, etc...
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You can ask me to take the word of current parents, but I can you to ask the coaching community. Do you know how many girls teams the club use to have? Do you know they also use to have many good female coaches as well - most got let go for coaches nowhere near their level. The girls side was an afterthought once Carrie got the knife in the back. Compare the number of teams on the girls side versus the boys. There were many more girls teams in the past - all those girls left due to poor coaching and structure. I’m sure this was before your time around the club. Great if it’s improving but the structure of the club doesn’t allow for it to attract the best coaches
 
timbuck said:
I’ve never seen him train his teams, so you may be correct. But I’ve certainly seen him screaming like a maniac on the sidelines. That used to be common for Laguna United teams, but they seemed a little more mellow this past season.
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Many people tend to have a narrow view and certainly biased view when talking about clubs their children play at. The best DOC the club had was Carrie. Not even a comparison - last I heard she was coaching men at the pro level via the confidence of people like Landon Donovan. Not that these parents would know these types of things - can’t blame them for giving opinions based off being a happy customer. Coaches take on him are very different from the happy customers. Many of us have neighbors and friends who play, coach and admin at various clubs and understand the screaming isn’t uncommon- I wonder if he would truthfully tell parents if they ask him if he has had kids quit due to verbal abuse. I’m sure it’s all stories though. Everyone is just hating or don’t know anything
 
timbuck said:
I’ve never seen him train his teams, so you may be correct. But I’ve certainly seen him screaming like a maniac on the sidelines. That used to be common for Laguna United teams, but they seemed a little more mellow this past season.
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To be fair he is
The Big Lewandowski said:
Sam screaming??? Man I’d love to see that. Sure it was Sam?
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Almost all coaches yell. More about what they are saying when they do, along with the frequency, When I hear someone say “Coach X never yells” - they must not go to training, not be near them during games or have the viewing through the club colored glasses. Only real alternative to explain a coach that doesn’t yell at times is they don’t give crap or truly pacifists.
 
Bottomline, if you are happy with a coach stay wherever you are at. The “best” part of the question at hand is is absurd and really not really anything you can prove. People in OC use to vote Pizza Hut as the best pizza in Orange County in the OCR - so not like people always know the good from the bad.
 
Eagle33 said:
Over the years I've seen many types of coaches. Some are good with youngers, some are good with olders, some are excellent trainers but can't game coach, some are excellent game coaches but can't run training, some are very good recruiters and don't need to coach, some have to coach their ass off because they can't recruit. They come in all shapes and sizes (and accents). Former professionals and people who never kicked soccer ball in their life. Many former pro's think they can coach because they played - not necessarily true. Coaching is an Art - you either can do it or you can't. Many tried and more will.
For me personally, if I remember the coach - he/she did something right.


Agreed, this guy never screams and I've seen plenty games he coached.
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Coaching is an art. Talk about painting with broad strokes.
 
Any coach with confidence will tell you coaching isn’t rocket science. Most confuse teaching things like Coerver with teaching kids a thought process and how to adapt play. Most coaches can’t adapt themselves - you need a higher level experience to draw from at certain levels of play. As mentioned before, the proof usually shows when kids enter their teens. Some coaches, As mentioned are good at recruiting, usually by offering “free” or super reduced costs - those kids were never taught by them but quick to take the credit for someone else’s work.
 
I think people need to distinguish between yelling and chewing your kid out. Soccer is a competitive game and to expect a coach to not ever yell in a game is counter intuitive. Certain games can be intense and I was trying to imagine a coach not yelling and laughed to myself imagining a coach saying "Hey Suzie, when you get a chance, can you move to the left?" Just this last weekend I warned my daughter her coach was going to be intense and if he yells at her, don't take it personally. He did yell at her, and she didn't take it personally. She didn't even realize he yelled at her. I think she is used to me!
 
Chun-Li said:
The Mount Rushmore of youngers Coaching and this is based on WINS and girls that end up Elite players. These coaches have all the state cup big wins.
Tim Kelly Eagles
"The Gaffer" Rob Rennie Sc Blues
Mario Mrakovic SD Surf
Kenny Daum Navy
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Hmm, one of those coaches is a few fries short of a happy meal. He's a very good trainer (my kid has trained with him) but I'd never allow my kid to play on his team. His behavior is not appropriate in game situations.
 
watfly said:
Hmm, one of those coaches is a few fries short of a happy meal. He's a very good trainer (my kid has trained with him) but I'd never allow my kid to play on his team. His behavior is not appropriate in game situations.
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Very true but you have to admit that it is fun watching when his team is losing (fun as in seeing him go nuts, not what he says to the kiddos)
 
Fact said:
Very true but you have to admit that it is fun watching when his team is losing (fun as in seeing him go nuts, not what he says to the kiddos)
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He is definitely entertaining. I actually kind of like the guy and his quirkiness. I think he is sincere about improving players, but when that switch goes off in games it's troubling.
 
Not_that_Serious said:
At lower levels - below presidents. You’ll get a ton of AYSO and small independent teams at Mayors. No club team with decent amount of teams should be losing the majority of their games to these teams. You get a good glimpse of how healthy the coaching is at the club looking at the lower tiers. As a parent you should be asking “Why am I paying my club more than double than the teams beating us badly?” Better off playing at a more cost effective club. For example, running one club’s numbers (club that has at least 40 teams according to their website) from last year’s state cup: 84 pts in 90 games, 24w 54l 12t 125gf 287ga -162gd. Any club with a professional mindset would not accept a win percentage near 25%. Most coaches who believe themselves to be professional, and good enough to be in demand, wouldn’t stick around long in this type of environment.

A team/club can have some bad games, but if your club as a whole have poor stats in their league and state cups - something wrong at the club. Usually it’s the club doesn’t care as long as they have kids lining up and they will keep coaches in who will take the least amount of pay. Unfortunately this type of club has become the norm and parents don’t have the experience to know better - many parents I speak to only care about the practices being less than a 10 minute drive away. Clubs love this mentality and Can shove any young coach their way and market their “energy” and “enthusiasm”.
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As someone that refs AYSO rec or Core games as they are called I can assure you that a true rec AYSO team is not beating up on even the softest club teams. An EXTRA, All Star or even Spring Select surely would have a chance. And AYSO United has some really strong teams.

Before my daughter went to club her Extra team beat a club team in a tournament.
But AYSO rec teams are a sight to behold and make a tier 3 team look like Liverpool.
 
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