Many youth football seasons have come to an end, but this is an ideal time for a coach to work on learning new techniques. 

Since most youth teams only have one volunteer coach, the challenge becomes keeping the players on the sideline focused on the field and engaged while trying to teach the basics of football.  

Coaches often have to remind players to pay attention during practice, to prevent players from picking grass or goofing around instead of watching their position on the field and being ready to jump in.

Here are five teaching techniques I use as a physical education teacher to keep a large group of students focused. These can also be applied to coaching:

• Make sure you go over rules. It is important to make sure the players understand your rules and regulations before you start football practice and that you have a routine. For example, teach the players stretches and easy drills you can run while setting up the football field, especially if you are the only coach. 
• Get excited. Before you start, make sure you are as excited—if not more excited—than the players when you introduce a drill. It is important for this age group to know you are interested in being with them.  
• Keep all drills and games fun and interesting. Young players actually learn more when they are engaged and not just standing on the sideline. Make sure you have games for them to play that incorporate the skill you are trying to teach, because players like to have fun at this age. It isn’t a job for them.
• KISS: Keep It Short and Simple. It is important to keep the instructions short and concise when teaching. I learned a long time ago when teaching elementary school to start out each school year with instructions that only last as long as the grade the students are in: kindergarten is 30 seconds, first grade is one minute, second grade is two minutes, etc. To go along with the first tip teach drills and positions with just a couple rules. Do a drill with different color cones. Tell the players the first cone they should run to is green (for "Go") and the last cone is red (for "Stop"). Give players at different positions simple, specific instructions. Be sure to model what you teach, using players to provide the example. 
• Help players keep things in perspective. Remember, at this age, it is easy for players to get upset very fast about nothing or something they had little control over. You need to help teach them that they don’t need to get upset and the world is not ending. Remind them that they are there to have fun and get to play the greatest game on the planet. It also helps to break up a bad mood with a joke. 

Before any more time passes, you should review the obstacles you faced this season. Write them down and use the above tips to come up with a game plan to keep your players more engaged and help make your life less stressful. You will have more fun as a coach and your players will notice. 

Anthony Stone is a USA Football Regional Master Trainer  and a physical education teacher at Gregory Elementary and quarterbacks coach at Boylan High School in Rockford, Ill. He has coached football at the youth, middle school, high school, college and indoor professional levels. He coached for the U.S. Women’s National Team program in 2010 winning a gold Medal as the Defensive Coordinator with an overall score of 201-0 in 3 games, as well as the defensive coordinator for the 2017 Australian Women’s National Outback Team. Follow him on Twitter @Coach_Stone_MT.