This DVD was so much fun to shoot. When I first moved to America I stayed with a wonderful family, the Cooleys. A few years before I shot this DVD, Tim, the father, started to coach his young sons' team for the first time. He called me and asked for a DVD to teach him how to coach young players. I watched a few, and with all due respect, nothing hit all the points that were needed for a beginning coach. At the same time people were writing to me asking for help as they were about to coach their first soccer team, or beginning to work with young players, and had no idea where to start, or that they felt they lacked the ability to teach soccer. However, it was not the right time for me to create a DVD as I had yet to figure the best approach.

When I shot the movie Kicking and Screaming, Phil (played by Will Ferrell), has an anxiety attack because he stops believing he can teach soccer. He had no belief in himself. This is where they used the Soccer Dan (as I was termed) Super Soccer Skills DVDs in the movie. It is a funny scene, because the truth in humor makes us all associate with it. Once Phil let go of the need to show how much he knew and focus on bringing the best HIM to the Tigers, well, you have to watch the movie. So many of us fear something we do not know, believing that we have to find some magic knowledge pill to make young players and ourselves successful. Watching the shooting of the Kicking and Screaming movie, and myself having to work with over 120 players U11 and down, I discovered many components to teaching young players that I encompassed in this DVD. The truth is, when coaching young players, it is not the vast soccer knowledge that is needed, but a fun approach with a little knowledge. I have seen, over the years, many great knowledgeable coaches, that have sent me to sleep. I have also experienced less advanced coaches who I could not get enough time with watching their ability to communicate to their players and parents. The issue for me was how to replicate this to Coaches of young players, some first timers, when I had so much more experience and time to prepare for a DVD shoot.

I worked religiously for months to come up with the best plan. Then it hit me. All the DVD's I had seen were so planned that no real session would be that perfect. So I planned my session, as any coach should, and showed up on shoot day without knowing the players. Yes, I knew their names from a piece of paper, but could not put the names to faces. We then filmed all the teaching I wanted to do with the players, to let coaches and parents see what really happens, the mistakes I made and how to overcome them, keeping the focus of players and so forth. What evolved was nothing short of amazing. I will remember that day as much as any feature movie or show I have worked on. We had fun, we made mistakes, we had success, players got a hurt knees if they fell and so on. It is important not to be afraid of what could happen, but rather be prepared when it does. Players were not trained in ANY of my drills, yet it all worked. At the beginning of the shoot we asked the players, on camera, why they loved soccer. In a group they all went around one by one and gave their answer. What amazed me, (and I should have pointed it out in the DVD, but did not hear it close enough until I watched the final locked version), was that not one of them picked out winning. One, Dylan, even said he loved to run, nothing to do with soccer specifics at all.

Prior to shooting the DVD, I wanted to improve myself in understanding young players. I took the English FA Psychology of Coaching Young players course. I learned so much, and as a by product, after we finished the DVD the English FA asked to have their name attached to the DVD. We had hit gold with the information. I wanted to help every coach. Here I was, a veteran of 15 years of coaching, and what I suddenly learned helped me to understand the players I was teaching better, and not just expecting them to fit my ideals. This brought me to the reality that I needed to spend more time looking at my players instead of expecting them to always look at me in a one dimensional direction.

Once the 9 hours of shooting was over, I told the players that they were now movie stars, they had done fantastically well and thanked them. They must have been tired, hot and ready for bed. Watch the end of the DVD. You will be surprised. I was.

We ended up with a 2 disc 85+ minute DVD of amazing information that will help ANY coach. Psychology, Skills understanding, Drills for Skills, Games for Individual Development, Physical Development, keeping players attention when transitioning between drills, water breaks, story telling into games for those hot day, and finally how to plan your sessions. We also show how to plan sessions based on the DVD incase you need a helping start to believe in yourselves. We show how to problem fix during practice when things are not working, and how to build session after session for the Coaches enjoyment. If the Coach is not enjoying it, the players never will.

In making the DVD I never forgot the reason we were making it. The Coach / Parent. It was all about helping those who help the players themselves. Without the energy, effort and commitment from Coaches of young players, there would not be a higher level for more advanced levels of play. Those players emerge from Coaches of young players for other coaches to continue to mold. The first coaches give the players the love for the game, and this leads the players on to greater opportunities. To those Coaches, I always give thanks for their continued leadership of the youth. I am excited to hear the feedback about this new DVD. I have had a few reactions as this DVD has just been released. Randy in Texas owns a store and says his feedback from customers has been amazing and could he re-order after only 1 day of playing the DVD in his store. AYSO Commissioner for Thousand Oaks, CA sent an email saying they loved the DVD and could I work with them to distribute to all AYSO Coaches. I hope you too, if using the Coaching Kids with Confidence, will send your feedback.