soccer gift ideas – Portable Sports Coach

'How to make your soccer coach smile and positively effect their players at the same time, with these brilliant soccer coach gifts!' What do you buy a soccer coach for Christmas? What gifts do you get them for their birthday? Well you could give them a packet of Haribo’s and I’m sure they’ll very ultra-grateful but it’s not really the answer you were looking for is it? That’s why I’ve written this post. Just for you. So you know what gifts to buy a soccer coach. First things first. You need to get inside the brain of a soccer coach It helps to understand how a soccer coach thinks, especially if you’re going down the route of buying something in relation coaching. As a coach myself there are two things I ask myself when buying soccer coaching accessories, resources and equipment; How can I make my life easier or enhance my coaching abilities How can I improve my team or players and enhance their experience playing the game Sitting down and having a chat with them about their coaching is probably one of the best ways to find out where their current goals lie. They’ll have some, and if they don’t, that’s probably a sign they won’t want anything coaching related. Who, What, Where, When, How! Knowing the type of coaching they undertake in their role is of vital importance. There would be no point in buying a coach a set of coaching clothing with their initials imprinted on the front if they work for an organisation that already supplies branded clothing. They may however be interested in a gift like this if they were part of a youth set up where there were multiple teams and coaches. In-fact I’m almost certain a coach would love this sort of present in that environment! Finding the answers to who they coach, what they coach, where they coach, when they coach and how they coach can give you all the answer’s you’re looking for. Who?: Do they coach and under 9’s youth team or do they coach an adults team? What?: There’s no point in buying a set of soccer balls for someone who coaches basketball! Where?: Do they coach at their local park where there isn’t much equipment available or do they coach inside a high quality facility with all the equipment they could ever dream of? Maybe they want to own their very own piece of equipment they’ve seen at this facility. When?: Do they coach in the daytime or in the evening when it’s likely to get dark? How?: What’s their personal philosophy on coaching soccer. Every passionate coach has there own unique way of thinking to how they should coach. If the present or gift is a surprise then asking all these questions may set some alarm bells ringing if you’ve never showed an interest before so be subtle! Top Soccer Coach Gift Ideas With that said here are some ideas you may want to take. Each gift will have its own advantage and sometimes you may want to bundle them together to create an ultimate gift basket for your coach. However you decide to do it, I’m confident you’ll end up buying a quality present for them. Good luck! Soccer Coach Gift Basket: Small Ideas Gift Baskets are great if you want buy your coach lots of smaller items and stick them all together; #1: Whistle I hate the thought of using a whistle after someone else has already. Believe it or not, there huge differences in the quality of whistles! Why not buy them their very own whistle? Here's one with a lot of great reviews on Amazon. Stopwatch You can sometimes get a stopwatch included with your whistle. There are LOADS to choose from here! Ball Pump You may see a ball pump as just a plain ol' ball pump. I can assure not all ball pumps were created equal! There's nothing more frustrating as a soccer coach to have a set of flat balls and ball pump that isn't up to the job. This handheld ball pump makes pumping balls up a little more fun! Pump Inflation Needles Okay I lied. There is ONE more thing more frustrating....a broken needle. Sale Spalding Inflating Needles Without a needle, no amount of 'pumping' will put that air in the ball! Make sure you grab a packet or two of needles when buying a ball pump - your soccer coach will be over the moon you took the time to make his/her life just that tad bit easier. $1.49 Buy on Amazon Soccer Coach White Board Communication is key in soccer. If you can't communicate what you're trying to get across you're going to have a whole load of confused players - never a good recipe! A soccer specific white board allows soccer coaches to provide a visual alternative while keeping players focused on what they need to improve. 150 Reviews Crown Sporting Goods Dry Erase Soccer Coaching Board They can come in various sizes. I'd recommend getting a smaller one just like this one here, if you're going down the 'gift basket' route. $9.99 Buy on Amazon Plus, they're far easier to pack and carry too. Cones Soccer coaches can never have enough cones. From players kicking them into bushes and using them as Frisbee’s to throw at each other to other coaches purposely (…or accidently!) putting them into their own bag. Cones go missing all the time. Your coach will be happy with a set of cones! What types of cones are you going to get? Balls Balls are the same as cones. I can’t remember how many balls I’ve lost over the years. In-fact I don’t really want to try and remember – I’d be here a lifetime! Big ones. Small ones. Medium sized ones. There are literally thousands of types of balls to choose from. Depending on the age of the kids the coach is working with will depend on the size of the ball. You have to dig that out by asking the questions above! If you're brave - here's some balls to check out here on Amazon. Coffee / Tea Flask [PSC Recommends This Gift!] I can’t remember the amount of times I wish I had my own coffee or tea flask. Coaching soccer usually means coaching outside which when the weather isn’t so great takes a lot of courage and motivation to keep going. Sale Thermos Stainless King 40 Ounce Beverage Bottle Make your coaches life that little more snug on a Sunday morning when they could be in bed, with their very own coffee or tea flask. $27.73 Buy on Amazon Coaching Resources All soccer coaches want to be better. They want to equip themselves with the best session plans. The best knowledge of the game. They want to improve their team’s performance by constantly investing time into improving their own overall game so in turn to help develop their players. They do this by buying coaching resources. Amazon have some great soccer coaching resources which you can find here. Gift Cards Gift cards are not only an easy option if you're looking for a quick solution but will also make your coach smile if you get a gift card from their favorite shop. You might need to get your child to go on a little mission to help you out though! If you haven't got the time for that however, you can pick up gift cards almost anywhere. Portable Soccer Benches Does your coach regularly coach a youth team? Chances are they will supervising the team throughout match days. Trust me on this one – a portable bench will be fantastic present to buy. Portable soccer benches come in various sizes from 3-seaters right up to 8-seaters. Ask your coach how many children they coach and then choose one of these benches. A Decent Bag This one’s a hard one. Well for me it is anyway. The one thing I hated about carry equipment is that nothing ever seemed to fit properly into my bag. Everything was always the wrong shape or size – this is especially true if your coach uses public transport to get around. If you can find a bag that can give your coach more space to fit all the essential equipment in without any hassle you’ll be the world best person their eyes! #12 Portable Soccer Goals Franklin Sports Competition Goal A pitch doesn’t look like a pitch until you add some goals in. Not only will the coach love you for this but so will their players. $40.85 Buy on Amazon I recently did a review of the best portable goals here. Have a look there first - you'll get a better idea on what you should be looking for. Squad Kit - Players Speaking of players – if your coach works with a youth team then buying them a brand new set of kit will go huge way to making your coach happy. Want to even further? Have numbers printed on the back of each top and finish off with the club crest. Squad Kit – Coaches Chances are there is more than one coach at the club. If your budget stretches you could also buy each coach a kit as well. Finish off with numbers and initials – guaranteed your coach will love you now! First Aid Kit This one is highly important. I've just done an audit at our place and it amazes me how many first aid kits are short od a few things. - ALL coaches must have an first aid kit that is updated with new stuff. A first aid kit is an essential but often missed component of a coaches bag. What I always say to my coaches is 'what if that was your child who needed first aid - and the coach never had a first aid bag. Would you be happy?' I'm sure you can imagine what the answer is every time. Here are some fantastic sports specific first aid kits for your soccer coach. Again, I'd recommend going small but ensure all the essentials are included! Autographed Ball from Players This one would have a huge sentimental value for your soccer coach. Autographed Ball from Professional Player If you can do it, you'll be a legend! Go one step further and get two balls signed, one by players the coach works with and a professional player! Your coach won't be able to stop smiling. Customized End of Year Certificate Most soccer coaches have a portfolio of their work. Wouldn't be great if they had a customized end of year certificate to add? Pop-Up Soccer Goals GOLME PRO Pop Up Soccer Goal Really easy to store, set-up and fold - Pop-Up soccer goals should be the foundation for all coaches equipment. Buy on Amazon They can be used by ALL age groups and are easily transported from session to session. See the best portable pop-up soccer goals here. Crazy Catch Are you looking to surprise your soccer coach? Are you looking to provide endless value to their sessions for a long time to come? The you have to have a look at the new kid on the block - Crazy Catch. Originally developed for throwing and catching sports such as cricket, Crazy Catch can be used to add a whole new dimension to your soccer coaches training sessions. With ability to progress their sessions and challenge their players in a way they've never been challenged before, Crazy Catch is this years must have soccer coach training tool! You can check out all the different Crazy Catch models here. Quick Tip! Shhhhh!....I recommend the Freestyle one for portability and ease of use! Soccer Tennis Net Aoneky Mini Portable Tennis Net for Soccer This game and it's hundreds of variations is played by professional players all round the world.Soccer Tennis is the soccer specific version of...tennis. It's a great game that adds fun, variety and progressive skill development into your coaches sessions. $49.99 Buy on Amazon Again, your coach will LOVE you, but so will their players! Check out this post here where I've laid out some game variations and the best nets to choose for soccer. Great game loved by millions around the world. Is your soccer coach involved? Soccer Rebounder Very Similar to the Crazy Catch I talked about above - expect Soccer rebounders, as the name suggests as specifically made for soccer. Soccer rebounders can come in all shapes and sizes so if you're looking for something BIG to surprise your soccer loving players this might just be it. So what do they do? Well soccer rebounders are built so that you can kick, throw, hit, shoot and head a ball AT the soccer rebounder only for it to be returned at speed which mimics real-game speed. Players and children will have hours of fun. Check out The TEKK Trainer Rebound goal - that's a good place start or this article I wrote comparing the top 5 football rebounders. Wait for Black Friday & Cyber Monday Technically, this isn't something you can actually buy your child's soccer coach. However, if you're looking to buy a gift near the end of the year or you're just someone who is super organized and shopping well in advance - why not wait for Black Friday? And if you miss Black Friday you've always got Cyber Monday 3 days later. You can check out the latest Black Friday Soccer Deals here.