Do You Have to Play It to Teach It?

Do You Have to Play It to Teach It?

From The Inside Scoop with Anytime Soccer Training - Discussing Youth Soccer from Around the World by Neil Crawford

September 5, 2026 · 39 min

About this episode

Neil Crawford discusses the belief that one must have played soccer at a high level to teach it, using philosophical examples and personal experiences to challenge this notion.

In this episode, I take on a claim I hear constantly in coaching circles — that you can't teach a skill you can't perform, or that you can't teach soccer if you haven't played at a high level. I break this down philosophically, using examples like the Erie Canal builders and people who've climbed Everest without prior experience, to show humans regularly achieve things without a playing background in that exact thing. I share my own experience training my sons to a high level despite never having played myself, and I walk through what teaching actually requires: content knowledge, experience, communication, and pedagogy — not necessarily elite playing ability. I also get into the real gap between playing and teaching, address the major objections people raise, and make the case for why this belief matters beyond the debate itself — it shrinks the coaching pool, drives up costs, and keeps parents and motivated volunteers from stepping in to help their own kids develop.

People in this episode

Host: Neil Crawford

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Mentioned in this episode

Organizations: Erie Canal

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