Sourced from http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MdtOq_XlZAU
If you coach junior or youth teams, you should be playing out from the back.
Not just letting your GK kick the ball as far as they can. Conducting an aerial bombardment on the other team is not football, not even close to it.. Long ball second ball is bollocks for young players. Teaches them nothing. They won't get better at the game, they get far less touches, it reduces the beautiful game to kick and chase. Not Football!
Play out from the back. Take the time to make it happen, explain how it works at training, let the young players sort it out, let the game be the teacher. Don't let them stop just because it gets a bit hard or parents whinge. Explain what you are doing to the parents. If they don;t like it, keep doing it and tell them you are the Coach and this is exactly what the FFA requires you to do for young players. Try keeping the ball rather than hoofing it up the pitch. There will be mistakes, you will get stuck in your defensive third a bit, there will be the occassional disaster, at least until the young players work out how to play their way out of it. It will take time. Be patient but stay on track. So many more touches on the ball and so much more Football!
If you have your GK kicking long, lets face it, you are pursuing wins. You should not be caoching junior and youth football. You are undermining the FFA National Curriculum and Development plans. If you play out from the back, you are developing your young players, you are doing exactly the things the FFA requires of you and in time, these lucky young players will be the winners and so will Football in Australia.
Here is an excellent instructional video from the Nike Academy on how to play out from the back. Well worth a look.