Teaching university mathematics and coaching youth soccer

This note reflects on similarities between best practice in teaching mathematics and in coaching children's soccer. The focus is on two examples: The key role, importance, and design of problem solving activities, and the necessary restraint on what kind of feedback and corrections to provide in a student centered classroom or practice. A central observation is that, in the end, learning and teaching in no matter what subject, involves the same human organ. Hence one may find helpful ideas and solutions for teaching one's subject even in domains that appear very distant. Indeed, as laid out in the author's personal experiences, sometimes it may even be easier to become aware of, understand, and improve on learning issues when experiencing them in a very different discipline.