ASA Coaching Clinic

U6-U8 E-Mail Handout

March 27. 2004

General Guidelines

• Focus on your players and their development, not on winning.
• Let your players make mistakes.
• Positively, but substantively reinforce your players, both when they fail and when they succeed.
• Plan activities and goals that are appropriate to the players’ age(s) and ability level(s).
• Focus on 1-3 things during the season (e.g., dribbling, beating opponents 1v1 and controlling the ball and dribbling or passing out of the defensive 3^rd of the field (All Ages!!) OR combining passes, spreading out and using space and attacking in groups of 3-4 (Ages U-9 and Above). Soccer players develop over years, not in one season.
• Ban big kicks. Encourage control and dribbling, especially in the defensive end of the field.

U6-U8 activity rationale:

In general, children at the under-6 and under-8 levels are still learning basic coordination of their bodies—much less the relationships between their bodies and the balls. They also have short spans of attention and are ego-centric. Therefore, the coach needs to ensure that each player has a ball at practice and should plan activities that maximize players’ touches on the ball. Note: At the youngest ages, many drills may not be soccer-specific.

List of activities:

· Stretches using the ball and hands. Have players standing with legs in a deep V; bend down with ball in hands and roll ball in figure 8s around legs.

· Next, in pairs standing back-to-back, pass the ball from one player to the other: a) twisting around their midsections; and b) reaching overhead and under/through the legs. In each stretch, ball moves in a continuous circular pattern.

· Set a rectangular grid and have players act like airplanes or motorcycles—making sound effects and covering as much of the area as possible. Progression should move from: a) players without balls; to b) players with balls in hands; to c) players with balls at feet.

· Coach gives commands to players as they move around the grid without ball…hopping, skipping, jumping, etc.

· Coach gives commands to players to move around the grid with the ball and stop the ball with various body parts. (Coach should demonstrate what he wants to see.)

· Set 2 rows of cones apart about 7-8 yards. Have kids “walk the dog” from one side to the other using hands, feet, knees, heads, etc.

· Players roll ball through own legs (or have extra parents do this) and retrieve ball. Bring it back to the designated starting point.

· “Avoid the monsters.” Have two adults in pinneys (scrimmage vests) running around inside the grid “trying” to tag kids. Have the kids progress—without ball, ball in hands, ball at feet.

· Directional running. Two groups of players on opposite endlines. Without ball, have players run across grid to the other endline. Emphasize not bumping into other players as they switch places. After a couple times, make players carry balls in their hands, then dribble with feet.

· Scrimmage. Next, take away all but one ball with the stipulation that each team must dribble across the opposite endline to score. Next, add goals at each endline for “the game.”

Additional Resources

• The Baffled Parent’s Guide to Great Soccer Drills, by Tom Fleck and Ron Quinn (Ragged Mountain Press – 2002)
• Coaching Soccer – The Official Coaching Book of the Dutch Soccer Association, by Bert Van Lingen (Reedswain – 1997)
• Developing Youth Soccer Players, by Horst Wein (Human Kinetics – 2001)
• Positive Coaching: Building Character and Self-Esteem Through Sports, by Jim Thompson (Warde Publishers – 1995)