ASA Coaching Clinic U8-U10 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.

U8-U10 activity rationale:

The physical, cognitive, and psychosocial characteristics of the under-8 and under-10 players have advanced past those at the under-6 level. However, coaches should avoid tactical sessions until the players have solid technical foundations. Most activities at this age level are focused on dribbling and passing.

List of activities:

· Shadow dribbling. Similar to follow the leader—players are in groups of two or three, with one player being the leader. Player dribbles all over the field (with feet), changing directions and doing “fakes” with the ball using as many surfaces of both feet as possible. Other players have to do exactly as he does. Switch roles so that each player gets to be the leader at least once.

· Sharks and minnows. Two “sharks” without ball standing in middle of rectangular grid. Other players, or “minnows” with balls standing on one end line. On coach’s signal, minnows dribble from one endline to the other as the two sharks try to tag them. Minnows are safe once they reach the other endline. Minnows who are tagged join the sharks until no minnows are left. Last two minnows become the next game’s sharks.

· “Land of the Beautiful.” Similar to freeze tag. Two “ugly” monsters without balls in a rectangular grid try to tag the rest of the players, who are dribbling around the grid. If the monsters tag a “beautiful” person (one of the dribblers), he must stop, pick up his ball, stand with legs in a V, and shout “I’m ugly!” He can rejoin the “Land of the Beautiful” if another player plays a ball through his legs. Dribbler should regain control of the ball after playing it through legs.

· Passing tunnels. Groups of kids evenly divided, facing each other in short lines; one ball per group of 5-6. First in line on one side passes ball to the first person in the other line. Passer follows the ball and gets in back of line to which he passed.

· Frantic ball. Coach sets grid for entire team of 8-10 players. Coach sends five balls into the grid with the instruction that none of the balls can stop moving until the activity is finished. Players must dribble and pass the balls, communicating the entire time to make sure that none of the balls “die”.

· Multiple goals. Using cones, set up five to eight random goals, 2-3 yard wide all over a 20 x 30 grid. First, have players in pairs, passing to each other through the goals as many times as possible in one minute. Important rule: players cannot go through the same goal twice in a row. Have players try to beat their own scores the next time. Next, take away all but two balls and have two teams do the same thing…score as many times as they can in the allotted time. Finally, use only one ball and have players compete for the ball—basically a scrimmage with multiple goals.

· Scrimmage. Two teams, two goals.

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)