Tips for Soccer Practice Sessions

Have a plan ahead of time for what games and drills you want to do
Be flexible with the plan – if something isn’t working, move on, it is always hard to predict ahead of time what is going to work on any given day
Even the drills should seem like games to the kids, especially for the younger kids
Especially for the younger kids, standing around will lead to kids wandering off and needing to be corralled. Try to keep them moving. Avoid drills that have a long line of kids standing around waiting their turn, try for a couple of shorter lines, with the assistant coach running the second line.
Don’t expect mastery of a skill the first few times they practice it. Be content with them learning the mechanics of the drill, where they start, where they go, etc.
Focus on positive reinforcement. Rather than just saying “nice job”, pick something specific that was done well, e.g. “I like how you kept your head up while you were dribbling the ball”
Don’t be afraid to use your whistle, it is good at getting their attention when moving from one activity to another.
Show the kids you are having fun too

Basic Practice Plan

Mark off your practice area
Playing field must be shared with other team during practice, so place some cones so that the kids aren’t always running into the other team’s practice area, or into the next field.
Establish game start time with opposing coach and referee
Start practice on time with a simple warm up, to keep the kids busy while you wait for latecomers to arrive
For younger kids, a non-soccer related game such as Simon-says works well for this
Older kids can do something that involves ball movement (freeze tag, hit the coach, or any other game that they enjoy that doesn’t require a long explanation)
At the end of warm-up (5 minutes), you can do some stretching to let them calm down a bit. For the first few weeks, getting kids to introduce themselves to each other at this point will help you and them learn everybody’s name.
Drills and Games (see list on following pages)
Spend some time going over game rules and procedures
No hands (refs won’t stop play for accidental contact)
Goalie can use hands, and throw the ball after they pick it up
Out of bound kick-in/throw in, goal kicks
Don’t crowd kicker/thrower
Spread out so they have someone to pass it to
After goal is scored, player must return to their side of the field, and give space to the team starting with the ball.
Offside rule will not be enforced for 4-6 year olds, but emphasize that players cannot stand behind the rearmost defender, waiting for the ball.
Skill instruction
Teach very basic skills
Kick ball with inside of foot, or laces of shoe, not with toe
Look at ball when shooting
Don’t look at ball when dribbling
Spread out on field, move to open spaces when your team has the ball
Don’t crowd your teammate when they have the ball
Pass to teammates
Older groups can put more emphasis on positional play (left side vs. right side, forwards vs mid-field vs. defence)
Add water breaks between activities, depending on temperature
Establish number of players per side on the field with referee and opposing coach
Pre-game cheer
Once you have picked who will be on the field at the start of the game, and everybody is ready to go, gather team and do a team cheer

Games and Drills

This list of games and drills will be posted on our web site coach’s corner. We will add more as the season progresses, so check back if you want to expand your repertoire.

Red Light – Green Light

Each player gets own ball
Yell “green light” to get players to start dribbling the ball
Yell “red light” to make them stop and trap the ball under one foot
Yell “yellow light” to make them dribble slowly (this encourages them to speed up on the green light)
Randomly change the lights

What Time is it Mr. Wolf?

Choose one player to be the wolf
Wolf stands at one end of practice area facing away from rest of team
Other stand in line at other end, each with a ball) and shout in unison “What time is it Mr. Wolf?”
Wolf responds with a random time from 1 to 12 (“3 O’Clock”) and player take that many steps dribbling their ball
After they have stopped, they ask the wolf again for the time
Repeat several times, until the wolf thinks they are close enough, and shouts “Dinner Time”
Wolf then turns around and chases the players, trying to kick their ball away before they dribble back to the start line
Repeat with several different wolves
Extremely popular up until at least age 8

Clean Your Room

Divide group into two teams on two halves of the practice area. Place a couple of cones to mark the centerline
Each player gets a ball, plus have a couple of extra balls
Explain that each team’s side is their room. They want to keep their room clean and the other room messy by kicking the soccer balls from their room into the other room
Shout “clean your room” to start game, end after a few minutes.

Hit the coach

Mark off playing area with cones
Each player gets their own ball
Coaches run around inside the playing area
Kids dribble ball inside the playing area, try to hit the coach with their ball
End after a few minutes

Freeze Tag

Mark off playing area with cones
All players have ball, except one who is “it”
On go, players dribble balls inside playing area, “it” tries to touch their ball (not kick it away).
If their ball is touched, they are frozen, and must stand with legs spread and ball held over their head
They can be unfrozen by teammate kicking ball through legs
End after a few minute, or when everybody is frozen
Can use more than one “it”
Works well for all age groups

Traffic

Mark out square (4m x 4m)
Divide team into two, on adjacent sides of the square (so they are crossing at right angles to each other)
Each player has own ball
On start, players must dribble across from one side of the square to the other, and then turn around and come back
First team to get all players back wins
Older kids use smaller square, all 4 sides of square
Repeat a few times

Shark Attack

Create 3 small “islands” with cones, with the islands forming a triangle 7-10m on a side
Split players into 3 groups, one group on each island, each player with own ball (the “swimmers”)
One player with no ball is the shark, they yell “shark attack” and all the swimmers must dribble from one island to another
Shark tries to kick the ball away from the swimmers as they travel from one island to next
Swimmers that lose their ball become sharks
Once everybody is safely on an island, yell shark attack again, until no swimmers are left

Cops and Robbers

Set up a large number of cones around the playing field
Divide team into cops (3-4 players without balls, ) and robbers (rest of team, each with own ball)
Robbers try to knock over cones with ball, cops try to stand them all back up
Rotate cops every couple of minutes

Cone Knockdown

Players are grouped in pairs, one ball per pair
Each player stands 3m-10m from their partner (distance depends on age)
Cone is place halfway between players
Players take turns shooting the ball at each other, trying to knock over the cone
If cone is missed, partner collects ball and takes their turn shooting
If cone is knocked over, player runs and sets it back up, while partner gets ready for their turn to shoot
Can be done as either passing drill (inside of foot) or shooting drill (hit ball with shoelaces)
Can also do with pair of cones, shooting in between, with the players further apart. Younger kids like to knock the cones down however….

Tick – Tock

Each player has own ball
They use the inside of the foot to tap it back and forth between their feet as quickly as possible
Aim for 20 taps for younger kids, 40 taps for older kids

Pass and Shoot (Give and Go)

Players form line behind each other, with one ball per player
Front of line should be in front of the goal, a few metres away
Coach stands to left side, halfway between front of line and goal
Player at front of line passes their ball to the coach, and starts to run to the net
Coach passes ball back to player, who kicks it through the goal (hopefully)
Player collects their ball and runs to back of line
Use two coaches and two goals (improvise one with cones) to keep the lines short
Older kids may replace the coach with second parallel line, so that the player on the right passes to the player on the left who passes it back to them for the shot on goal. After the ball is collected, they switch lines, so they alternate who shoots
Also for older players, alternate shooting from the right side and the left side (left foot shot)

Monkey in the Middle

Set up square playing areas with cones
Four players pass the ball around, trying to keep it from the 5th player, the monkey
If the monkey steals the ball, the last player to pass the ball becomes the new monkey
With older kids, can use 3 players instead of 4, to make it easier for the monkey
This game can be frustrating for younger kids, not reco

4 on 2

Passing/shooting/defence drill for older kids
One goalie and two defenders take on 4 forwards
Defenders pass ball to coach to end attack
Encourage offence to spread out and pass to open players
Switch offence and defence after each attack
Add extra defender if offence is too good.

Leader and Shadow

Split players into pairs, each with a ball
One player is leader, other is shadow
On go, leader dribbles around, trying to shake off shadow
Shadow dribbles behind shadow, trying to follow closely
After 30 seconds, switch roles
Repeat for a few minutes

One on One to end line

Players pair up, with one ball per pair
Players with balls stand at one end of practice area
Opponent stands 5m away
On go, player with ball tries to move it down the field across the end line at the other end
Opponent tries to stop them
If opponent gain possession of ball, they drive the ball in the other direction
Once ball crosses line, start over at that end of field
Can also do as a two on two drill or 3 on 3 to work on passing and defending

Ultimate soccer

Similar to ultimate Frisbee
Mark out two end zones with cones, and divide team into two
One team kicks off to the other
Players cannot move the ball by dribbling, only passing
Cannot steal the ball from a player with possession
Team trapping the ball in the end zone scores, and subsequently kicks off