Please choose from the following categories:

• General
• Rookies/Beginners
• Div. 1 and Higher
• Coaching Resources

• Put the players in one line and roll balls at a right angle to the line. Each player, in turn, must run and try to kick the rolling ball toward the goal It's a terrific test of eye-foot coordination, especially for eight-and-under but even for older kids.
• Variation A: Set up three or four lines, and enlist other moms or dads to help.
• Variation B: The coach runs in front of the goal to create a target.
• Variation C: The coach rolls the ball from different directions: directly behind the line, directly toward the line, or at a 45-degree angle.

• Kids start at a line, say at the mid-line, each with a ball. With the coach’s “Green Light” command the players do controlled dribbling--small kicks--until they hear the next command. Players who lose control of the ball are sent back to starting line.
• The “Red Light” command means they stop the ball from rolling by placing their foot on top of the ball.
• The “Blue Light” command means they have to reverse direction and go back to toward the starting line.
• Variation: The coach can also add "left light" and "right light" commands as kids get more proficient at responding to other commands.

• Form two lines, one at each edge of the goal-mouth. The coach can be the goalie. The coach throws a ball 10-to-15 yards out.
• One kid from each line runs and tries to win the ball, turns and shoots on goal. The kid who doesn’t win the ball plays defense to prevent a shot. When defenders win the ball back, they can shoot.
• Variation: Create teams and keep score.

• This activity helps players work on aggressively chasing the ball, bringing it under control, and dribbling through a crowd. It also helps diffuse any excess energy.
• Create a pile of balls and line up the players. The coach kicks or throws the balls out in various directions, calling the name of an individual player each time. That kid chases the ball down and brings it back to the pile.
• The object for the coach is to empty the pile of players, and the object for the players is to keep it full.
• Variation: Mix it up by telling players they can only use their right foot or left foot (or knee or elbow or whatever).

• A full complement of one-on-one or two-on-two games enables the players to play constantly. Each game is set up with two goals made of cones set 10 yards apart.
• Switch teams every few minutes to minimize the sense of wins & losses.

• Place one shooter directly in front of the goal but outside the penalty box. Place ball feeders on both sides of the goal, two or three players behind the goal, and a keeper in the goal.
• The feeders have several balls. They alternately pass the ball to the shooter who fires directly on the goal. Those behind are to trap the balls (no hands) and pass back to the feeders.
• After the shooter gets 5 shots, rotate everyone but the keeper. In 10 -15 minutes everyone will have passed, trapped and shot, and the keeper will have gotten a great workout
• Variation: Same basic setup but place several shooters outside the box. The first feeder passes to the first shooter. As soon as the shot is taken, the second feeder passes to the next shooter, and so on, rapid fire. Since the keeper is (usually) still recovering and out of position as each shooter shoots, tell the players to focus on shooting toward the section of the net left open. Rotate as before. Be sure to tell the keepers not to get discouraged. A lot of shots should get by the keeper since the point is to train to shoot for an open space in goal.

• Have one player stand still, planting her feet. Another player is assigned to try and knock her off her feet, using any means possible. The idea is to get girls accustomed to rough play.
• Put the girls in a tight circle and throw a ball lightly into the air. The player who gets her head on it gets to go for a drink of water. This works well at the end of practice and teaches players to be aggressive when trying to head the ball.
• Have one girl try to defend a ball along a sideline for as long as possible while another player uses any means possible to get the ball.

• This a very fast-paced, counter-intuitive drill that teaches players how to get open to receive a pass, how to pass short and especially how to pass to a teammate trailing behind.
• Line up players in a small playing field (about 35x45 yards), with two forwards, one midfielder, and two fullbacks per team.
• The ball starts with the forwards, but the objective is to pass backwards to the fullbacks, who then either boom it out or pass to a midfielder.
• The midfielder and forwards are prohibited from passing forward.
• Each team gets a point for executing five back passes in a row that are on target and controlled by the fullbacks.
• Rules about passing backwards:
• You must make eye contact with the player you are passing to.
• The pass has to be accurate, ideally right at your teammate’s feet.
• You must communicate verbally (Yell out “back pass”) before the pass is made.
• You can only pass when the fullback is open.
• The fullback must do a quick release.

• Three kids make a triangle (or a square) with an adult in the middle.
• The adult tries to steal the ball while the players pass to each other.
• Variation: the kids form a circle with two or three in the middle. The ones on the outside have to pass to another kid on the outside while the inside kids try to steal the ball. The kid who intercepts a ball goes to the outside and is replaced in the middle by the kid who made the unlucky pass.

• Kids line up, dribble the ball 10 feet, then shoot on goal from 10 feet out.

• Form players into two lines outside the penalty box., one line toward the right side of the field, the other toward the left. The player at the front of the right line makes a diagonal pass aiming for a spot halfway between the goal and the front of the left line. The player at the front of the left line runs forward and tries to kick the moving ball into the net.
• Switch after a while so players in the left line make the pass and players in the right line take the shot.

For all drills, make a circle using cones. It has to be big enough to permit the kids to run around with plenty of room, but not so big that when they play tag they can’t catch anyone. Probably, make the circle about 20-steps in diameter. Use a lot of cones, because it’s all part of teaching the kids to stay in-bounds, which requires them to be able to see the cones as they run around.

in by introducing the concept of teamwork say ‘hello’ to each other, recognize that the whole group is the team, and each kid is a teammate.

Introduce the concept of side lines, i.e., cones. Get the kids to look at the cones, to point to the cones, and to understand that they¹re supposed to stay inside the cones.

• Each kid should have a ball.
• All games are run inside the circle.

• All kids inside circle
• No balls used
• 1 kid is the “blob.” The blob tags a kid, and the blob then becomes a two-kid blob who hold hands and try to tag a third, making a three-kid blob. Still holding hands, the three-kid blob tries to tag a fourth, and so on. The idea is to introduce the kids to the concept of team play and teamwork. It helps the kids understand cooperation. Common goals tell them to pick the next kid you’re going to tag, and work together to get there. Teach the kids who aren’t yet tagged to use their eyes to avoid the blob, but also to stay in-bounds.

• The kids are all minnows, “swimming” around inside the circle. Coach starts the game using one ball, and tries to ‘tag” the kids by kicking the ball at them (obviously, don’t kick it hard, and keep it low!). If a kid is hit by the ball, the tagged kid becomes a shark, and gets a ball so that now you have two sharks kicking two separate balls at the remaining minnows, and so on; three sharks and three balls, four sharks and four balls, etc.
• You can make this more difficult by having the shark tag the minnows with a hand, while dribbling with his feet. My guess is that the kids are a long way from being ready for this level of difficulty.
• Also, you can stress staying in-bounds by declaring that any minnow that swims out of the fishbowl, i.e., the circle, becomes a shark.

• Once there’s only one ”minnow” left, the game stops, and that minnow becomes the shark, with this twist:
  Now all the minnows dribble a ball around the circle, and the shark tags the minnows. Once tagged, the minnows put their ball out of the circle, and try to tag the remaining minnows, until no one is left dribbling. As you might expect, this part of the game goes quite a bit more quickly than the first version.
• You can make the reverse version more difficult by having the shark tag the minnow by touching the minnow¹s ball with his foot‹kind of like monkey in the middle, if you remember that game.

• Inside the circle
• Every kid has a ball.
• Coach starts by yelling “Green Light,” and the kids dribble the ball fast. Then Coach yells, “Yellow Light,” and kids dribble the ball slow. “Red Light,” and the kids stop (to teach kids to play to the whistle, you could substitute a whistle for the “red” light). Mix it up.

• Every player has a ball and starts with the ball between his feet, with knees slightly bent.
• On “go,” each kid taps the ball between his feet, using the front of his foot. First player to reach 20 (or 10, or 5) wins.

• Every player has a ball.
• On “go,” Coach runs slowly away from the players, who dribble after him and try to hit him with the ball by shooting at him. 1 point for each time the coach is hit.
• Tell them that if they hit you 5 times, you’ll make an animal sound of their choosing, or tell them a joke, or whatever funny thing you can think of.

• Take an “ice cream” break
• Each kid grabs a cone, turns it upside down, sticks a ball in it, to make a pretend ice cream cone. Voila! The kids collected the cones for you, and you can then sit down for a minute or two with them and talk about how much fun you had that day!

• For a scrimmage, divide a field down the center, from goal to goal, using small cones as markers. For each team assign half the players to the right side of the cones and the other half to the left side. Tell them they cannot run across the line of cones. They must pass the ball to their teammates on the other side.

These notes summarize my own experiences. I can’t say if they will translate for you. Clearly, the main objective is for the kids to heave fun while learning as bit about soccer, improving their own skills and understanding, and developing more of a feeling for the game. What follows are some suggestions for getting toward that goal. Please give feedback or add something if you feel like it; I plan a new edition every season.