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Main Sponsor
Club Coach
How to Warm Up
How to Warm Down
Nutrition
Some ideas when coaching in the Academy
Objective: To provide fun, active, age appropriate activities that foster comfort with the
ball for each player. It is important, if possible, that all players have a ball in most
activities so that they can have “LOTS” of touches as they attempt to dribble the ball.
(Sessions should be about 45 minutes in duration.)
1) Tag-Every player dribbles a soccer ball in a defined space while trying to tag other
players with their hand. Players cannot leave their own ball. Have them keep count of
how many people they have tagged and, if playing more than one game, see if players can
tag more people than they did in the first game. Progression 2: Players must tag other
players’ knees. (6 minutes)
2) Hospital tag-Same as tag in that each player dribbles a soccer ball and that they try to
tag each other with their hands. In this game, each time a player is tagged he/she must
place their hand on the spot on their body where they were tagged. Obviously, if tagged a
third time, players have no more hands to cover those spots, so they must go to the
hospital to see the doctor. The coach acts as the doctor and asks the player to keep the
ball up for 2 seconds so they can continue playing the game. (8 minutes)
3) Body Part Dribble-In designated area; coach has all players dribble a soccer ball.
When coach yells out the name of a body part, players must touch that body part to the
ball as quickly as possible. Coach should vary body parts and rate at which he calls out
body parts. At times, call out body parts consecutively (i.e. tummy, nose, and elbow)
during one stoppage or call out two body parts at once (i.e. both hands or both feet).
(8 minutes)
4) Red light/Green light-All players have a ball and dribble in a limited space (or
towards the coach). When coach says “red light”, players must stop ball and put foot on
top of ball. When coach says “yellow light”, players must dribble very slowly. When
coach says “green light”, players dribble fast. Coach controls this game with the
frequency of “light” changes and variety of changes. Once players catch on to this game,
add other color lights and affix different actions to them. (i.e. purple light = hop back and
forth over ball, orange light = run around the ball, black light = dance, blue light = hide
behind the ball etc. etc.). (8 minutes)
5) Tail Steal- All players tuck a bib into the back of their shorts to give themselves a tail.
All players dribble their soccer ball while trying to pluck the tails of other players and
trying to make sure their tail does not get plucked. Players play until the last tail is taken.
(6 minutes)
6) Snake-In an appropriate space, have all players dribble their soccer balls, except for 2-
3 players. These players (the snake) hold hands or lock arms and work together to tag the
other players. The players with dribbling balls try to avoid getting tagged by the snake. If
they are tagged, they join hands or lock arms with the snake. The snake grows until all
players are part of the snake. The snake must work together and not break into little parts.
Encourage fun by having the snake hiss. (8 minutes)
7) Freeze Tag-Everyone has a ball and the coach can pick one or two players who are the
Freeze monsters. Freeze monsters (with ball) try and dribble around and tag other players
(who also have a ball and are dribbling around). The frozen player must stand still
holding their ball over their head. The way the players can become unfrozen, is if the
coach comes over and unfreezes them OR the coach can have the other players unfreeze
each other (by simply tagging them again). If all players are frozen, game ends and the
coach can have new Freeze monsters. Progression 2: Freeze monsters can now try and
freeze each other by using their soccer ball to ‘tag’ someone else’s soccer ball or feet by
kicking their ball. Progression 3: Coach can be the freeze monster and try to tag all the
players with players unfreezing each other in same fashion. (8 minutes)
8) Capture the Balls-Set up three or four “home bases” (squares) with cones roughly 2-3
yards wide. Break up the players into teams and have each team get together in their
home base. Place all the balls in the center of the space between the home bases. On the
coach’s command the teams are free to gather as many soccer balls as they can into their
home base. Players cannot use hands and there is no pushing each other or laying on the
balls. Teams try to gather as many balls as possible into their home bases. Teams can
steal balls from each others’ home bases. Coach calls time and count up how many balls
are in each space to determine a winner. Coach allows team 1 minute to make up a new
team strategy before playing again. (8 minutes)
9) Free Dribble-Everyone dribbling a ball, using insides, outsides, and soles of their feet.
Players can dribble with speed (outsides of the feet and toes), try moves of their choice or
moves that the coach introduces, or they can change direction. The Coach can manipulate
the session by calling out different commands…”stop, go, turn, tap”. Players can carry
the ball towards someone and try a move. Progression 2: As players get comfortable, the
coach can walk around and put pressure on players as they are performing dribbling
tasks. This adds fun and interaction. (8 minutes)
10) Kangaroo Jack-All players except two or three begin with a ball. Players without
balls are kangaroo jacks and must hop like a kangaroo and try to tag players. If a player
gets tagged, he/she becomes a kangaroo as well until all players are turned into
kangaroos. (6 minutes)
11) Ball Tag-Similar to other tag games except players try to tag others with their soccer
ball, by kicking it at another player’s feet or ball. Have them keep count of how many
times they kick their soccer ball and tag another person. Can have the players tag the
coach for 10 or 20 points. Then can have players tag other selected players for 50 or 100
points etc. Progression 2: Rather than having players tag each other; have them tag the
coach by kicking their soccer ball. The coach moves around without a ball to avoid being
tagged. Have players count up how many they got and can do the same variations as in
the other game by affixing a lot of points to players. (8 minutes)
12) Moving Goal-2 coaches use a bib or an extra piece of clothing to form a movable
goal with each coach serving as a post and the shirt serving as the crossbar. Players each
have a ball and try to score by kicking their ball through the goal. However, the coaches
constantly move and turn to force the players to keep their head up and to change
direction as they dribble. (8 minutes)
13) Juggling-Everyone with a ball. Hold hands out with ball in between, drop ball
directly down and kick back up to hands, etc. Players practice keeping the ball in the air
with their feet and thighs. Players count how many times they touch the ball before it
drops to the ground. Progression 2: Controlled juggling…juggle on one thigh, then add
other thigh, then add one foot, then add the other foot…thigh-thigh-foot-foot (6 minutes)
14) Paint the Field-Every player dribbles their ball in the area defined. You explain to
them that their ball is actually a paintbrush and wherever it rolls on the ground, it paints
that area. The task is to paint as much of the area as possible in the time allotted by
dribbling their soccer balls all over the grid. Progression 2: Can ask them to paint with
only their left foot, then their right foot. (8 minutes)
15) Pirate Ship-Set up a 20x20 grid (Pirate ship deck) with a small 6x6 grid (safe shark
cage) just in one of the corners of the field. Coach makes up variations and adds them to
their pirate ship journey one at a time. Variations on the ship can be: Scrub the deckplayers
must roll the ball back and forth with the sole of their foot, then coach can ask
them to do this while moving all around the Pirate Ship deck. Hoist the sail-players can
knock the ball back and forth between their feet, then dribble all around the Pirate Ship
deck as fast as they can. Walk the plank-players must do toe touches on their soccer ball,
then dribble all around the Pirate Ship deck as fast as they can. Shark attack-Coach
(‘Shark’) runs after players and they have to try and dribble their soccer ball into the 6x6
(safe shark cage) before the ‘shark’ catches them. (8 minutes)
16) Gates-Set up many pairs of cones (with roughly 2 yards in between pairs) all around
the playing area. These pairs serve as gates or many mini-goals. Players each have a ball
and must dribble through the gate in order to score. Have players count how many goals
they score in 30 seconds and when playing a second time ask them if they can beat their
score. Coaches can vary this by asking players to dribble with left foot or right foot. If
players end up dribbling back and forth through only one goal, set up a rule to protect
against this. (8 minutes)
17) Cops and Robbers-Coach sets up 8-10 stand-up cones in a 15yd x 15yd space.
Robbers all have soccer balls and knock over the cones (banks) by kicking their balls into
the cones and knocking them over. Cops (have 2 or 3 cops for each game) do not have
soccer balls and need to stand the cones back up (before all the banks are robbed). Rotate
who gets to be cops. Variation (If don’t have stand- up cones): ½ group (cops) take
soccer balls and put on top of disc cones. Other ½ of group (robbers) try to knock over
those soccer balls by kicking their soccer balls at them. Cops must replace the soccer
balls on the cones as quickly as possible. (8 minutes)
18) Crab Soccer-Set up a grid roughly 8yd x 10yd. Have 3-4 players inside the grid
acting as crabs. These crabs do not have a soccer ball. Other players start at one end of
the grid and when the coach says “Go”, they dribble their soccer balls to the other end of
the grid. The crabs try to kick their soccer balls out of the grid. If a dribbler’s ball goes
out of the grid, that player becomes a crab as well. Play until all players turn into crabs.
(8 minutes)
19) Shrek/ Spiderman/ Sponge Bob---Place a couple players in bibs and have everyone
else get a soccer ball. Set up a 20 yd x 15 yd grid and have the players with soccer balls
dribble around in the space. The players in bibs are Shrek (or Spiderman or Sponge Bob,
etc.) and try to tag the players who have soccer balls. When players are tagged they go to
into the goal (castle, spider net etc) and can only get back out if a teammate with a ball
tags them or the coach uses his/her magic powers to let everyone free. Use any character
or images you like for this and make sure all players get a chance to be one of the special
characters at some point during every practice. (8 minutes)
Always finish with a 3v3 or 4v4 Game---Separate players into
two teams and play a game of 3 against 3 or 4 against 4 without
goalkeepers. Let the players play and give plenty of positive
feedback to them as they compete. REINFORCE the GOOD
STUFF! (15 minutes)
Objective: To provide fun, active, age appropriate activities that foster comfort with the
ball for each player. It is important, if possible, that all players have a ball in most
activities so that they can have “LOTS” of touches as they attempt to dribble the ball.
(Sessions should be about 45 minutes in duration.)
1) Tag-Every player dribbles a soccer ball in a defined space while trying to tag other
players with their hand. Players cannot leave their own ball. Have them keep count of
how many people they have tagged and, if playing more than one game, see if players can
tag more people than they did in the first game. Progression 2: Players must tag other
players’ knees. (6 minutes)
2) Hospital tag-Same as tag in that each player dribbles a soccer ball and that they try to
tag each other with their hands. In this game, each time a player is tagged he/she must
place their hand on the spot on their body where they were tagged. Obviously, if tagged a
third time, players have no more hands to cover those spots, so they must go to the
hospital to see the doctor. The coach acts as the doctor and asks the player to keep the
ball up for 2 seconds so they can continue playing the game. (8 minutes)
3) Body Part Dribble-In designated area; coach has all players dribble a soccer ball.
When coach yells out the name of a body part, players must touch that body part to the
ball as quickly as possible. Coach should vary body parts and rate at which he calls out
body parts. At times, call out body parts consecutively (i.e. tummy, nose, and elbow)
during one stoppage or call out two body parts at once (i.e. both hands or both feet).
(8 minutes)
4) Red light/Green light-All players have a ball and dribble in a limited space (or
towards the coach). When coach says “red light”, players must stop ball and put foot on
top of ball. When coach says “yellow light”, players must dribble very slowly. When
coach says “green light”, players dribble fast. Coach controls this game with the
frequency of “light” changes and variety of changes. Once players catch on to this game,
add other color lights and affix different actions to them. (i.e. purple light = hop back and
forth over ball, orange light = run around the ball, black light = dance, blue light = hide
behind the ball etc. etc.). (8 minutes)
5) Tail Steal- All players tuck a bib into the back of their shorts to give themselves a tail.
All players dribble their soccer ball while trying to pluck the tails of other players and
trying to make sure their tail does not get plucked. Players play until the last tail is taken.
(6 minutes)
6) Snake-In an appropriate space, have all players dribble their soccer balls, except for 2-
3 players. These players (the snake) hold hands or lock arms and work together to tag the
other players. The players with dribbling balls try to avoid getting tagged by the snake. If
they are tagged, they join hands or lock arms with the snake. The snake grows until all
players are part of the snake. The snake must work together and not break into little parts.
Encourage fun by having the snake hiss. (8 minutes)
7) Freeze Tag-Everyone has a ball and the coach can pick one or two players who are the
Freeze monsters. Freeze monsters (with ball) try and dribble around and tag other players
(who also have a ball and are dribbling around). The frozen player must stand still
holding their ball over their head. The way the players can become unfrozen, is if the
coach comes over and unfreezes them OR the coach can have the other players unfreeze
each other (by simply tagging them again). If all players are frozen, game ends and the
coach can have new Freeze monsters. Progression 2: Freeze monsters can now try and
freeze each other by using their soccer ball to ‘tag’ someone else’s soccer ball or feet by
kicking their ball. Progression 3: Coach can be the freeze monster and try to tag all the
players with players unfreezing each other in same fashion. (8 minutes)
8) Capture the Balls-Set up three or four “home bases” (squares) with cones roughly 2-3
yards wide. Break up the players into teams and have each team get together in their
home base. Place all the balls in the center of the space between the home bases. On the
coach’s command the teams are free to gather as many soccer balls as they can into their
home base. Players cannot use hands and there is no pushing each other or laying on the
balls. Teams try to gather as many balls as possible into their home bases. Teams can
steal balls from each others’ home bases. Coach calls time and count up how many balls
are in each space to determine a winner. Coach allows team 1 minute to make up a new
team strategy before playing again. (8 minutes)
9) Free Dribble-Everyone dribbling a ball, using insides, outsides, and soles of their feet.
Players can dribble with speed (outsides of the feet and toes), try moves of their choice or
moves that the coach introduces, or they can change direction. The Coach can manipulate
the session by calling out different commands…”stop, go, turn, tap”. Players can carry
the ball towards someone and try a move. Progression 2: As players get comfortable, the
coach can walk around and put pressure on players as they are performing dribbling
tasks. This adds fun and interaction. (8 minutes)
10) Kangaroo Jack-All players except two or three begin with a ball. Players without
balls are kangaroo jacks and must hop like a kangaroo and try to tag players. If a player
gets tagged, he/she becomes a kangaroo as well until all players are turned into
kangaroos. (6 minutes)
11) Ball Tag-Similar to other tag games except players try to tag others with their soccer
ball, by kicking it at another player’s feet or ball. Have them keep count of how many
times they kick their soccer ball and tag another person. Can have the players tag the
coach for 10 or 20 points. Then can have players tag other selected players for 50 or 100
points etc. Progression 2: Rather than having players tag each other; have them tag the
coach by kicking their soccer ball. The coach moves around without a ball to avoid being
tagged. Have players count up how many they got and can do the same variations as in
the other game by affixing a lot of points to players. (8 minutes)
12) Moving Goal-2 coaches use a bib or an extra piece of clothing to form a movable
goal with each coach serving as a post and the shirt serving as the crossbar. Players each
have a ball and try to score by kicking their ball through the goal. However, the coaches
constantly move and turn to force the players to keep their head up and to change
direction as they dribble. (8 minutes)
13) Juggling-Everyone with a ball. Hold hands out with ball in between, drop ball
directly down and kick back up to hands, etc. Players practice keeping the ball in the air
with their feet and thighs. Players count how many times they touch the ball before it
drops to the ground. Progression 2: Controlled juggling…juggle on one thigh, then add
other thigh, then add one foot, then add the other foot…thigh-thigh-foot-foot (6 minutes)
14) Paint the Field-Every player dribbles their ball in the area defined. You explain to
them that their ball is actually a paintbrush and wherever it rolls on the ground, it paints
that area. The task is to paint as much of the area as possible in the time allotted by
dribbling their soccer balls all over the grid. Progression 2: Can ask them to paint with
only their left foot, then their right foot. (8 minutes)
15) Pirate Ship-Set up a 20x20 grid (Pirate ship deck) with a small 6x6 grid (safe shark
cage) just in one of the corners of the field. Coach makes up variations and adds them to
their pirate ship journey one at a time. Variations on the ship can be: Scrub the deckplayers
must roll the ball back and forth with the sole of their foot, then coach can ask
them to do this while moving all around the Pirate Ship deck. Hoist the sail-players can
knock the ball back and forth between their feet, then dribble all around the Pirate Ship
deck as fast as they can. Walk the plank-players must do toe touches on their soccer ball,
then dribble all around the Pirate Ship deck as fast as they can. Shark attack-Coach
(‘Shark’) runs after players and they have to try and dribble their soccer ball into the 6x6
(safe shark cage) before the ‘shark’ catches them. (8 minutes)
16) Gates-Set up many pairs of cones (with roughly 2 yards in between pairs) all around
the playing area. These pairs serve as gates or many mini-goals. Players each have a ball
and must dribble through the gate in order to score. Have players count how many goals
they score in 30 seconds and when playing a second time ask them if they can beat their
score. Coaches can vary this by asking players to dribble with left foot or right foot. If
players end up dribbling back and forth through only one goal, set up a rule to protect
against this. (8 minutes)
17) Cops and Robbers-Coach sets up 8-10 stand-up cones in a 15yd x 15yd space.
Robbers all have soccer balls and knock over the cones (banks) by kicking their balls into
the cones and knocking them over. Cops (have 2 or 3 cops for each game) do not have
soccer balls and need to stand the cones back up (before all the banks are robbed). Rotate
who gets to be cops. Variation (If don’t have stand- up cones): ½ group (cops) take
soccer balls and put on top of disc cones. Other ½ of group (robbers) try to knock over
those soccer balls by kicking their soccer balls at them. Cops must replace the soccer
balls on the cones as quickly as possible. (8 minutes)
18) Crab Soccer-Set up a grid roughly 8yd x 10yd. Have 3-4 players inside the grid
acting as crabs. These crabs do not have a soccer ball. Other players start at one end of
the grid and when the coach says “Go”, they dribble their soccer balls to the other end of
the grid. The crabs try to kick their soccer balls out of the grid. If a dribbler’s ball goes
out of the grid, that player becomes a crab as well. Play until all players turn into crabs.
(8 minutes)
19) Shrek/ Spiderman/ Sponge Bob---Place a couple players in bibs and have everyone
else get a soccer ball. Set up a 20 yd x 15 yd grid and have the players with soccer balls
dribble around in the space. The players in bibs are Shrek (or Spiderman or Sponge Bob,
etc.) and try to tag the players who have soccer balls. When players are tagged they go to
into the goal (castle, spider net etc) and can only get back out if a teammate with a ball
tags them or the coach uses his/her magic powers to let everyone free. Use any character
or images you like for this and make sure all players get a chance to be one of the special
characters at some point during every practice. (8 minutes)
Always finish with a 3v3 or 4v4 Game---Separate players into
two teams and play a game of 3 against 3 or 4 against 4 without
goalkeepers. Let the players play and give plenty of positive
feedback to them as they compete. REINFORCE the GOOD
STUFF! (15 minutes)
Passing Drill
Academy
