Newburyport High School coach and owner of East Coast Soccer, Shawn Bleau, has created practice plans for our youngest players.
Note: This is a guide, if you don’t get to something it doesn’t matter or something is going great, stay with it!
Weeks 1 and 2
1. Introduction: Bring your team in and do your team introductions.
2. Agility Ladders: 10- 15 min. Kids run through ladders with knees up high and pumping arms 2-3 times through
a. Bunny Hops, feet together, fast rabbit! Add Hopscotch
b. Frog jump through
c. Go through the ladders fast a cheetah and then score a goal. Set the ball right up in front of the goal to ensure success. Celebrate the goal!
3. Foot skills – 10 minutes - Basically get the kids moving with ball.
a. Simon says.
b. Body part dribbling (Inside /Outside/ Laces/ Sole/Toe/ Heel) Have the kids say it while doing it.
4. Race Cars- 5 minutes
a. Drive (dribble) your race car (ball) fast, turn, back up, stop (break screech!) and start your engines (roll foot on the ball, both feet). Make race car sounds. Pass each other but can’t crash your car!
5. Fox and Hounds- 5 minutes
a. Start without a ball, then add a ball to the game.
6. SCRIMMAGE! Start with 2v2 and progress to 3v3. Try to make teams even with ability.
Weeks 3 and 4
1. Agility Ladders: 10- 15 min. Kids run through ladders with knees up high and pumping arms 2-3 times through
a. Bunny Hops, feet together, fast rabbit! Add Hopscotch
b. Frog jump through
c. Go through the ladders fast a cheetah and then score a goal. Set the ball right up in front of the goal to ensure success. Celebrate the goal!
2. Foot skills – 10 minutes - Basically get the kids moving with ball.
a. Simon says.
b. Body part dribbling (Inside /Outside/ Laces/ Sole/Toe/ Heel) Have the kids say it while doing it.
c. Fake/take, fake/fake-take.
d. Banana Peel move- Put your foot on top of the ball pull the ball back and go the other direction, do not spin in a circle, pull it back with your right foot and turn to the right.
3. Fox and Hounds- 5 minutes
a. Start without a ball, then add a ball to the game.
4. Star Wars - 10 minutes
a. Players must stay inside the grid. Basically, tag with a ball. Players start without a ball and have to run around inside the grid and avoid getting hit with a ball (below the knee.) Coaches start as the tagger. Every time someone gets tagged they get a ball and become a tagger.
5. Passing— 2-3 minutes
a. Introduce passing with partner (inside of feet). They can try to pass through the cones 2- 3 feet apart with their partner, or through each other’s legs. High fives when they get to 10!
6. Freeze Tag— 5-10 minutes
a. Coaches freeze kids when they put their foot on their ball. To get unfrozen a teammate must pass the ball through their legs.
7. SCRIMMAGE! 3v3. Try to make teams even with ability
Weeks 5 and 6
1. Agility Ladders: 10- 15 min. Kids run through ladders with knees up high and pumping arms 2-3 times through
a. Bunny Hops, feet together, fast rabbit! Add Hopscotch
b. Frog jump through
c. Go through the ladders fast a cheetah and then score a goal. Set the ball right up in front of the goal to ensure success. Celebrate the goal!
2. Foot skills – 10 minutes - Basically get the kids moving with ball.
a. Simon says.
b. Body part dribbling (Inside /Outside/ Laces/ Sole/Toe/ Heel) Have the kids say it while doing it.
c. Fake/take, fake/fake-take.
d. Banana Peel move- Put your foot on top of the ball pull the ball back and go the other direction, do not spin in a circle, pull it back with your right foot and turn to the right.
3. Soccer Dodge Ball 5-10 min.
a. Kids dribble around the field and try to hit the coaches with the balls. Pretend you are hurt when it hits you! Kids can get “soccer points” for hitting you.
4. Star Wars - 10 minutes
a. Players must stay inside the grid. Basically, tag with a ball. Players start without a ball and have to run around inside the grid and avoid getting hit with a ball (below the knee.) Coaches start as the tagger. Every time someone gets tagged they get a ball and become a tagger.
8. Passing— 2-3 minutes
a. Introduce passing with partner (inside of feet). They can try to pass through the cones 2- 3 feet apart with their partner, or through each other’s legs. High fives when they get to 10!
9. Freeze Tag— 5-10 minutes
a. Coaches freeze kids when they put their foot on their ball. To get unfrozen a teammate must pass the ball through their legs.
5. SCRIMMAGE! 3v3. Try to make teams even with ability.
Weeks 7 and 8
1. Agility Ladders: 10- 15 min. Kids run through ladders with knees up high and pumping arms 2-3 times through
a. Bunny Hops, feet together, fast rabbit! Add Hopscotch
b. Frog jump through
c. Go through the ladders fast a cheetah and then score a goal. Set the ball right up in front of the goal to ensure success. Celebrate the goal!
2. Foot skills – 10 minutes - Basically get the kids moving with ball.
a. Simon says.
b. Body part dribbling (Inside /Outside/ Laces/ Sole/Toe/ Heel) Have the kids say it while doing it.
c. Fake/take, fake/fake-take.
d. Banana Peel move- Put your foot on top of the ball pull the ball back and go the other direction, do not spin in a circle, pull it back with your right foot and turn to the right.
3. Freeze Tag— 5-10 minutes
a. Coaches freeze kids when they put their foot on their ball. To get unfrozen a teammate must pass the ball through their legs.
4. TREASURE ISLAND – 10 – minutes
a. All the soccer balls are in the middle of the grid. Split the players into 2 to 3 teams. Put each team in a separate corner of the grid. When you shout “GO,” one player from each team runs into the middle, gets a ball, and dribbles to the goal next to the group and scores a goal. Once the first player scores, the next person can go to get a ball from the middle.
5. Star Wars - 10 minutes
a. Players must stay inside the grid. Basically, tag with a ball. Players start without a ball and have to run around inside the grid and avoid getting hit with a ball (below the knee.) Coaches start as the tagger. Every time someone gets tagged they get a ball and become a tagger.
6. SCRIMMAGE! 3v3. Try to make teams even with ability.