Advice for a New U-10 Coach

[Innocenza]

This season I am coaching a team of 9/10 year olds (rec league). I've previously coached 5/6 and 7/8 year olds, but I thought it was time for a step up to a level where there is a little comprehension of the game, even though the focus is still on having fun. I have my team; practices begin on Tuesday.

I would appreciate any and all coaching tips, game and drill ideas, and words of advice. As the season gets rolling, I will most likely have a lot of questions if ya'll wouldn't mind answering them for me here. :)

Thank you!

[goyoureddevils]

kinda sucks that no one responded yet, it's just that there is so much to say...have you looked into the NSCAA state diploma or the USSF E license or Youth Module? The age group you are taking on is at the start of what is known as the "golden age" of learning, when they are capable of learning the broader concepts of technical and tactical aspects of the game that are going to be so important later in life.

All that said, you must also remember that they are 10 and they are girls, which means you have to make it fun and a socially fullfilling event for them or else they are not going to be as connected as you would like. My best friend just coached a high school girls team to their second straight conference championship. He said the "key element", his words not mine, was that the girls liked each other and hung out before and after practice with each other...... he said that he can just about guarantee a winning season if the girls like each other. So, make sure you give them lots of time and space to get to know each other and jibber jabber before and after practice.

My friend says he gives them a warm up routine early in the season that is simple enough they can do it on their own in about 15 minutes.... you know, a warm up run, a quick game of keep away, then team stretching. The key is to show them what you want, then after a couple of practices, let them do it on their own so they can talk freely without you there. He said they never want to talk about "stuff" with him standing there, and even if they do, it's definately "stuff" he doesn't want to talk about... you know like who's going with who, and what shows were on tv last night and the latest nail polish color..... stuff that drives most male coaches crazy, but which is actually very important socially for the girls to learn to trust and know each other.

As for drills, check out Jeff Pill's Online Drills, a great website for rec level coaches.

Good luck

[GKbenji]

Check out the SOCCER-COACH-L Basic Coaching Manual (http://www.ucs.mun.ca/~dgraham/manual/)

[Innocenza]

Thank you both.

They're actually not all girls. We play mixed teams until high school, since my town is too small to field full girls' teams. Most of the kids have known each other for a long time, so I think they'll be ok. They've played an average of 3 years, and they're just starting to get serious about playing.

How much strategy is it safe to teach them?

[goyoureddevils]

Teach them general layouts for the full field, they need to understand their responsabilities.

What you want to begin teaching them in depth is small group tactics. They need to understand as much as possible about depth, and width and how to support their teamates, while making good decisions with the ball. I would first impress upon them playing in a diamond formation, providing the ball with side support left and right, forward support, and back support.

The two things tactically that they must learn now is to always be looking around the field, without the ball, so that when it comes to them they have an idea about what to do with it. They need to be taking "snapshots", little glancing pictures of the field, every 5 seconds or so. You will have to stay on them to do it because no child wants to take their eyes off the ball.

The second thing is to make sure they know that it is the responsability of those without the ball to move into areas where they "create" the pass for their teamates. It is NOT the responsability of the person with the ball to "create" anything, only to complete it.

Play alot of 3v1 or 4v2 keep away where the person in the middle is only there for 2 minutes at a time so that they run hard while in there. From these two keep away games, you can teach every element of small group tactics.

[bungadiri]

This season I am coaching a team of 9/10 year olds (rec league). I've previously coached 5/6 and 7/8 year olds, but I thought it was time for a step up to a level where there is a little comprehension of the game, even though the focus is still on having fun. I have my team; practices begin on Tuesday.

I would appreciate any and all coaching tips, game and drill ideas, and words of advice. As the season gets rolling, I will most likely have a lot of questions if ya'll wouldn't mind answering them for me here. :)

Thank you!
Games that teach are best at this age.

For example, keep away games that award a point for possession passes (i.e., a team that connects 3 or 5 or 10 passes in a row gets a point) are good for tactical awareness. Don't hesitate to stop the game to point out a good decision (e.g., somebody makes a long pass that finds good space). Also stop the game and force them to spread out if they're playing bunch-ball. Eventually, one side will get the idea that spacing matters and they'll score points fast, which will teach the other side a lesson.

If you've got some kids who aren't too good with the ball, you can play this game with hands as well. Eventually you can add goals.

As always, minimize the amount of time they spend in line. It's boring and they'll start to act out.

Small sided games keep more kids involved.

[IASocFan]

You've probably learned this with younger kids, but have a practice plan. If it doesn't work, throw it out. Saved unused activities for later, repeat activities that the kids enjoyed and seemed to learn from, pitch or refine ideas that don't work.

[Val1]

I do lots of things with kids using their hands. My warm up, for instance, is keep away, say 3 v 3, and I'll play that for a month before I get around to 3 v 3 with the ball on the deck. I've not played as many 3 v 1 and 4 v 2 games because I don't think that looks as much like a real game as 3 v 3. If you're in a game situation and you've got a 3 v 1, I'm as inclined to have the guy with the ball take someone on and go straight for goal. Kids pick the darnedest times to pass the ball wide, like right at the penalty spot...

I also spend a lot of time working on turns with the kids, turning away from pressure into space so you can make the easy pass. This seems to be the earliest I can teach this skill. The point already made about not having too many lines is a good one, so I did this just on Wednesday, I'll have three or four teams and have a relay race. The kids have to dribble to me 10 yards from them, come up to me, and turn the ball and go back to their line. My kids did very poorly with this, so we'll have to do more of this this week. But eventually, I'll add into the relay race the wrinkle that if the turn isn't good enough, they've got to dribble back to the line and come back a second time.

Also at this age, I introduce juggling the ball. Start off simple, just drop the ball, hit it with your foot and catch it. Do that 10 - 15 times without losing control of the ball. Then do the same thing heading the ball. Add in controlling with the thigh. The kids that like it will soon start juggling all the time.

Our first game is this Saturday (Labor Day). I'll have had a total of five practises before the start of the season before we go to one practice a week. First day playing full field 6 v 6 will be tomorrow, then on Thursday we'll need to go back to working on space and depth. Be patient with them the first time they play. They'll chase the ball because that is the natural tendency, but most of them will have learned about spacing and will need a couple of gentle reminders.

[Innocenza]

I had my first practice today. I think it went pretty well -amazingly, all 16 kids showed up.

I had them scrimmage to see what they could do. I rotated them through offense/defense to see both sides of their skill, and the kids understood pretty well their roles as forwards and defenders. I saw some fearless tackles and some decent shots. Nearly all of them, however, when placed in midfield, just stood there. They had no idea what to do with themselves. What's the best way to get them to think on their feet and move into space on their own? Or will it start to come naturally after a few practices and knowing each other a little better?

I'm just not quite sure how much to expect this early. I swear I'm taking notes here!

[bungadiri]

I had my first practice today. I think it went pretty well -amazingly, all 16 kids showed up.

I had them scrimmage to see what they could do. I rotated them through offense/defense to see both sides of their skill, and the kids understood pretty well their roles as forwards and defenders. I saw some fearless tackles and some decent shots. Nearly all of them, however, when placed in midfield, just stood there. They had no idea what to do with themselves. What's the best way to get them to think on their feet and move into space on their own? Or will it start to come naturally after a few practices and knowing each other a little better?

I'm just not quite sure how much to expect this early. I swear I'm taking notes here!
Actually, I think that keep away game I described is pretty good for that. Emphasize moving into space that makes you available for a pass and explain that that will have to change every time the ball changes position. Another thing that helps is trying to get them to be aware of what they want to do with the ball before they ever get it.

A simpler drill is just putting them in a square and have them kick the ball in a specific sequence (Joey is first, he passes to Ashley, she passes to Tom, etc.) If it's a new team this helps them get to know one another, too. Rules:
*They have to keep moving constantly,
*When the person who passes to them has the ball, they have to call to that person with their position (eg Ashley calls to Joey "you've got me square").

Once they've gotten comfortable moving one ball around, introduce more.

[goyoureddevils]

I use the last part of bungadiri's post, the passing in sequence game, but I go by numbers instead. That allows me to reverse the direction on them, or throw in two balls and have evens pass to evens in sequence and odds to odds. Also, after a couple of practices using this as an exercise for learning how to look, decide, and move, i throw in two balls....in the case of your team I would give one ball to #1 and the other to #9, as far away from each other as possible. The object is for them to two touch pass only, and keep the two balls as far apart in the sequence as possible. If the two balls meet they owe me some sort of punishment, whether it be pushups, situps, star jumps, or in the case of really good sports I make them sing me the national anthem.

The added pressure of the second ball not catching up with the first, and the two touch rule, have them using their necks and their brains, as well as communicating with each other. To be honest, I don't let them use names when calling for the ball in this game or in any of my practice exercises. I make mine learn to be in a good position, good enough that a simple "Square with you", or "turn this way", or "touch it through" command does the trick. Any communication is better than none, but if I can get them using short, concise language with good positioning at practice, it usually shows up on game day as well.

[Innocenza]

I'm still having trouble with midfield. The kids seem to grasp the concept all right, but actually moving seems to be throwing them. They do fine in drills; it's when I let them scrimmage tat they forget everything they just did. What do I do?

Our first game is Saturday.

[Val1]

Well, it's a hard concept and midfield is undefineable position. Fullbacks "stay back and defend" and forwards "stay up top and attack". Midfield is much more situational, so it's harder to teach. The other teams will have the same problem.

So, take your best player, the one with the best feel for the game and let him/her (especially if she's a girl, since girls usually have a better spatial sense than boys) and let him/her play center-mid. Then, you've got to have kids on the sidelines and direct them to watch said player. Then, when the game/scrimmage is going on, explain to them how this player makes use of space, or fails to.

Don't be too discouraged, this is exactly the skill set for this age, and it'll take all season. The catch phrase I use all season in U10s is "Space is your friend".

[Val1]

Also at this age, I introduce juggling the ball. Start off simple, just drop the ball, hit it with your foot and catch it. Do that 10 - 15 times without losing control of the ball. Then do the same thing heading the ball. Add in controlling with the thigh. The kids that like it will soon start juggling all the time.

Innocenza,

Had any of your kids try juggling yet? Again, this is when I introduce juggling, and these kids, well, they just don't have it. Man, a lot of them are still hitting the ball with their shins...

[Innocenza]

I actually haven't had them juggle yet. Some of them do it already, but I run out of time for them to do it en masse. I'll introduce it tonight and see how it goes.

[Bill Archer]

You've probably learned this with younger kids, but have a practice plan. If it doesn't work, throw it out. Saved unused activities for later, repeat activities that the kids enjoyed and seemed to learn from, pitch or refine ideas that don't work.

This is very good advice. A great coach taught me this years ago and it's very sound:

If you have a drill or a game or a whatever, and you explain it to them and it doesn't work, stop. Explain it one more time. Start again. If they still don't get it, stop. Do something else.

More coaches waste more time flogging some drill they REALLY REALLY REALLY like the idea of than you can imagine. Doesn't matter if you've seen it done a hundred times elsewhere, your group isn't buying, so can the ego and move on.

And screw doing stuff tha has kids standing in line. Tear those pages out of your coaching books and burn them, then bury the ashes. Kids do not stand in line well, and in any case every minute a kid stands in line is a minute he isn't touching a ball with his feet. In other words, you're wasting his time.

Don't let going "full field" overwhelm them. Drive home the fact that they're still playing with the kid next to them and the kid in front of them. Play the simple ball, in the direction you're facing, and then move to space. Just like you always did. (Or just like you should have been doing). The game didn't change.

Forget formations, and above all forget "playing your position". Play soccer, back each other up, fill the space your teammate vacated. Give them areas of responsibility, see who works weel alongside of whom and let them take it form there.

Above all rememeber: this is not a coaches game. Your job is to teach them to make decisions, like soccer players. When they make bad ones, help them figure out what would have worked better and why.

One more thing: as they teach in the Coaching certs, remember: you have at best 30 seconds of their attention at a time. Anything else you might just as well go over and tell your wife because they ain't listening.

So PICK WHAT IS IMPORTANT. Don't spend the half developing a laundry list of stuff and then go over it down to point "R" at the half. Decide what is most important right now, make the point and then shut up.

[keem-o-sabi]

Really work on techniques of passing and trapping with them.
Communicating should start around now as well..Last night I worked on a practice that's basic coaching principle was communication. started off with them dribbling for a few minutes, then working on turning with the ball for 10-15 minutes...moved onto follow the leader where they would pair up and do whatever the person in front of them did until i said turn then they both had to turn with the ball however they wished and sprint 2 touches with the ball and the other person becomes the leader. Then they had to play knockout, but they had a partner and they had to hold hands..this is where they had to communicate to dribble both of their balls and try and knock out the other groups balls.

Then we moved onto the drill with the players in the center of a circle and the boys on the outside with the balls, playing balls in and passing back. Really working on trapping and passing techniques. then I had them progress to where they had to turn with the ball and find someone on the other side of the circle without a ball...Communication comes into play here becuase the people on the outside can't pass the ball to someone in the middle until they ask for it, the people on the outside have to look for a pass from all over so they can't just focus on one person. They have to ask for the ball as well.
Then I added one player as a defender so now the players on the outside had to tell the person to turn or man on, and then they had to coach the player on what to do with it where to pass etc.

Then We played 5 v 5 for the rest of the time. it was our first training of the year so I wanted to let them play a lot as well. I have a few drills if you want as well I can send them to you after I use them in training to see what worked and what didn't...

last year for the u10 team I gave them homework...they had to watch at least 1 soccer game a week (for those that didn't have FSC or something) I videotaped them or gave them highlights video/dvd's to watch..their paragraph report was who plays the position that they like to play. what was the score, who were the teams, and anything they'd like to tell me about the game that they noticed. Then we were the 'Reds' so they had to do a half a page paper on liverpool (well answer the trivia questions i gave them that were all on 'Pools website).

[bungadiri]

I actually haven't had them juggle yet. Some of them do it already, but I run out of time for them to do it en masse. I'll introduce it tonight and see how it goes.
I'd just do that once and then tell them they need to do homework, such as get x number of touches per day/before the next practice. A bunch of U-10's trying to juggle at the same time will turn into chaos really fast. Plus you've got limited time with them anyway, so why use it up on something they can do alone? Sure, some won't do it on their own, but there's only so much you can demand of U-10's in any case.


Val's comment "Space is Your Friend" is a great one. The sooner they get the idea the better the team will be. It reminded me of a favorite from one of my son's coaches. He's big on saying "soccer is a game of decisions, and regardless of skill level if you make the right decision in any situation you can be a good soccer player." It's a whole motif: he praises kids by hollering "good decision" and stops practice to ask "what would have been a better decision for [player X] to make?" and focuses a lot on getting them to be aware of teammates' positions, keep their heads up, etc.

[Innocenza]

Thanks so much for the input. It's really helping.

I showed them how to juggle and sent them home to practice. They've turned it into a competition and have latched on to it was a great thing to do while waiting for warm-ups to begin.

We had our first game. We ended up losing to a team from a nearby town that's played together far longer then the two-and-a-half weeks that we've had, so it wasn't too demoralizing. Our biggest problem was the most common one of bunching up. The kids would spread out immediately after I'd remind them, but in the heat of the moment they'd be back at it again. One of my earliest memories was my dad as the coach, hollering 'Spread out!" and "Don't bunch up!" from the sidelines. It worked for him until he'd have to yell it again, but my problem is the kids can't hear me. They told me later that I have a 'girly voice'. I don't want their attention to be on me instead of the game when I'm yelling at them. . . in practice they do just fine with direction while playing. And I know I can only tell them so much before they're on their own out on the field, and we talked about our shortcomings at halftime. Short of investing in a bullhorn, what do I do?

And more suggestions on teaching spacing out would be welcome. :)

[Val1]

It just takes time...

My kids had their second game this weekend and it was a little more depressing. We got clobbered. They had two players better than my best and subs while I had none.

Here's what I'm going to do tonight. I'm going to have four or five kids working with my newly-appointed keepers coach, so I'll have 10 kids. I'm going to put out 5 kids in the 2 - 1 - 2 formation we nominally use. I'll have two parents take a ball and start out walking the ball down. Then I'll have the kids move and react to the location of the ball. Then, the ball gets passed, and I'll have the kids shift again. This is effective, but it is time consuming, by the time you shift kids in and get them in multiple positions.

My team's passing is pretty good, but the dribbling is bad. None of these kids keeps the ball at their feet. Dribbling is all pretty much dump and run. I kind of blame the Maryland Soccer Association technical advisor for that, but he comes out and does these clinics and the point he makes is that when you're moving at speed the ball is out in front of you. And he actively recommends not doing cone dribbling drills. And so we've gots lots of parents who coach this in the U6 and U8 leagues and I've only got two players (of 15) who ever touch the ball with the inside of their foot. The reason I bring this up is that only these two can stop the ball and turn with it. I tried an exercise whereby I have a relay race with kids dribbling the ball 10 yards, turning and going back to the line and no one could stop the ball on the line. I gotta go back and work on dribbling.

Plus, we gave up 12 goals in the two games on Saturday and no one knew how to take a kick off. And we'd reviewed that during our second practise. So, I've got to spend 10 minutes doing that.

I'm feeling a little outclassed right about now...