U10 coaching resources

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U10 is a great age, the players have longer attention spans and some of the higher order thinking required of a good soccer player begins to show at this age. They become capable of a greater range of skills and their physical development make the game much faster.

With our implementation of the new US Youth Soccer Association (USYSA) recommendations, the U10 grows from a six a side game to a 7 v 7. More players on the field makes the game more complex, so the challenge for you is how do you prepare the players to first survive and then excel at the game.

The most obvious strategy is to focus on the three core skills: dribbling, shield/turn and controlling the ball for your least experienced/ skilled players. Each of these can be developed using the model training session I have posted elsewhere on this blog. It mixes the core skills along with some physical training, building up to a game to finish off the practice.

I have also searched youtube and found some good exercises to help you get some ideas as well for practice activities. I assembled them into a playlist for easy access.

An old coaching manual that still has some good ideas / activities in it and a lot of my philosophy.
I also have a document you can share with your parents from a parent education program I used to do.

We do things a little differently at Impact. In the U10 rec program, punting is not allowed. This forces the GK to distribute the ball and increases the likelihood that the attacking team will try to possess the ball. It also reduces the probability that a child will try to head the ball. With the new USYSA rules, heading is not allowed in the U10 age group. If you want to know more about how to manage the game, check out my U10 game modifications post.

Elsewhere in this blog, I have posted some other activities that are good for the U10 age group including:
3 v 3 that introduces combination play to the U10 and older age groups.
Sharks and Minnows reimagined as a game-like dribbling activity.
Transition games that are MUCH better than World Cup.

I also have some good advice about
how to enjoy watching your child play and
how to use video to enhance player development and
how to really help your players during games.

To get a reality check on how you are doing as a coach, please come to my U10 open training on Monday nights on field 7 @6:30.

Questions? email me jmurnan@csaimpact.com

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