The Game Within the Child

So one of the most difficult tasks for our U8 and below players is changing directions, especially turning, with the ball. They are amazing at going fast in a straight line, but it takes a lot of coordination and concentration to change direction and go the opposite way. Often, you will see a player dribbling towards their own goal and the parents/ coaches are shouting at them to "turn around." I have already described in an earlier post why this is a counter-productive behavior, but today I wanted to show you how to play a game specifically designed to get players to change directions. It has a nice progression that is appropriate for the U6 and younger crew, but it can also be scaled up to U10 as well with just a few tweaks and can even be scaled up to a small-sided or expanded small-sided activity. Oh NO!! starts with a grid divided into three sections. The center section is narrow and the two end sections are wider. Have one coach/parent at each end of the grid. You get...

One of the reasons why I have stayed in this game so long is that I am constantly learning new things and I get excited about trying them out with the teams and coaches in my club. The exercise I am going to describe today was one I learned from a State Instructors Seminar run by my state DOC, Jacob Daniel, back in 2010. From the title, it sounds like a typical 3 v 3 game, but over the years, I have expanded it out to 7 v 7 and even larger. The great thing about it is that it can work with a U10 rec team as well as a high level select team. The setup is simple, 3 players on a 15 x 25 yard grid with a 5 foot goal at each end. Depending on the size of your team, you can have up to 3 grids going at once in the first level. In a typical 3 v 3 setup, all of the players are moving and switching positions. In this game, there is one designated player who is the nominal GK. In a real game setup, this would be your #6 (defensive mid or holding mid), or possibly your #4 or 5 (center backs) pla...