Earlier this fall the BSC introduced its Player Development Curriculum (see post from 9/4). It outlined WHAT to teach players from U7 to U14. Now, in this post, I’ll address HOW to teach the curriculum to your players.
Basic 60 Min. Practice Structure (1-3rd graders)
• Warm Up/Technical Work - 10-15 Minutes
• Fun Games that Challenge Technique (ie. Tag games, sharks and minnows) - 10 min
• 1v0 or 1v1Games - 10 min
• 3v3 or 4v4 Scrimmage - 20 min
Basic 90 Min. Practice Structure (4-8th graders)
• Warm Up/Technical Work - 15 min
• Stretching - 5 min
• Juggling - 5 min
• 1v1, 2v1, 2v2, 3v2 or 4v4 games - 15 min
• Conditioned Games to challenge Technique and/or introduce tactical topics - 20 min
• Scrimmage (5v5 up to 9v9) - 20 min
• Cool Down/Stretch - 5 min
Now that I've outlined the basic structure for your practices, you'll want to fill this structure with some specific games and training exercises to address the topics outlined in the curriculum. This information can come from a number of resources.
Nothing beats a Coaching License.
Massachusetts Youth Soccer offers their G License on-line for $35. This on-line course is a great introduction to coaching youth soccer and is perfect for coaches that are working with players U6 through U8 (K through 2nd Grades).
Coaches working with older players might be interested in taking some of the other Licenses offered by Mass Youth Soccer. You can search the Mass Youth Soccer website for their F License -U10 Coaches(8 hour course), E License -U12 Coaches(16 hour course) and D License - U14 Coaches (32 hour course).
All of these courses are very good but they require a higher level of commitment to complete. Finding a course that you want to take, in a location close to Brookline, and at a time that is convenient for working parents can be a challenge.
Don’t have the time for a Coaching License Course? Can’t find a Licensing Course locally?
This is basically an online training manual based on the Dutch Youth Development Model. In my opinion, no one does a better job developing soccer players than the Dutch. The content is vast but it is broken down into sections that make it easy to absorb. Diagrams, animations and videos are also included.
Just give me some drills man!
There are hundreds of websites with soccer drills. Here are two of the sites I like best. I appreciate these, not only for their content, but also for the way the sites organize the drills into categories (usually by age, skill or tactical concept).
This used to be the best free site on the planet. It had great drills from the top youth clubs around the world. Content is presented through video demonstrations. They became a pay site a couple of years ago. If you’re not opposed to paying $9.95/month for the content, then nothing beats insidesoccer.com.
If you don’t want to pay for content then this is a great free site. It has tons of drills that are well organized into a website that is easy to navigate. Each drill includes: objectives, setup, instructions, diagrams, coaching points and variations.
Not enough websites presented here to satisfy your coaching appetite?
This is the LINKS page on the LA Soccer Academy website. It has links to just about every soccer site that exists. Happy hunting!
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