Coaching youngsters in soccer can be a very enjoyable experience as long as your main goal is for all participants to have fun and not to turn the youngsters into future World Cup participants. If all players know a little bit more about the game at the end of the season than when they started and they want to play again the following year, then you have been successful.
Dribbling Skills
When players are first starting out, it's important they learn how to maneuver the ball with their feet. Emphasize to your players that nobody but the goalkeeper can touch the ball with his hands. It's about moving the ball with your feet. Set up five cones about five feet apart from each other. Have players dribble to the right of the first cone, the left of the second, the right of the third and continue in that manner until the player has gone by all five cones. Then the player dribbles back to the starting point in the same manner and lets the next player practice the same drill.
Passing the Ball
Learning to pass the ball is essential in soccer, and turning your drills into fun games will keep your U6 players' interest. Divide your team into three groups of four players. Give each foursome a soccer ball, with each player in the group in a square about 15 feet in size. Have each player pass the ball to another player in the group. Count how many times a player in the group makes a good pass to another teammate. The team that makes the most good passes in two minutes wins the drill.
Run and Shoot
Provide your U6 players with drills to hone their coordination and help them learn to run and shoot the ball. Set up a shooting line about eight yards from the goal. Set up five soccer balls about ten yards behind that line. On your whistle, the player will dribble the ball to the eight-yard line and shoot on goal. The player will then run back to the spot where the balls are sitting and retrieve one and bring it back to the shooting line. Keep doing this until all five balls have been shot at the goal. This drill gets your players used to running and kicking the ball at the goal. The player who does this exercise the fastest wins the drill.
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