Soccer game activities are designed to engage athletes in drills that enhance their soccer skills. Usually these activities focus on a specific skill or skill set that can later be used in a game-like situation. When designing soccer activities, choose activities appropriate for the skill level and age of your athletes.
Juggling Activity
Soccer players need to have well-honed foot-eye coordination as well as impressive ball handling skills. The juggling activity will challenge players' ball handling and foot-eye coordination in a partner setting.
Split players up into groups of two, each group with a ball. Instruct the players that you will time the groups for a total of three minutes. On your "go" each of the groups should begin juggling the ball between one another, keeping the ball off the ground as long as possible. If the ball hits the ground, that group is out. The last group standing after three minutes wins the game. If several groups remain, they start over, competing against each other in a sudden death scenario.
Hot Soccer
Hot soccer works on developing quick passing skills and the ability to hit a target effectively. Split players up into groups of two, each group with a ball. On your "go" instruct players to move around the field, passing the ball back and forth while maintaining roughly 15 to 20 feet between each other. When you yell "hot soccer" the last player to touch the ball accumulates a point. At the end of the game, see who has accumulated the fewest points.
Knee Tag
Knee tag works on dribbling skills, shielding the ball from defenders and endurance. Set up a grid with cones that's roughly 15 by 20 feet. You can adjust the size of the grid based on the number of players you're coaching. Have all of the players spread out around grid, each with their own ball. On your "go" the players begin dribbling around the grid. Each player wants to control his own ball and shield his knees while also attempting to tag the knees of the other players. Each time a player touches another players' knee, that player accumulates a point. At the end of the drill, the player with the most points wins the game.
Considerations
Almost all drills can be adjusted based on the amount of equipment or the number of players you're coaching. If you're limited on equipment, such as the number of balls you have, you may want to have two groups rotating in and out of the various drills -- one group performing drills that require balls, while another group performs conditioning exercises like running and jumping. Similarly, you can adjust the drills by splitting groups into threes instead of twos.
Member Comments