July 13, 2010

Below are the activities that I did during the coach clinic. If you are looking for more ideas I suggest going to the following websites.

Minnesota Youth Soccer http://www.mnyouthsoccer.org/coaches/articles.cfmUSYouthsoccer.org

I also suggest signing up for the Coaches Corner electronic newsletter

http://www.mnyouthsoccer.org/publications/newsletters.cfm

US Youth Soccer Coaches Connection http://www.usyouthsoccer.org/coaches/CoachConnect_LessonPlans.asp

Activity #1 “Body Awareness”

Players do a variety of movements without the ball.  I laid cones on the field for the players to move in and out of. I used the cones as a home base to show the next movement. My goal is to start with easy movements then gradually increase the complexity of the movements. I will ask the players if they have a different way to move that they would like to show everyone else. I definitely want to see running, hopping, skipping, galloping, jumping, side to side shuffle, the rest if up to your’s and the players creativity.

Next step is to introduce a ball and have the players move with a ball in and out of the cones.

Activity #2 “Gophers and Trees”

Two player’s, one ball between them. Ask the players to decide who is going to be a tree and who is going to be a gopher. The trees stand with their legs a little more than should width apart and are asked not to move. The gophers use the ball to push it under as many trees as they can in 30 seconds. This activity can be done without a ball where the gophers need to crawl under as many trees as they can. The trees should be scattered around the space and not in straight lines. The spacing needs to be appropriate to the age and ability of the players as well as safe. This activity will give the players plenty opportunities to identify their target to work on their gross and fine motor skills. Running and dribbling. It is important that the players are challenged to beat their own score. (Mosston’s Slanty Line Theory).

Activity#3 “Bull Dog”

With twelve players there are 2-3 bulldogs with a ball in their hands and the other players with a ball at their feet moving and dribbling around the space. The Bulldogs try to hit the ball of a player that is dribbling by throwing their ball while the players with the ball are moving and trying to protect their ball. If your ball is hit then you become a bulldog until there is one player left that is not a bulldog.

Activity #3 version 2

This time only the bulldog has a ball at her feet. The rest of the players have put there ball around the edge of the space you are playing. The players move to avoid the bulldog who’s objective is to hit a player below the knees with their ball. If a player gets hit they go and get their ball and become a bulldog. Continue to play until there is one player left without a ball. Play again and the player that was not a bulldog starts the next game as the bulldog.

Activity #4 “Knockout”

Everyone with a ball in a small space. The objective of this games is to keep your ball and kick other balls out of the space. If your ball is kicked out and you can retrieve it before it stops moving you get a free pass back into the game. If your ball does stop then you would need to do a skill of the coaches choosing to enter back into the game. For example. 3 juggles.

Activity #5 “Gates”

With a partner passing between 2 cones that have been randomly set up around the space you are playing in. Once you pass through a gate the next pass needs to go through another gate. This will get the players to pass and move. Can the players find the open gate that no one else is at? How many gates can  you get in 30 seconds.

To start with you can have more gates than pairs. As the activity goes on to make it more complex and more of a challenge you can remove gates. You can also remove the number of balls  so they are working in groups of three or four.  This same gates activity can be done individually every player with a ball dribbling through the gates to score.

Activity #6 “Get Outta Here”

Organize a small field with 2-4 goals dividing the players up into two teams. With you and the balls between the teams at the halfway line the first person in line for their team is that player that is closest to you.  The game starts when you roll out the ball and the players go out onto the field and ends when someone scores, the ball goes out of bounds or you say “get outta here”. When they come off they go to the end of the line. The game can be played 1v1, 2v2, 3v3, 4v4