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Starting my journey in coaching - taking on an u8s boys team

George Theodorou

Hi all,

I am taking on my first team in football coaching next week. I'll be coaching an u8s team. Just wanting to get off to the best start as possible. I was wondering how I should structure my sessions over the next few months. I'm not sure when to focus on shape, fitness, technical ability etc. Just looking for a rough schedule over my first few months (season doesn't start until September). Here are my initial thoughts:

  • First few weeks - focus on getting to know the players, looking at their technical ability and where they like to play. Keeping the sessions as fun as possible.
  • Introducing dedicated technical training (week 3-4) - i.e. dribbling drills, passing drills, shooting drills.
  • Focusing on shape and positional play (week 5 and beyond).

Where should I place fitness within this? Is it even strictly needed at this stage? These are just a few ideas, so if I'm missing anything glaringly obvious, please do let me know! Any other bits of advice for taking on a new time and structuring training over a set period of time would be much appreciated.

thanks,

George

  • 0

    Hi, good afternoon, I'm also in the same situation. I made this session plan, what do you think to start training, then I'll study more in DNA footbal.

    Soccer Training Session Plan - Under-8

    Development of basic skills, coordination, and most importantly, fun.

    Total Duration: 60 minutes

    Session Objective.

    Develop basic soccer skills, promote motor coordination, and ensure that players have fun.

    1. Warm-Up (10 minutes)

    1.1 Light Running or Tag Game (5 minutes)

    • Light running around the field or a game of tag.

    1.2 The Lion and the Monkey (5 minutes)

    • Divide the children into groups of three. Two players form a "monkey" holding hands, and the third is the "lion". When the coach calls "monkey", the lions must find a new monkey.

    2. Technique (20 minutes)

    2.1 Dribbling and Ball Control (10 minutes)

    • Dribbling through cones in a straight line (simple and colorful). 

    2.2 Passing and Receiving (10 minutes)

    • Short passes in pairs (1-2 meters apart).
    • Target practice activity where the children try to hit targets with short passes.

    3. Games and Mini-Matches (15 minutes)

    3.1 The Octopus (10 minutes)

    • One child is the "octopus" in the center. The others try to cross the field from one side to the other without being touched by the octopus. If touched, they become "tentacles" and help the octopus.

    3.2 Mini-Matches (5 minutes)

    • Divide the children into teams of 3 or 4 and play mini-matches on small fields.
    • Encourage everyone's participation and the application of the practiced skills.

    4. Cool Down (5 minutes)

    4.1 Feedback and Gathering (5 minutes)

    • Gather the children in a circle.
    • Praise the positive things each child did during the training.
    • Ask what they liked the most and give them a sense of accomplishment and fun.
  • 0 in reply to Jahat de Souza Moreira

    Hi Jahat, 

    Thanks for your response and for sharing your session plan. Looks great, really fun and engaging. For me, I'm going to try and give them as much time with the ball at their feet as possible - including during the warm up. I've found this activity which looks quite fun as a warm-up: 'Fill the bucket' – https://www.soccerdrive.com/blog/1/7-fun-u8-soccer-drills-kids#:~:text=The%20list%20of%20U8%20soccer%20drills%20in%20this,Freeze%20Tag%206%20Controlled%20Craziness%207%20Four%20Goals

    However, I could be wrong! It may be better to go with something like tag, or the lion and the monkey. I'll experiment with these and see how it goes.

    Still, I'm just trying to think how I can plan my sessions over a couple of weeks/months. What are you planning for the next few weeks/months?

  • 0

    It's all about having fun. Keep encouraging the players and involve everybody. It will take time but I have found that the more fun they have the more they want to learn