How to Organize a Kids' Soccer Practice

Your lesson plan for a youth soccer practice should allow you to cover all aspects of the game.

Instructions

Difficulty: Easy

1. Have a consistent format for every practice.
2. Work out a lesson plan and decide on your objective before every practice session.
3. Get to know your players.
4. Set your standards of discipline, and communicate them clearly to both players and parents.
5. Focus on one particular technical skill per session - for example, passing, shooting or heading.
6. Emphasize the more aggressive skills (heading and shooting) closer to games.
7. Have a "gathering" activity set up for 15 minutes before practice and 5 minutes into it.
8. Spend about 10 minutes on a warm-up, setting the themes for the rest of practice: fun and movement.
9. Use about 30 minutes for ball handling and control work.
10. Do a 15-minute technical section, adding another skill to ball handling and control, such as passing, heading or shooting.
11. Use 20 minutes for a practice game. Always finish with this chance for players to compete against each other.
12. End with a "doggy bag" - giving the players homework - and a final meeting. Engage your players in a dialogue, asking them to explain the objective of the homework drill you have demonstrated.

Tips & Warnings

• Make sure your ultimate goal is always to have fun.
• Get to the practice early to prepare yourself, including setting up cones for drills and games.
• Soccer is a physically demanding sport that could result in serious injury. We recommend that you seek proper equipment and training before undertaking this activity.