EWZSA U7 MINI COACHING CLINIC PHILOSOPHY: The Edmonton West Zone Soccer Association s philosophy towards mini soccer is twofold: 1. FUN The area of focus of this age group is to make the experience of playing soccer fun. We want to make this a positive experience and encourage children and parents to return to soccer in future seasons. 2. SKILL DEVELOPMENT The second area of focus is on individual skill development. This means time on the ball; development of touch and basic skills. WHAT TO EXPECT FROM U7 PLAYERS Coaching pre-school, children is a lot of fun! Their enthusiasm knows no bounds, they will turn up for practice in the most severe weather conditions imaginable (assuming parents get them there) and they smile all the time!! Developmentally, however, they are very different from children who are just two or three years older. EXPECT: TEARS: Most of your players will cry immediately when they get hurt. Some cry even when they are not hurt. They may cry if another player kicks the ball away. The idea that you do not have to have the ball ALL THE TIME is very difficult at this age. Tiredness and frustration manifests in tears at this age. Parents should be on hand to assist and comfort in the event of inconsolable tears. SELF-CENTERED PLAY: No matter how loud you shout, or how much they "practice" it, they cannot or will not pass the soccer ball. Twenty seconds after the start of a game, every player will be within 5 yards of the ball the swarm! Several players will slap at the ball with their hands, or pick it up. Several parents will yell at them not to do that DISTRACTIBILITY (a blessing and a curse): Somebody will come off the field in need of a toilet. Somebody will stay on the field when they should be going to the toilet! A model rocket that is launched from a nearby field will get 99% of the player's attention. By all means, stop whatever you are doing and watch for a couple of minutes. Tears are easily solved by distraction (drink of water, etc.). EDMONTON WEST ZONE SOCCER ASSOCIATION 1
LOW INDEPENDENCE: During a season, you will end up tying at least 40 to 50 shoelaces. Have a parent for bathroom breaks TOTAL AND UTTER COMMITMENT TO WHATEVER IT IS THEY ARE DOING AT THE MOMENT: They will go flat out and then crash PHYSICAL LIMITATIONS: Skeletal system growing rapidly. Often results in apparent lack of coordination. Cardiovascular and temperature regulation system is not developed. Their heart rate peaks quickly and they overheat quickly. Make sure that they get adequate water breaks. ENTERTAINMENT: They will do or say something that is very funny. Make sure that you laugh. STRUCTURING A PRACTICE OR GAME Successful coaching begins with planning. The better planned you are, the better experience everyone involved will have. ORGANIZATION: Learn the names of all children on the roster help the children learn each other s names too. Ideally, have at least one ball per child. Be organized and prepare for when children arrive (e.g. cones set up, ready to go). Get a parent to be your manager they can be responsible for many duties that will complicate coaching and make your life easier (there is no way you can be on the field and watching the kids on the sideline). For game situations: have a blanket where all the children sit while awaiting their turn to go on the field (have their parents sit around this to keep them corralled). ROUTINE: Create a routine that you follow when starting practice or games. Children pick up on this quickly and it will be easier to organize them (and yourself). Start simple, practice the routine and then add to it. It is also easier to add levels of complexity to an existing activity than to introduce new activities from scratch. ATTENTION: They cannot learn from you if they are not paying attention. Create some kind of signal that indicates you need the children s attention and use it only to indicate that (e.g. counting to three, a pattern of clapping, a whistle). Do not give instructions until they are all paying attention. EDMONTON WEST ZONE SOCCER ASSOCIATION 2
CULTIVATE DESIRABLE BEHAVIOR: Reward desired behavior with positive attention. I only call on children that are quiet and have their hand in the air. Be fair. If an undesirable behavior is minor, or designed to get your attention: ignore it. Ignoring crying (unless there is a real injury) is often the most effective way of making it stop. Deal with inappropriate behavior immediately: sitting a child out (minutes equivalent to age, or until they calm down) is effective. Behaviors such as poor sportsmanship, name-calling, hitting, etc. fall into this category. Keep the children occupied down time gives undesirable behavior time to spawn. Children that are out of breath have a hard time talking over you. INSTRUCTIONS: Keep them short and clear short attention spans mean you need to make a big impression in a short time. Have as few steps as possible. If you want the children to execute a multi- step procedure, build to it over a few activities or sessions. Involve them in the process by asking leading questions. They will learn best by doing. ACTIVITIES: GAG: Game Activity Game Alternate simple drills with fun games that build on those skills. Skill drills often have a lower element of fun, but can be reinforced after initial instruction with games. Avoid drills or activities that have an elimination element or leaves children standing in line waiting. Not only does standing around means they are not learning, but also, boredom leads to behavior problems. Keep activities short, or change the parameters often (switch children around, add elements of complexity). Complex activities need to be built towards over time. Demonstrate correct techniques. Teaching incorrect technique at this age leads to fossilization of errors (e.g. toe kicking). If you don t know, find out and learn it. CONTACT WITH PARENTS: Get parents on your side. Be positive, but understand that you are the coach. Make sure parents understand what you are trying to accomplish and how you will be going about it. Explain the objectives to the parents at the beginning of the season and get agreement. Make sure parents understand the Zone s philosophy and your intentions. Communicate safety rules (e.g. shin guards required at games and practices) Get parent volunteers to help you, especially at games. Parents can keep kids organized on the sideline while you coach. They can also tie shoes and wipe noses. Impress how important it is for their child to have water and go to the bathroom before soccer. EDMONTON WEST ZONE SOCCER ASSOCIATION 3
COACHING TEAM STRATEGY, OR POSITIONAL PLAY AT U7 THE SWARM This is the hallmark of mini-soccer: a horde of children, chasing the ball around the field. This is ok! Children very quickly understand that the goal is to get the ball. They have a harder time understanding that moving into space and not having the ball is also important. Adults see the bunch of players as unorganized -- not as a team. That's the first problem, because, at this point, it's really not a team. To parents, this is a mess on the field. They want the kids to spread out -- so that the one player with any skill can have the space to dribble around everyone else like cones. A good coach will definitely have to adjust these players' instincts, as they get older, but surprisingly not much. The game itself makes them smarter as they continue to play more and more. Another reason why "bunching up" is OK for young players: the kid in the center of that bunch is learning early on how to play in tight spaces and not to be afraid of traffic or contact. Allow this to happen. Watch what the children naturally do some will attack aggressively, others will be more protective of their own goal. BEGINNINGS OF POSITIONAL PLAY The only real position at this age group is goalie. Let them all have a chance to try. As the coach, it is your job to cultivate their strengths watch them, where they naturally go and help them understand what they are doing. To help them to understand where to go: Get on the field with them (in a game-play practice or game) and tell them or physically move them. Small sided-drills and games (caution they will have difficulty applying principles learned in one situation to another). Allow them to figure out the basics of the game and slowly add strategy or complexity over time. EDMONTON WEST ZONE SOCCER ASSOCIATION 4
SKILLS FOCUS At this age, focus on the basic skills first. Build complexity over time, after they have competently acquired prerequisite skills. Here is a selection of games and drills. Lesson plans and explanations will be emailed to you. The Internet is a wealth of information with regards to drills and games. Spend some time researching activities if you feel your practices are getting stale. WARM-UPS These are not-necessarily ball or even soccer focused they should be fun and get all kids moving and in a positive frame of mind. Frozen Tag (have players moving in a variety of ways, ex. skipping, or galloping) Stretches (gentle, basic stretches) BASIC TOUCH (ball control), DRIBBLING This is the basis of all skills gaining and keeping control, and being able to do what you want with it. Many of these games are structured with stops and starts to encourage children to keep the ball in their feet. Taps, roll overs, pull backs and forward Pirates Shark Attack Bum Balls Explode Red-Light Green Light What Time is it Mr. Wolf British Bulldog Clean-up Blob-tag Dribble through the gate Relay Races PASSING Mosquito Partner passing Group of three passing (timed) 5 v 1 (circle keep-away) SHOOTING Mosquito Dribble and shoot Hit the cone EDMONTON WEST ZONE SOCCER ASSOCIATION 5
Sample One-Hour Practice Plan FOCUS- BASIC BALL SKILLS START 1 min Collect players at an identifiable and routine location (ex. stand on the BLUE cones). WARM-UP GAME 3-5 mins Example: Freeze-Tag Have players skip or gallop while moving around the defined area. Rotate IT(s) every 30 seconds- 1 minute. STRETCH 2-3 mins Have players stand in a circle, and lead them in gentle stretches and movements. (ex: touch toes, calf stretch, quad stretch, hamstring stretch, hip circles, arm circles) BALL INTRODUCTION 1 min (Ball bag has been closed up until this point for your own sanity) Have players sit/ line up and hand out balls to them one by one. SKILLS & DRILLS 20-25 min approx. Bum Ball 5 mins Pirates 5-10 mins Shark Attack 5 mins Red-Light, Green-Light 5 mins BREAK 5 mins Clear the field of play. Clean up balls, cones, etc. Organize game MINI GAME 30 mins See EWZSA Modified Laws for U7 for rules and set up ***Giving the children frequent water breaks will also give them a mental break. This will also give you a chance to set up your next activity.*** RECOMMENDED EQUIPMENT: One ball for each child Cones or discs of two or three different colors Pinnies of at least two different colors (enough for a two- team scrimmage) PUG nets (pop-up goal nets) EDMONTON WEST ZONE SOCCER ASSOCIATION 6
BUM BALLS 3 mins Setup: Each player needs one ball A 5m by 5m box marked out by cones/discs Players begin spread out inside the box, with a ball in their feet. They are to dribble around inside the box Coach calls out a body part, which players are to touch to the ball (e.g.: head, shin, stomach, bum which is the funniest, of course). Players should use feet to stop the ball before putting the required body part on the ball. You can increase dribbling difficulty by having players using only their [right] foot, or [left] foot, or only the insides, or outsides, etc. As the players become more skilled with the ball you can work on more advanced skills. (e.g. pull back) RED-LIGHT, GREEN-LIGHT - 3 MINS Set-up: A 5m by 10m box, marked out by cones, discs (adjust size as needed) One ball per player Line up all players at one short (5m) end of the box, one ball per player. Explain object and rules to players. When coach says Green-light, that means go. When coach says Red-Light, that means stop. Objective is to reach the other side of the box first. Caution them that if their ball rolls too far away, they will have to go back to the beginning (or coach might kick it away ) Once all players have reached the end, restart and play game back to starting position. Assign different skills to different color lights E.g. Purple-light (yeah, I know), might mean turn around (do a 180 degree turn). PIRATES 5-10 mins Setup: A 5m x 5m square area (adjust size as needed) One ball per player The goal of this game is to kick out of bounds as many other players balls as possible while protecting your own. You may explain that the players are Pirates and pirates love to steal treasure they do this by kicking other player s treasure (i.e. their ball) out of the box. Caution them about leaving their own treasure unattended while attacking others. Once their ball has been kicked out, they are to retrieve it and return to the game. Play for 30 second to one-minute intervals and give them a rest. If the game stalls (they are standing and only protecting their balls), as the coach, join in and attack players balls to get them moving. To add consequence to the ball being kicked out, each player must do a task (e.g. 5 push-ups or sit-ups) before returning to the game. SHARK ATTACK - 5 mins Set up: A 5m x 5m square area marked off by discs or cones (adjust size as needed) One ball per player (one or two do not need a ball) Select two players to be it, they are the sharks. These two do not need a ball. All other players each need one ball; they are fishies. The goal is for the sharks to kick all the fishies balls out of the box within a time limit. Fishies are to protect their ball and not let the sharks kick their balls out. When a ball is kicked out, the fishies can go retrieve it and return to the game When time limit is reached, switch its. To add consequence to the ball being kicked out, each fishie must do a task (e.g. 5 push-ups or sit-ups) before returning to the game. EDMONTON WEST ZONE SOCCER ASSOCIATION 7