Coaches, I just loaded a new question and answer document to the free Coach Mark Soccer Club website.

It’s a great resource to get quick answers to your questions.

Remember, the site also has great documents like soccer formation diagrams.

So, how does a youth soccer coach keep the players happy, engaged, and interested in “practicing” soccer? I think it is through the use of “games”, not “drills”. I never call them drills until the kids are at the U13 age or older. Younger players want to “play games”, not “run drills”.

If there is a competitive element to these games, that’s all the better. Many young players are already developing a competitive edge. So, use that and keep them engaged in the practice.

One of the oldest, but still tried and true practice “games” is Sharks and Minnows. It goes by many other names, but the concept remains sound. My absolute favorite practice game for the younger ages (and some later ages) is “Sharks and Minnows” – watch this video -

Click here to view the embedded video.

That video does a great job of explaining it. This game is called by many other names, but the concept is the same.  Keep the rules simpler than those described in the video for 9 year olds and younger. Start with one or two sharks. As he/she kicks the other player’s balls out of the circle or square (you can build one with cones or use the center circle like the video), each of those players then become sharks until only one or two minnows are left. That’s it, keep it simple.

This “game” teaches them 1) ball handling skills, 2) defensive positioning, 3) shielding the ball, 4) short burst movements and 5) lower body control. It’s a perfect “fun” game in a lot of ways, that teaches excellent ball handling and other useful skills without the players even knowing that they are learning something. It all appears just “fun” to them. And they learn some great techniques at the same time!

To your soccer success,

Coach Mark

Coaches,

Across the world, the 4-4-2 soccer formation is the most widely used 11V11 formation there is. It is known as a defensive formation, but with only slight changes, it can be a deadly offensive formation too. Some coaches play the 4-4-2 soccer formation with a diamond formation for the midfielders. Some coaches like to rush one center midfielder into the attack with the forwards. Many coaches choose to keep the other center midfielder back is a “holding” responsibility. No matter what way you like to play the 4-4-2 soccer formation, it can be a great strategy for your soccer team.

Coach Mark Soccer Club has all you need to know about playing this universal formation. I’ve got a free soccer responsibility diagram with a diamond, one more without, one more with an attacking center midfielder, and one more variation also. I also provide more coaching notes than any other formation I’ve provided to date.

Check out Coach Mark Soccer Club and download the 4-4-2 formation and all the wonderful information and coaching notes for free!

To your soccer success,

Coach Mark

Hosting a youth soccer training session can be a lot of fun. When hosting a soccer training session with children, you can expect to see them, their family members, and even a few of their friends comes to watch the training. This makes for a very exciting time for everyone. Coaches get the opportunity to personally develop each player individually, while others watch in amazement at the pure skill and agility of the child that they are supporting. However, it is essential to bring along some basic equipment that is required for youth soccer training.

The first thing that you should bring to your youth soccer training session is a soccer ball for each player. While you should allow it to be permissible for a child to bring their own soccer ball, it is important to understand that many children may not have their own soccer ball. There are many children who may simply forget their soccer ball. This is why it is essential to have a steady supply of balls available. Be sure to make a rule that if a child brings along their own soccer ball they should write their first and last name in permanent marker on it. This will ensure proper identification after the youth soccer training session is over.

The next thing that you should be sure to bring to a youth soccer training session is a large container of prepared ice water. You can purchase a cooler that has a spout to make it easy to get the fluid from the container. Be sure to purchase a large amount of cups that the children can use. Normally, these cups will become misplaced and a child may use a new cup each time that they get something to drink. You may wish to explain to parents that a child should bring a bottle of ice water with them to soccer training. Be sure to stress the importance of placing their names on the bottles. Many children may even like to bring sports bottles.

The third thing that you should bring to a youth soccer training session is enough shin guards for all of the players. It is important to have these items available to avoid the risk of injury in your players. Many children may forget their shin guards, or may not be able to purchase a pair for themselves. However, as a coach, it is essential that you take these things into consideration to ensure that all players are able to enjoy a safe practice session.

When coaching a youth soccer training session, it is very important to be certain that you bring a whistle. In many cases, this will be the only method that you can use to gain the attention of the children. This is especially true if the training area is relatively large. You do not have to invest a lot of money into the whistle for it to be effective, but it is necessary that it has a high enough quality to be heard. You may choose to bring a few extra whistles to ensure that you have a backup in case the first one becomes lost or damaged in any way.

The next item that you will need at a youth soccer training session is a way to separate the group into teams. This may be as simple as different colored vests, t-shirts of different colors, or even flagging devices. There are many drills and other activities that may require you to have at least two teams, so, having a method of identifying your teams are very important.

If you coach girls, hair scrunchies, and elastic head bands can help them see the ball, the field and their teammates.

And don’t forget a first aid kit. Band-aids, antibiotic ointment, athletic tape, instant ice packs and many other parts of a good kit will come in handy.

Lastly, a large set of cones can come in very handy. They can be used to form the outline of a field, create goals to shoot at, force the players to get in lines, mark a dribbling course, and so much more!

Don’t forget to check out Coach Mark Soccer Club for more great, free information about how to run a well organized practice!

To your soccer success,

Coach Mark

Coaches,

I’m celebrating! And with good reason. My daughter scored four goals in her last game! So, I just have to celebrate the only way I know how. By giving my fellow youth soccer coaches some more free documents to coach better, have more fun, and win more games.

I have to be fair to you and let you know that I gave my club coaches two new files to download for free. One is a three midfielder soccer formation diagrams, with the complete explanation you need to provide to your team. The second document is a graphical team calendar your team manager and your palyer’s paretns will love you for!

Go over and join the club to get your free soccer formation diagram and soccer team calendar now! Here’s what they look like below.

By the way, did I tell you my daughter scored four goals?

To your soccer success,

Coach Mark

Click here to view the embedded video.

Click here to view the embedded video.

Click here to view the embedded video.

By Nigel Reed

Small sided games are the back bone of developing fundamental concepts of the game and provide the coach and player a like a simplified “game like” environment to explore and teach the concepts. (I have covered the Basic Principles of the Game in another article)

Small Sided Games are a must for the major part of your coaching sessions. You do need to ensure that a lot of ball drills are used to ensure that players are technically able to play, and I structure my sessions such that players get a lot of touches as part of the warm up. Having technically sound players makes it far easier to introduce some of the concepts of small sided games.

However, the vast majority of learning comes from small sided games.

What is a Small Sided Game?

Small sided games should be either 3v3 or 4v4 and the rules or conditions adapted to suit a particular theme that is being coached. Sometimes you may have an odd number of players, so it may be necessary to make one player an all time attacker. Ie One player is always on the team with the ball.

Better for the players

Small sided games give the players the opportunity to explore and discover how to play soccer in a simple environment, whilst still needing to observe and react to the 3 main parts of soccer:

1. When the have the ball (attacking).
2. When the opposition team has the ball (defending).
3. When the ball changes from one team to the other team (transition)

Small sided games will ensure that all players are involved and engaged in the game, and so will ensure better participation and learning for players

Better for the coach

Because of the simple nature of small sided games, the coach will find it far easier to analyze the game and players performance, making it an easier task to observe and make corrections where necessary.

The standard game

The format for the standard game will teach many aspects of the game. When playing 4v4, players will quickly discover that a diamond shape works well, and that they need to work well as team, offering good supporting angles and distances when attacking and defending.

The basic rules

• Field dimensions 40yard by 30 yards
• No goal keepers
• There are no throw ins, so when the ball goes out over the sideline, play is restarted with a kick in. The kick can not go directly into the goal, the player may also dribble the ball in.
• There are no corner kicks. When the ball goes out over the end line, it is put back into play either by dribbling or kicking the ball back into the playing area.
• After a goal has been scored, it is put back into play by either dribbling or passing from the end line.
• Kick offs that begin each period of play are taken from the approximate center of the field.
• Players can score from anywhere on the field (unless you have modified the rules to emphasize a concept)
• All fouls are penalized with an indirect free kick. The opponent must be three yards away from the ball at the time of the kick.

What Can be taught using Small Sided Games?

By simple adjustments of the rules or conditions, many different aspects of the game can be taught using Small Sided Games.

The following are examples of field settings that will encourage certain aspects of the game. It is not hard to think of ways to modify the rules to encourage certain aspects of the game.

• Make the game 2 or 3 touch to encourage good support from attackers, which forces the defenders to support effectively
• Change the dimensions of the field eg longer to promote depth and penetration of passes and wider to promote width and switching of play
• Make goals scored by dribbling the ball through a goal instead of passing the ball
• Make goals only be scored from headers to encourage lofted passes
• Have 2 goals at each end to encourage switching of play
• Have multiple goals in placed in the playing area to encourage passing and receiving
• Have End Zones that the ball must be received in to score a goal to encourage penetration

I hope this has helped to give you an understanding of how Small Sided Games can be used to emphasize coaching points.

By using your imagination I am sure that you will be able to come up with many more variations of Small Sided Games to get your players playing great soccer.

Review of Coerver Coaching System

I have made use of the Coerver Coaching Method whilst coaching and have found that the technical aspects and skills based learning within Coerver combined with Small Sided Games has produced great results in terms of individual players and team play.

Go to TheSoccerHelper.com to see a full review of the Coerver Coaching System
The SoccerHelper coached his team to the top of the league using the Coerver program combined with a SPECIAL ingredient. Click Here for Details
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