Question:
What do you teach 5-6 year olds at soccer practice?
Jessica
2010-03-07 15:57:08 UTC
I mean, all I can think of is don't go out of the lines and don't touch the ball with your hands.. does anyone else know something I could do with them? I just became an assistant coach for 5 year olds and I don't really know what to teach them. Help?
Five answers:
Lance
2010-03-07 20:58:07 UTC
Being lazy, I'm going to copy and paste the answer I posted from this thread https://answersrip.com/question/index?qid=20100306213523AA2QhOp&show=7#profile-info-YoCXbg2naa here since the principles I stated still hold true for this age group.

The biggest difference being that at 5-6 years of age, some of the kids are actually starting to "get it" a bit and may even go in the right direction with the ball sometimes.



Game day:

First, understand that at that age the "daisy pickers" don't really play soccer. They herd the ball and kick at it or wander off. When they do manage to get a boot on the ball it's a victory. There may be one child here or there that "gets it" and will score goals. If they are on your team, let them have some fun and score a couple goals but don't run up scores. Yes, they know who won or lost most times, but no one likes a beat down. Parents and coaches that take the sport much to seriously at this age level can quickly ruin the sport for these youngsters so be sure to have fun.



Practices:

Get a whistle and use it. Teach them to stop when they hear it. This helps you with games as well as practices. If not, you have half a dozen or more little ones trudging all over to chase down a ball. It also gets them all to stop when their attention is needed or to keep them safe.



Focus on "small sided" games and activities. Nothing is worse to kids in this age group than line drills. You will quickly lose control or at the very least their interest if you focus on line drills. Lots of good free coaching resources on the web that can help you with some fun games and drills.



They have very short attention spans. Vary your practice activities often. I like to change up drills and games every 10 to 15 minutes to keep them engaged.



Have a small game plan together before practice. Make a list, if you need to bring notes of several activities and refer to them during water breaks. Short water breaks between drills works out great for this. Gives you a minute to review and keeps them hydrated.



I award "points" to players that do good or that perform well in drills. No, they don't get anything for it except the points but they don't care. Even simple games like "tag the coach with your ball" (kicking of course not throwing it) as you move around the field gets them excited and still teaches them simple skills. Plus they get a charge out of trying to get coach!



Good luck, and just remember to have fun and most likely they will as well.
anonymous
2016-03-01 06:18:29 UTC
Well i don't want to sound rude but at the age 10-11 boys and girls should not be playing together. A boy needs to play against his own gender. I think that you must be American, because other countries know better than to have boys and girls playing together at that age. Co-ed football (soccer) is fine when children are about 5-6or 7 but after that they need to play with their own gender or they will not progress as they should.
anonymous
2010-03-07 15:59:36 UTC
Dribbling, Passing with the inside of your foot, Shooting and that's about it.
mystyka13
2010-03-07 18:25:22 UTC
passing, dribbling, making sure they dont kick each other...etc.
Leter
2010-03-07 15:59:52 UTC
drills, drills and more drills


This content was originally posted on Y! Answers, a Q&A website that shut down in 2021.
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