Game 1 – “Spiderman” Coach – 5 minutes

Setup

• Each player has a ball
• The coach holds a training vest

Game

• Players dribble anywhere within the field of play
• Spiderman (the coach) chases the players with a training vest

• Spiderman throws the training vest at players’ balls
  • Players evade the vest by dribbling or shielding the ball from it

• If a vest touches the ball then the players have to:
  • Pick up the ball and hold it in their hands
  • Stand with their feet spread wide apart in one spot, as if they caught by the spider web (kind of like freeze tag)
  • Players remain in the  web until another player passes a ball through the caught player’s legs, which untangles them from the spider web
  • The player can then drop the ball onto the ground and continue to play
• In the meantime, spiderman picks up the vest again and looks for the players to entangle into the web

 

 

Game 2 – “Lights” – 5 minutes

Objective: Follow directions to get to the opposite side of the field

• Players line up on one of the long (40 steps) sidelines
• You are on the opposite sideline
• Game: Call out a color light
  •  Green light: they run and dribble towards you
  •   Yellow light: they walk and dribble towards you
  •   Red light: they stop the ball with the bottom of their foot – the sooner the better (Remember the HINT from the previous drill: keep the ball close to you)
  •   Disco light: they stop and give you their best dance moves
• If players advance too fast because they are not under control, send them back to their last spot
  • There are no winners for reaching the opposite sideline first, everyone goes at their own pace

Game 3 – Sharks and Minnows – 5 Minutes

Setup

• The minnows (the players) start with the balls at one end of the field
• The shark (the coach) starts in the middle of the field without a ball
• When you say “Go!” the minnows have to cross the water (the field) to the other side without the shark taking the ball away from them
  • If the players manage to get to the other side, they go again and try to cross the water again, etc.
• If the shark takes the ball away from a minnow, there are two variations of what happens next – we prefer the first option because the young players continue to dribble the ball
  • Either the caught minnow just rejoins the others at next try
  • Or, the caught minnow also becomes a shark (fun, but no dribbling involved for the sharks)
    • You may play both variations, do the first option for the first half of the game and the second option for the rest of it
• COACHING POINT: Encourage players not to lose composure when a shark comes near
  • They can either dribble by the shark
  • Or they can shield the ball from the shark

Game 4 – “Cookie Monster” – 5 minutes

Remind players how to “shield” the ball

• Put your body between the ball and the opponent trying to steal the ball
  • Keep the ball close enough to you to control it but far enough from the opponent to steal it

Instruction

• Encourage players not to lose composure as a monster approaches them
  • They have the power to protect the cookie from the monster by positioning themselves correctly or by keeping the ball close to them while dribbling it

Game

• The players dribble around until a “cookie monster” (coach or a parent volunteer) approaches them
• Players then protect the ball (the “cookie”) by shielding it from the “monster”
• When the “monster” goes away the players continue to dribble

 

Game 5 – “Pirates” – 5 minutes

Setup

• On one side of the field place down cones in a circle to create a “pirate ship”
• Place a number of cones on the other side of the field to be the “treasure”

 

Game

• Players dribble a ball from the pirate ship to the treasure

• Players pick up a piece of treasure (a cone) and dribble the ball back to the ship to bring the treasure to it

• Players drop the treasure in the pirate ship and then dribble the back to get more treasure
• When all of the treasure is in the ship, ask the players (the “pirates”) to return the treasure

 

Drill 1 – Trap, Turn, Dribble and Pass – 10 minutes

Setup

• Lay down 5 cones that look like a diamond with a cone in the center of it
  • The cones should be located about 10 steps away from the goal
• Coach stands in the same spot at the end of the tunnel opposite of the goal
  • The balls are behind the coach
• The players line up behind the goal
  • The first player in line stands between the coach and the cones set in the shape of the diamond

Instruction

• Demonstrate to players how to turn with the ball that is stopped in front of them
• Use a part of the foot (inside, outside, bottom, or heel) to send the ball behind you and then turn the body to follow the ball
  • Avoid running around the ball to face forward, rather move the ball behind you first and then turn the body to face forward

Drill

• Coach passes the ball to the player
• The player traps the ball in front

• The player turns with the ball
  • Uses one part of the foot to touch the ball towards the goal
  • Turns the body to follow the ball

 

• The player dribbles through the diamond
  • Use the center cone as a guide where to dribble

• Once out of the diamond, the player passes the ball into the goal
  • Encourage players to pass the ball while jogging forward and without stopping to readjust before the pass
• The player goes to the back of the line
• The next player in line gets the ball out of the goal, passes it to the coach, and stands between the coach and the cones
• The coach passes the ball to the player, and the drill is repeated for 10 minutes

Drill 2 – Trap, Turn, Double Pass and Pass – 10 minutes

Setup

Same as Drill 1, except:

• Introduce a passing line on the outside of the cones
• Half of the players line up behind the goal and the other half line up in the passing line

Drill

Same as Drill 1, except:

 

• Once the player in the middle receives a pass from the coach and turns with the ball, instead of dribbling through the diamond the player passes the ball to a teammate in the passing line

• The player in the middle then runs through the diamond
  • The passer traps the ball and passes it back to the player in the middle

• The player in the middle traps the ball somewhere between the diamond and the goal and passes the ball into the goal

• The middle player joins the back of the passing line
  • The 1st player in the middle line gets the ball from the goal, goes to the front of the diamond to prepare to receive a pass from the coach, and gives the ball to the coach
• The passer joins the back of the middle line
• After 5 minutes, switch the passing line to the other side

Game 6 – Scrimmage – 10 minutes

• Set up a small goal on each of the end lines of your field
  • Either use Pugg goals, or place two cones/bags/shirts about 3 steps apart from each other
• Split the players into 2 equal teams
• Let them play and show what they learned this season
  • Feel free to jump in and help as an “all-time offense” player (whichever team has possession can use you)

End Practice – 5 minutes

• Thank the players for the wonderful season and praise them for everything they learned
  • Dribbling, trapping, passing, and shooting
• Team cheer
  • 1,2,3 Go “team name”!