Here are some items that should be included in a U-6 training session:

A brief warm-up is appropriate in order to get the players thinking about soccer and to prepare them physically for the time ahead. This should involve individual body activities that may or may not involve the ball. They can chase their ball as it is thrown by the coach, bringing it back with different parts of their body. Or,they can chase someone with their ball at their feet.

Follow the warm-up with some kind of individual activity, not a real 1 v.1 game, but some kind of activity where players act as individuals in a game environment.

An example would be a kind of tag game, or "Red Light - Green Light", Shark, Bulldog or a game where players are trying to knock their ball through gates.

Keep players in motion at all times. Avoid having them wait on lines. Play games of "inclusion" instead of games where the "loser sits".

Move on to the real game, but, make sure it is a 2 v. 2, 3 v. 3, or 4 v. 4 game. Switch the game every 5 minutes or so. Be creative. Play with 4 goals, or 2 balls. Play with or without boundaries. Use cones if you don't have real goals. Keep players involved. Have more than one game going on at a time if necessary.

Finish the session with a warm down. Give them some more stretches to do with the ball. You may want to review what you started the session with. Also, give them some homework so that they practice on their own. Think of some ball trick that you would like to see them try to do, like, bounce it off their thigh and then catch it. It is important to finish on time. This is especially essential if the players are really into it. Stop at this point and you will get an enthusiastic return.

As described in the sections above, each practice can be organized into distinct phases. We can defined these phases as:

• Warm Up
• Fundamental Phase
• Match Related Phase
• Match Condition Phase

Before anything else though you need prior, proper preparation, sometimes known as the 3 P's. Every practice should have a plan, even if you just scribble down some notes on a piece of paper about the things you want to work on. Always have more things planned for a practice than you can do in the time allotted. There will be drills that you think will work, that just will not. Instead of forcing the issue, be prepared to move on. The coach should have definitive rules for practices. It is usually good to put these in writing at the beginning of the year. Have a definitive start and end time. Always be there 5 to 10 minutes before practice time. If your players and parents see that you are serious, they will tend to be that way also. Always have your equipment with you, extra balls (great for shooting drills, not for players that forget theirs), pennies and cones. If possible have an assistant. And don't be afraid to ask parents to stay and help you out. You are not a baby sitter. If possible get a player 2 to 3 years older than your charges to help demonstrate skills. There are a lot of travel players who would love to work with the younger ones if you would only ask them.

The warm up phase has been described in the age characteristic sections above. A good warm up phase should include exercises with the ball and, if practical, exercises that deal with the particular skill you are working on that day. However some coaches like to warm up the same way no matter what the practice goal is for the day and that is all right also. Some coaches like to start out each practice with a 10-10-10 scenario. 10 minutes of foot skills, 10 minutes of coervers and 10 minutes on 1 v 1. This type of practice will be discussed in more detail further on in the manual.

The fundamental phase which can be described as learning the basic skill. The basic skill can be broken down into different steps so that the player knows what to do from his "toes to his nose". The basic skill can further be divided into segments so that there is a progression from the least difficult to the more difficult aspects of the skill.

The match related phase is training the skill to be used in a game situation.Again progression can be used. For example adding a passive defender to the drill simulates a game condition at the lowest level. Making that defender semi-active makes the skill being practiced a little harder. Adding an active defender makes the skill even harder still.

Reiteration of the match related phase into a scrimmage like situation. Progression can again be used. For example, practicing team shape of a triangle with basic passing skills using 3 offense and one defense. Progressing up to 3 on 2 and finally 3 on 3. If passing and receiving was the basic skill award points for completed passing, combination passes, etc. not for goal scoring.

In a practice, especially with the younger levels, teaching proper technique is extremely important. The basic steps for teaching technique are as follows:

1. Introduction - Keep it short
2. Demonstration - Break down step by step, - "toes to nose"
3. Convincing and repeated demonstration. Don't let mistakes perpetuate. There is a fine line between over-coaching and finding the correct time to make coaching points. You cannot stop a practice every time someone makes an error, however it is important that you do not let consistent mistakes go unremarked. Remember..." Practice does not make perfect......Practice makes permanent."
4. Organization of groups
5. Time to practice - fundamental and match related
6. Individual and group correction - Summary
7. Perform under match conditions.- small sided game emphasizing the fundamental skill worked on in practice.

From time to time you will hear the term Economical Training. Simply put economical training is the concept of putting two or more training "ideas" together. For example, physical conditioning is important. But instead of just running wind sprints to build aerobic and anaerobic conditioning, combine them with ball handling drills so that this skill is worked at the same time as the conditioning.

A lot of coaches want to know why not run laps for conditioning. After all if you have kids on a high school team you know that they are out running laps all of the time, right? Well it is simply a matter of time. A high school coach has the kids two to three hours a day, 5 days a week. For most of our teams, particularly intramurals, that is equivalent to a whole fall season of practices.

Another example of economical training would be to loosen up and or warm-up with the ball. For little kids this could be having them do a jig left and right foot on the ball, then progressing to a jig as they circle the ball. Have them draw back the ball and then sweep the ball left, right and behind. They loosen up and get multiple touches at the same time.

Here are some good principles to follow:

• Keep practices and matches fun. Play "games" that cause kids to learn skills, not "drills." If practice is fun, the kids will want to attend. If it is not fun, their parents will sometimes have to force them to attend and a potential star may drop out.
• Maximize touches on the ball per player in practice. Avoid lines - the kids won't behave well while waiting for their turn to play the ball.
• Minimize lecturing - they have very short attention spans. You have maybe ten seconds to make your point.
• Play lots of small-sided games. 3v3 is ideal for this age. Why doesn't 7v7 or 11v11 work at this age? Imagine putting 14 or 22 six-year-olds on the field to share one toy. When Billie finally gets the ball, will he pass it? No, because he knows he won't get it back! And shy Freddie may play a whole game and get only two touches on the ball.
• Concentrate on improving individual skills, i.e., dribbling, trapping, shielding the ball, shooting, getting around an opponent, etc. You will develop more skillful players this way and win more games in the process. Some passing will develop naturally if you play small-sided games, but you will get frustrated if you try to force it. Do not let anyone on your sideline yell, "Pass the ball!" during games.
• Don't keep standings or statistics. The kids will be having fun playing something else an hour after the game, win or lose. Only the parents and coaches will still be replaying the goals and mistakes in their minds the next day!

At this age, there is less emphasis on progression than with older groups because they are too young to put several moves together successfully and they will get bored if there is not much variation between drills. For example, you may progress a drill to do it with the other foot, or complete a drill and then take a shot on net, but much more than this will bore them. However, a new drill or soccer related game can work on the same type of skill.

Encourage 15 min of practice at home on the days we do not practice. You may encourage the parents to participate in the warm-up exercises with their own child. This allows the coach to teach the proper technique to the parents, too, so that if they work with their child, they will reinforce proper technique. The coach my give the parents others suggestions for at home practice, i.e. dribbling and passing (working on leading your partner).

Game Day Tips

Ensure you are familiar with the rules for matches.

Some of the kids may lose their concentration as soon as the game starts. The short attention span of children this age is why kindergarten programs are generally for a half day. Kids lose focus is if they do not get to handle the ball enough. Smaller rosters and smaller sides help solve this problem.

Put any difficult children in at the start of the game. That way, as they start to lose focus they can come off and you can put in more mature children who will be focused for the duration of the game. There should be unlimited substitutions at this age. Have the parents help with substitutions so you can concentrate on the game.

At this age both coaches may be on the field for games. Note this is an exception to normal guideline of no coaches on the field. For the first couple of games you will have to give some direction ("the goal is the other way, Johnny") but you should reduce this as soon as possible to allow the kids to find their own. At the beginning, to get them to actively participate you may only need to point at the ball or tell them to "go get it".

However remember that it is not your game! Avoid active coaching on the field as it only encourages the kind of shouting that continues on into older age groups. If the coach does the thinking for them, they will never learn to do it for themselves. Same principle applies for doing the talking for them.

As the adults on the field, both coaches should assist kids on both teams. Each coach should cover one half of the field. Try to rotate throw-ins and free kicks among all of the kids, and give the ball to a nearby kid to reduce the time wasted. It serves no purpose at this level to call most fouls as they would be called at higher levels. Allowing the play to continue keeps the kids interested and provides a much better learning experience than for the players whistling down every foul and lining up for free kicks. At this level, the idea of "keep it safe, keep it fair, keep it moving" generally applies.

Don't spend too much time setting up formations at the beginning of the game or set plays. A simple "spread out" or "give five big steps for the free kick" is enough. At this age there is a universal tendency for the kids to bunch-up around the ball. You will see a swarm of kids move around with the ball popping out occasionally. This is normal and there is nothing you can do to prevent it, so don't worry about it or try to correct it. You may assign some kids to defensive duties but they are likely to make a run for the ball like the rest when they see it.

Under 5 (3 or 4 years old) is generally too young to expect any teamwork. Even Under 6 is pushing it! If you see a pass, it is more likely than not an errant shot on goal. Where goalies are used, the selection of a goalkeeper may create some competition among the kids. In general, let every kid have a chance in practice. For games, putting a kid who is not capable in goal may hurt their confidence and cause resentment from the other players. Tell the players that goalie is an important position and you will watch them playing and select the kid who you believe is trying the hardest. If you chance the goalie, tell him or her they did well in net and now you want them to help the team by scoring some goals. Remember the objective: HAVE FUN!

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