Youth Soccer League (U6-U10)
The Board feels that there continues to be a need to improve the basic skills of the players within our Youth Soccer League. Skills learned at an early age serve as the foundation for future success. The basic skills of soccer include, but are not limited to, dribbling, turns, passing, receiving, ball control, shooting, defending, and attacking. We can’t expect these young players to master all skills in a single season but if taught consistently from season to season they will get it over time. Keep this in mind as you read through this document.
The basic role of the parent coach is to provide instruction in the proper skills and rules pertaining to the game, recognizing that player development is the primary goal. All coaches are encouraged to become certified through the U.S. Soccer certification program. The U.S. Soccer Coaching License Pathway consists of a series of courses designed to meet the specific needs of a coach at every step of the way.
The Board recognizes that there is a disparity between the skills and experience of parent coaches, with some coaches needing assistance beyond that provided by the U.S. Soccer certification program. To address this issue, the Board has made arrangements with the DWU soccer program to provide coaching assistance as needed.
The Board has established the following Player Development guidelines to be used by YSL parents, players, and coaches. These guidelines are intended to serve as milestones for the development of skills by age level; U6, U8 & U10. Keep in mind that while some players may learn to perform these skills faster than others, mastery of the skills will take a whole lot longer than one season. Repetition is the key and mastery is what we are looking for.
U6 Player Development
Typically, a U6 player that starts at age 4 will have 4 seasons of play before he/she moves up to U8’s. Our goal is to develop their basic skills, so they are prepared to move up to the next level.
Key Objectives for the U6 Program ·
1. Have fun (players, coaches, and parents) ·
2. Get players as many touches on the ball as possible ·
3. Introduce basic skills ·
4. Individual and pairs activities
Dribbling -The most important skill for beginners is dribbling. The ability to dribble the soccer ball is absolutely critical for youth players in the U6 age groups as it is the foundation for all the other basic skills of soccer such as receiving, passing and shooting. When a player is comfortable with the ball at his or her feet, the game becomes easier and more fun.
It takes many years to be a confident dribbler and the process takes a lot of trial and error on the part of the young player. In the beginning, there will be a lot more failed attempts at dribbling than successes in both practices and games but be assured that with each attempt to dribble the ball, the player is figuring out what works and what doesn’t work. As coaches and parents, we need to be patient with the young players as they learn how to dribble. There will be many times, especially during games, when we will have the urge to yell “kick it” or “boot it” to the player, but we should refrain from this as it will likely send the wrong message and discourage him or her from learning this very important skill and using it in a game-like environment.
Technical focus at U6 level should be an introduction to all the fundamentals of soccer skills with a specific focus on dribbling.
1. Field Play - Technical Skills: ·
2. Dribble with all sides of both feet (inside, outside, sole) ·
3. Dribble out of trouble ·
4. Dribble past someone ·
5. Changes of direction and turns ·
6. Introduction to shielding – Players should develop proper technique to shield the balls from opponents ·
7. Introduction to shooting with both feet (with inside of foot and laces) ·
8. Introduction to passing with inside and outside of both feet
We also need to encourage players in this age group to take risks and be creative in their dribbling. Ronaldinho and Mia Hamm weren’t able to pull off their great moves when they were six or eight years old – but they might have been thinking of those moves at that age!!
Fun - The most important aspect of psychological development for young players in the U6 age group is for them to have fun. As a coach, you should strive to create an environment where the players, parents and you, the coach, are all having fun. Young players are constantly seeking adult approval. As such, positive coaching is critical for this age group. In addition, positive coaching can help build the young player’s confidence, which is a very important in their psychological development.
EXTRA - For some experienced U6 players, they could start recognizing the fact that they are part of a team, and they begin to associate themselves with their team. This is a great opportunity to start teaching young players about the value of teamwork and what it means to be part of a team (i.e. trusting your teammates, not criticizing them, etc.).
U8 Player Development
Soccer Milestones for this age group are crucial. Creating the foundation is key for further development after 8 y/o. Soccer will be more difficult without technical foundation at this age.
Dribbling - Children at this age should begin to master controlling the ball with the body. They should know the answer to these key questions to develop a solid foundation.
1. What controls the ball in soccer? - answer - The Body
2. When I don't have control of the ball I am? - answer - REACHING
3. Reaching is a soccer players worst enemy. When he/she is reaching the foot is doing the work and not the body.
4. First step in soccer to everything is? - Control
They should know and be able to touch the inside feet, instep, outside, heel, and sole. They should be touching the ball 80-100 times in 20-35 minutes of technical practice. Keeping the ball under body and in control should be comfortable in non-pressure training.
Turns - They should be introduced to three basic turns (terminology may differ with coaches). They should be able to execute these turns in non-pressure training.
Walk-Over turn, step over turn, Pull back turn, Cutting ball in and out
Defending- Getting goal side is understood and practiced during game as the first step of defense. Correct defensive posture and movement is introduced and practiced.
Passing- Kids at this age should understand and apply correct passing. Although may not fully grasp the power of passing during game. working on "Touch" will help them develop passing mastery. Three steps to passing
CONTROL - PUSH - PASS
Receiving - This is probably the second most important thing in soccer, after passing a ball. If you don't know how to receive a ball, you don't know how to play soccer. Every time you receive a pass from a teammate you need to know what to do with the ball. If it takes you 5 minutes to get control on it then you can be pretty sure that your teammates will not either pass the ball so often to you.
Real Soccer- At this age playing the game is important. This is the best teacher, and the environment is equally important. Pressure free play with verbal cues is the best way to develop milestones. They should not be taking the ball away from each other, but some may still chase their team and ball.
Shooting- Correct shooting technique is introduced and part of this is instep dribbling practice. If they can get comfortable with dribbling with the instep, shooting will be easier to teach. No Toe at this age in non-pressure training. verbal cues should be stressed to point toe down and use laces (instep). They should know the three steps to shooting:
CONTROL - PLACE - SHOOT
EXTRA- If you can get them to communicate and use phrases like- "I am open" and "my ball" your doing a great job!
U10 Player Development
Soccer Milestones at this age are getting more into basic skill mastery. Technical foundation is already there or can be quickly learned. The learning curve is fast and although you may have kids who may not have played before this age group should pick up the fundamentals pretty quick.
Dribbling
Ball Control- Children at this age should be touching the ball as much as possible. Inside, outside, instep, linear, and multi-directional. use fun and challenging skill drills to distract them from keeping all the attention at their feet. forcing them to look up and be aware of their surroundings is a milestone and encouraged.
1. They all should know that in soccer: Body does all the work
2. first step in soccer is CONTROL!
NO REACHING - Body posture should be refined and developed. A soccer player’s worst enemy is reaching. Reaching happens when there is no technical development, or they are getting lazy. Also, when fatigue sets in the first thing that happens is a player begins to reach for ball versus using the body.
Turns - They should all be able to perform a cut-in, walk over, pull back, step-over, and cut-out turn. They may not use all of them during a game situation but in a non-pressure environment these are a definite milestone.
Terminology helps them understand why something happened. As a coach it is so much easier to say..You reached that is why... versus DON'T do this..
At this age a routine is important to develop and master ball control and turns. Get a routine and have them know and repeat it at every practice. This group love to know what going to happen versus new drills and not knowing. Confidence is a huge factor at this age. Build it...don't break it down.
Defending- Getting goal side is practiced and executed during game as the first step of defense. Correct defensive posture and movement is practiced and executed. They understand what pressure is and how to apply it appropriately. NO CHOPPING at this age. Small sided games are key to understanding space and breaking offensive links. talking is a requirement at this age.
Passing- Kids at this age should comprehend a wall pass and be able to execute it during non-pressure training. Communication is key and required at this age. They should know how to signal pass back and pass to space (through ball). Using Control - Push - Pass to practice passing is a must and now at this age change the environment to a push - pass or one straight pass.
Receiving - Naturally, the ability to control the ball with comfort and ease using multiple surfaces (foot, thigh, chest) is a necessity if passing the ball is a priority. Poor control when receiving the ball allows a defender to close space quickly and put them under pressure in a hurry.
When a player’s first touch pops the ball up in the air or bounces away from them, attention immediately shifts to finding the ball. When that happens, the player no longer sees the game in front of them. And when an extra touch or two is needed to get the ball back under control, pressure from a defender can spell the beginning of the end…a turnover is looming.
EXTRA - Improvement comes from repetition. Aspiring players must go back to the rebound surface. Players can work on two things at once – passing technique and receiving skill.
Match Play- At this age playing the game is key and everything should be based on playing with ball effectively maximizing practice time to better ball control. Communication will clear a lot of mistakes and misunderstandings so encourage it. Verbal cues are key in letting play run without stopping. Scrimmage small sided to better apply milestones. A lot of coaches underestimate the need for encouragement at this age. Just because they hit double digit 10 doesn't mean they don't need your attention and confidence building!
Shooting- Correct shooting technique is practiced and part of this is instep dribbling practice. C+P+S steps in shooting is introduced and practiced every week. (the ball will hardly be still during a game so practicing shooting with a a ball that is dead is not helping. Shooting should be practiced with a moving ball..)
CONTROL-PLACE-SHOOT is Critical at this age...have them understand the concept confidently!
EXTRA- Leadership becomes evident at this age...encourage it and create opportunities to develop leadership and group speaking opportunities. This will translate on field. Kids at this age like to be challenged and motivation is a little more necessary. You must be engaging and personify energy!
Exposure to soccer is key at this age. Have them play!
Learning how to play soccer needs to be FUN but still technical... a good practice is a perfect balance between the two.
Taken from: KIDS-PLAY-SOCCER.com