Free Mini Soccer Training Drills

As a coach of Mini Soccer I have found the single most time consuming effort for the coach to be the planning of each coaching session.  Thought needs to go into each mini soccer training session so that your players get the most out of each session.  Of course, with age appropriate coaching we also need to keep our plans simple enough for the children to understand and also try and make them fun.  

In this section we will post sample football and mini soccer training session plans so that those wishing to find a football club for their son to play are able to assess what our philosophy to football is as well as getting an understanding of the effort and committment our coaches put into their discipline so that the children are able to get the most out of the sessions we put on. If you are interested in your child joining any of the teams at Saltdean United then please contact Chris Hindle at sufcu7@gmail.com.

Football and Mini Soccer Training Session Plans will be posted and refreshed periodically so do check back if you are interested in coaching and wish to find some proven structured plans to use during your sessions.  The most recent entry will be at the top, we will archive after posting five plans or links to other sessions.

Enjoy the session plans!

Number 2 - Saltdean United Under 9's 

This drill is a copy of the one used by Chris on 1st August 2009, the opening Saturday training session for the Saltdean United Under 9's Youth Section. 

The purpose of the first section was to create a little competition between the groups, so it was important to ensure that teams were matched evenly across the ability ranges. Naturally, our player names have been removed from the planner.  The first drill helped to focus minds initially with dribbling and shooting. Points were awarded for those who dribbled to the target area quickest and then additional bonus points were awarded for shots on target and goals scored.

The second section had us place boxes for players to pass to each other through.  This drill took some time to work out, but the boys eventually understood the purpose, which was to dummy defenders by looking one way and passing the other way into space so that the forward could arc across their box to receive, turn and shoot.

The final section focused on team work in 3's. This drill worked really well and taught the children the importance of movement and quick one or two touch passing so that a running midfielder can move onto the ball to shoot.  For the more advanced members we evolved the drill so that the player making the final lay off spun to receive the ball in a wide position so that they could cross in for the two players running into the box on the near and back posts.  

A copy of the drill can be collected by clicking here.

Number 1 - Argentinian Style of Learning

This drill is provided courtesy of Inside Soccer.  As some of you may have gathered, I love the south American style of of coaching, particularly atthe younger age groups.  They just seem to focus better on technical levels at an early age and move into the conditioning phase as and when the players move through the age levels.

This drill is covers all aspects of control, the header into feet, the dribble and lay off followed by a shot at the end.  Try and teach the children to tell you were they want the ball to be laid off, pointing to where they wish the ball to go is a good way of doing this and it teaches team communication.  Think outside of the box in terms of progressions.  Could you introduce a passive defender to teach the children how to shoot round a defender, probably.  As you will see from the video, this drill is brought to you by Inside Soccer in partnership with Club Parque of Buenos Aires.  Their record speaks for itself in terms of talent produced.  I hope you find this one useful and I'm sure you'll browse the site as well. Check out the link here