Football: under 5s

I am taking over a team next season who will be under 10's and I am wanting to bring in a few new players but don't know what will be the best way to trail them and how long I would trail them for. There are many tournaments pre season would that be a good idea. Also what is the best approach with the lads who are not good enough, how do you break it to them

Hi all, I've just started coaching a soccer team of 4 and 5 year olds and would like to discuss with my fellow coaches any drills which you have found to be safe, fun and valuable to the younger age group. I have my level 1 course under my belt and have difficulty in applying what I've learnt to the small kids. They get bored very quickly and are only interested in playing a match at the end of the session. They have no interest in passing the ball or shooting at goal whilst doing drills. Running with the ball is no problem as they are keeping active and all have a ball at their feet. As soon as they line up or have to share a ball, there are problems. I have a variety of drills which I run through with them, traffic lights, robin hood, alamo, sharks and fishes to name a few with variations of each but I crave more as everywhere I search caters for U6 upwards. I coach an U8 side midweek and have no problem with these lads as they are that bit older and have a greater level of concentration. (not by much mind). So I'm asking for advice from anyone who has coached 4 and 5 YOs and would like to know what has worked for you. PM replies welcome.  Marc

Hi I have quite a large squad (11) for my U9s team. Sometimes not all of them turn up but when they do managing the substitutions can be a nightmare. Have tried planning it out and making 3 subs on a rotation every 6 or 7 minutes. This works OK, just wondered how others do it? Thanks! Asked using Sportplan Mobile App

I took over a under 8s team 2 years ago unfortunately soccer is not my game and I did as there was no other option other than to fold. Im a good coach in terms of developing a good team (discipline, teamwork , sportsmanship fun etc) but I think my lack of knowledge about the game is holding the team back . I have a 12 players who are about to move up to the under 10s level , they skill level ranges from timid to very skilled, I try to give each player equal time and the lower skilled players are improving (just not at the same pace as the opposition). Unfortunately the opposition we face seem to be light years ahead in terms of playing a scheme and we are often found out during games (i have used a basic zone defense to try and stop the team becoming ball magnets). I think its a mixture of me insisting all players get equal playing time and the fact I dont know enough about the game to be able to coach an effective scheme and to react to opposition schemes. They are good kids and I want to give them a taste of success (you can only say it was bad luck so many times) but cant seem to get our club to take it to the next level. The drills on sportsplan are helpful but a lot of drills are too complicated for the kids age or can simply go wrong very quickly in reality. We dont get thrashed in games but we cant seem to eke out a draws or wins (I know its not all about winning but try explaining that to the kids when they lose on a regular basis)Any suggestions

Hello, I am currently coaching an u9's boys team and a majority of them are well behaved and want to play football, but the odd 1or2 tend to mess around at training which distracts the others. I have sat them out in training and spoken to the parents but still this goes on. Do I decide to kick them out of the team altogether or does anyone know the miracle cure to stop this happening?

Disciplining for misbehaviour? 8-11 year olds, they dont really get bored because i know that sometimes that can be the cause. How or what can i apply a bit of strictness into the team.

Team keep getting thrashed every week - where to start? Having been the sole coach/manager of a little league team for the past two years, this year I lost all my senior players. I was therefore presented with 10 brand new lads, some of whom have never played competitive football. We are 8 games in and my lads are getting thrashed every week. The main problems are that they cannot get the ball out of their half, positions are usually a mess, finishing and chance creation are non-existent, and they don't apply any pressure or are unable to tackle. The main problems are keeping the ball as a team, getting it in the opponents half and staying there, and creating/finishing chances. I only have 1 and a half hours a week with them. I don't really know what to do, and I'm a little desperate. Does anybody have any advice? Thanks for literally anything.

What is a good way of disciplining Under 6's. The characteristics of a 6 yr old means they are excitable, enthuiastic etc which is good, but i have a couple of boys that can be extremely disruptive. I have sat them all down at the end of a session and laid down some rules, but the same couple of boys break these rules week after week. How do i discipline without causing them not to want to attend the fun session?

Hi has anyone got a good warm up routine for a under 18 team before a match?

Im an assistant coach running a under 7 team. During play a few of the parents/family of the players keeping shouting out instructions Like tackle, clear it get back get up front etc. Even the manager I help and it seams to me some if the players get disstracted and confused to what they should do, it's come to the point a player seems to scared to do what he feels, just incase he does something wrong. How do I go about this? Asked using Sportplan Mobile App

Hi, when I take my under 12's for training, they do a warm up couple of laps of the pitch. Out of a squad of 13, I only get 7/8 doing the warm up properly, while the same 5/6 always ruin it by half running half walking. Any tips?

Heya guys, I am a new coach, for my local town, we are a new side, in a really tough league, the other managers of the teams, think it is silly, we have made a team for that league, I was told on a match day, that we would not even win one game, or even get a point all year, because the teams are so strong, we have 4 points on the boared at the mo, and are slowly getting there, I was Just wondering, how to bring players out of there shell, and try to increase goal percent -). Josh

I usually plan my session the Friday night before Saturday training . I anticipated 12 players but then this sequence of events happened. Friday 8.36pm, parent texts amp; says child can't come as he is doing 11+ mocks (did he only just realise this?). Saturday 8.57am, another parent texts amp; says as they went to a wedding the night before, child is in no fit state to train (again, was this something that only just occured to them may happen?). Saturday 9.26am, parent phones amp; says child is throwing up (fair enough, I guess). Saturday 9.57am, parent texts, another puking child (a bug perhaps doing the rounds? Bit late notice though as we start training in 18 mins). Saturday 9.58am, another text from another child's parent to say child is throwing up (Hmmm, another one. Late notice again?). Saturday 10.15am, training starts but another child is missing. I give it 5 mins then phone. Parent says they are off to theme park amp; he sent me a text. I said that I never received text amp; asked if I sent an acknowledgement to aforementioned text to which he said no which I said meant his text wasn't receieved. I went from 12 players training @ 8.36pm Friday to 6 by start of training in under 10 hours. My session plan went in the bin. I realise the sickness is one of those things but think the last 2 were rather late in notifying me. As for the other 3, I feel these to be lame excuses. What can I implement to try to stop or reduce these issues? Fines? Suspensions? Nothing? #frustrated

i run a under 11s football team and they really need to work on pass and move do u know any good drills that will be able to help there young boys and girls out....many thanks gary ives - submitted via email

Our under 12's have made the jump from 9 a side to 11 a side. We have entered a big city league were results are hard to come by. We play a super 1st half and lose it massively 2nd half, through heads down & fitness. Any suggestions on confidence boosting & training drills to help steady a ship. We are playing a 4 - 2 -3 - 1 formation.Yes we are getting a bit of negativity from the parents to, which does not help. Thank you in advance.

We have three teams of U8 that play in different leagues all with different skill levels. Is it better to train the three teams seperately so they bond and play as a team or would you swap players around each week.which could mean a league 5 player playing in league 2. Could this knock his confidence?

Hi All, Need help with training my U9s with passing during the game. I have one player (centre mid) that knows how to pass at the right time during the game. The rest of my team, meaning LM and RM and striker put their head down and just run with the ball. What can i use during training to make them think about passing during a game. Thanks in advance

What is the best warm up routine for U9 boys before a game? Thanks Coach Heath

hello ive got a under 10s team im trying to make them pass and move and get the player who has the ball support we are playing seven a side at the moment i play 3-2-1

iam coaching under 16s boys soccer and we keep losing our shape paticulary in mid field and this is where i want to control the game from but there always seem to be no one marking up when there is a quick change of possion