Coaching Soccer to pre-school children is something that I find a bit of a challenge. Not so much because at this age, the emphasis has to be on fun and enjoyment – after all this is fun for all involved, including the coach and the parents watching – but more because of the soccer coach having to find interesting, constructive ways to keep the youngster’s attention from wondering too much.
As you can imagine, pre-school children between the ages of 3 -5 have a different set of requirements than say even 5 – 7 year olds. This is because typically, players of pre-school age have come into soccer (or any other sport for that matter) not of their own choice. So making the soccer training experience a fun and enjoyable one is a very important aspect of soccer coach’s method of coaching soccer to children of this early age.
But there still needs to be some form of structured learning practices included for the children to learn the game of soccer, and simple ones I find work best. For example the well known Traffic lights game (where different coloured cones –red, yellow, green are held up by the soccer coach for distinct skills to be executed) is a great way for the children to learn the basics of looking up to see what is around them.
Also, placing various parts of the body on the ball at various intervals (left, right foot, knee, elbow, head!) at various intervals reinforces the same thing with the advantage of having them have numerous touches of the ball.
For more information on more specific soccer coaching techniques click here.
The “soccer parents” watching also enjoy this type of fun related soccer training, with the added advantage of taking away some ideas to practice with future football stars in the back garden! Including a soccer match towards the end of a practice session is a must for these young soccer players as it is probably the most fun they can have as far as they are concerned. At this level, I am quite happy to let the game flow and see how the children develop with minimum intervention.
Tags: kids soccer, soccer, soccer coach, soccer coaching, soccer parents
