Jeff Bennett's Blog

Soccer has become one of “America’s”games. I played back in the “Pele era” when I was a schoolboy but it was hardly popular back then. Now it seems in the “Beckham era” everyone in the grammar schools is required to play soccer. This is great as Soccer is a wonderful game that most kids can learn and play. I should say they can learn to play if the coaching is up to the task which brings me to the point of this blog. How do we teach U6 (kids under 6 years of age) to play this game of soccer? I think it is key that any soccer program for this age really focuses on FUN and KEEPING IT SIMPLE. Some rules of thumb that I follow:

1. Coach small groups of six to eight players.

2. Everyone has a ball and it is important to get all the players moving, dribbling and kicking. Stress kicking with inside of foot and top of foot.

3. Keep it positive but instill there are some NO’s in Soccer: No use of hands, no tripping, no pushing, no hitting other players.

4. The field has lines and the game must be played inside the lines.

5. There are two goals on the field. One goal is for us to shoot on where we score. The second goal is for the other team to shoot on and we need to keep the ball out of this net.

6. Basic positions that include “attackers” that try to score, “defenders” that protect our end of the field and “goalie” that protects the goal and stops the other teams shots.

7. Make it fun and positive all the time for this is what it is all about.

Focusing on these seven items keeps it simple and starts to lay the foundation for learning the game while having fun. Even with this approach there is no getting around the scrum that will always occur in any U6 scrimmage…you know when all the kids are all jumbled up around the ball until it spurts out and then all the kids chase it down. This can not be avoided to some degree but the goal is to at least put in place a foundation for learning and having fun with the game.

A great Soccer coaching resource is SoccerHelp.Com Web Site which is a resource for coaches of Soccer at all levels. SoccerHelp has been acclaimed one of “Soccer Coaches Best Sites.”

Links related to this blog:

Mass Youth Soccer Web Site