Coaching Tips for U5
- Have fun!
- Encourage kids to not use their hands - REMEMBER, no hands in soccer!!!
- 60 minute practices are long for this group. 35–45 minute practices are ok - make sure to communicate this with your parents right off the bat and they will be fine with this too.
- Keep things moving quickly - plan extra games/ drills so if something is not working, you can switch it up quickly!
- Try to avoid drills with line-ups/ waiting at with this age group
- Try to use drills that require EACH player to have a ball at their feet.
- Make sure parents stick around for this age group. There are often bathroom emergencies and tears....
Warm Up Ideas (Approximately first 10 minutes)
Fun and silly games that get kids running are a great way to start practice! Start off with warm-ups that focus on running and not on ball skill development. Modify warm-ups to include a ball as the season progresses/ as your kids are ready.
Follow the Leader: lots of versions - run in different ways around the "pitch" to learn about lines and "in" and "out" spaces. Choose an animal and make the moves and the sounds. Participate in fun relays.
Chase: One of my kids' favourite warm-ups last year was chase. I bought a giant foam Frisbee at the dollar store. I would throw it, and they would run until all the kids had reached the Frisbee. I would call out a body part, and they would all put their "elbows" on the Frisbee. When I caught up, I would yell another body part, and they would chase it again. Great cardio to get warm. Variation - body parts on a ball.
Tag - so many fun variations to play for warm-up! Frozen, Blob, Toilet, Race Car, Dead Cow, the possibilities are endless. Playing boundary tag, so kids learn where the lines on the field are, is also a great learning to reinforce.
Stretching is an important part of any sport. I always take a water break and stretch, even with U5s. Just keep the stretches simple and quick.
Listening and Learning the Rules (Approximately 10 minutes)
Learning to listen to a coach, respect other players, and learn basic rules of the game is an important aspect of U5 soccer. Teaching these pieces in quick, active ways, repeatedly each week, will help develop this area for your kids.
Playing "Simon Says" or "Coach Says", is a great way to review soccer rules/ learn the names of team members. You can progress from doing "Coach Says" pieces with no ball, to adding toe touches, kicks etc. as the season progresses. For example, Coach says: toss ball, feet on ball, bum on ball, kick ball etc.
Red Light: variation on this is for the coach to hold coloured cones in hand and run with kids dribbling to follow them. Red cone means stop, yellow means slow down, green means go fast and blue (yes, I add a cone) is disco cone and kids stop and do their favourite dance move on the field.
Developing Skills/Drills
There are so many fun ways to develop skills in U5 players. Remember, playing competitive games is NOT the goal for this age group. Exercise, fun, and gross motor movements are the primary goals. Introductory, or foundational skill development, is a secondary focus.
Footy 4 Kids has a great section for very young players. This is a great place to find quick drill ideas.
There are also good U5 soccer drills on Soccer Coach Weekly Be mindful that some of these drills will be too complicated and may need modified to be accessible for your U5s. I would recommend these drills for later in the season.
