Soccer is a game that everyone can enjoy, it teaches teamwork, skill, and dedication. And the earlier your budding soccer-stars start learning, the more proficient they’ll become.
The thing to remember when it comes to coaching children of this age is that it’s really more about participation and fun than it is genuine skill and technique.
You should see this type of training as the stepping stone that get’s them ready for football practice. Because of this, it really doesn’t matter all that much if you skilled at the game yourself.
It’s a lot more important that you have a pretty positive attitude, plenty of patience, and don’t mind getting a little silly and goofy during practice.
With your help, the children will start to begin the very basic concepts, boost their confidence, and have a whole lot of fun doing so (if you want to enocourage more soccer-based play, check out our Airpower Soccer Disc Review).
So, let’s get straight to it.
Setting Up Practice
At this age, you really only need one practice a week and it shouldn’t really last more than 30 minutes. We all know that 5-year olds aren’t exactly known for their long attention spans.
Much longer that 30 minutes, and you’ll lose their attention and focus, and that can be when things start to get a little more difficult as behaviour starts to fluctuate.
Which day you choose will depend on when is best for you and the other parents. I would advise sending round a questionare to other parents. Obviously, you’ll never find a spot that works best for everyone but you want to pick a time that fits the majority.
Once this is done, you can hold your first meeting or practice. This should really be mostly based around introductions. Meet the kids, the parents. Let the adults know what is required and where you might need help.
Then finally set a list of must-haves for practice such as soccer boots, shin guards, water bottles etc.
Practices
This is the part where you might be a little nervous, but you really don’t need to be. Like I said before, you’re not expected to produce soccer players that can do all manner of tricks. It’s little kids, so it’s just about runnin, kicking balls, and having fun.
Rather than focusing on soccer itself or the rules of the game, we’re instead focusing on all the basic concepts and the foundation blocks for the game. You should be teaching things such as communication, coordination, and pace.
You’ll do this through a variety of fun games, that almost secretly teach the children these skills while they are having fun. Let’s take a look at a few drills you can use during practice.
Drill One – Toe Taps
Each player will place their soccer ball in front of their feet. You’ll ask them to tap the top of the ball with the sole of their left foot, and then their right. Ask them to keep doing this and add faster rounds as you go on.
This drill helps to get players a little more familiar and comfortable with the ball while it is still in one place. This will actually really help to increase their control with the ball.
Drill Two – Foundations
We’re keeping things fairly similar with this drill, we’re just changing the movement. Players will start with their ball in front of their feet. You’ll then get them to move the ball back and forth using the inside of their foot.
Again you can then start to increase the speed in which this is done.
Remember to encourage bent knees and heads up as this will help them with ball placement. Again this helps to achieve better control and coordination with the ball.
Drill Three – Inside/Outside Touch
Once your little soccer stars start to get comfortable and confident using the inside of their foot, you can then move your focus to the outside of thei foot. This will be beneficial for your players as it teaches them to increase their momentum and win battles on the pitch.
The players will begin with a ball inbetween their feet and navigating between some cones. They’ll need too use the inside and outside of their foot to do so. You could have fun little forfeits for when the ball touches the cone to keep the little ones entertained.
Drill Four – Start & Stopping (Dribbling)
Dribbling is obviously a very important part of soccer, and it’s easy to teach too. You’ll want to place two cones around five yards apart. Players must then dribble the ball from one cone and then try to stop the ball as close to the second cone as possible.
This will really help to develop their movement with the ball and their ability to control the ball. Once they have this down, you can make it harder for them by making them keep their heads ip or to dribble faster.
Final Thoughts
Teaching soccer to five year olds really doesn’t have to be all that difficult. If anything it should be a barrel of laughs where everybody is having lots of fun.
As you can see, there are tons of different drills that you can use for children of this age that will subconsciously teach them all those very important and much needed skills for the game.
But overall, coaching is a very rewarding process. If you’re considering doing so, you should definitely take the jump! You’ll absolutely adore it. From this article, you should also have a much better understanding of how to go about it.
So what are you waiting for? Get researching who in your local area would be interested in signing their little ones up for some soccer lessons and get teaching. And who knows, you might have the next Ronaldo or Messi amongst your midst.
Soccer is the most popular sport played and watched in the world, yet it is one rarely talked about in the United States. Why is this?
Hi, my name is Adrian Turner and I am a self-proclaimed soccer head.
Since I was young, I have always been fascinated by soccer, and any of the games I could find on the TV channels. There weren’t many games broadcast, so thankfully I could find more on the internet as I grew up.
I turned all of my friends onto soccer and we’d play into the evenings after school.
