BYSA U8 Spring 2024

Week 1

Practice Plan and Objectives:

1. 1. Introduce yourself to all of the players.  

   1. Greet each player individually as they arrive. Ask to shake their hand or high-five.

   2. FUNdamental Skills (Majority of practice should be 1:1 Player to Ball ratio)

      1. 90% of Coaching Focus is on ATTACKING Principles

         1. Dribbling 

            1. Laces (top of the foot)- push the ball forward and run

            2. Sole (bottom of the foot)- rolling the ball in either direction

            3. Inside of Foot

         2. Ball Control

            1. Inside of Foot- turning the ball

            2. Sole (bottom of the foot)- stopping the ball

         3. Shooting and Passing

            1. Laces

            2. Inside of Foot- more for placement shooting while running; most children at this age still have trouble physically opening their hips to pass the ball with the inside of their foot.

   Practice - 60 minutes

   1. 5-10 Minutes- Warm Up with Funny Turns

      1. Helps with learning names

      2. Make it FUN! Do the first turn yourself as a demo- be funny!

      3. Introduce the parts of the foot

         1. Laces to dribble outside of the circle

         2. Inside of the foot and sole to turn the ball and stop the ball

         3. Teach the Pull-Back

    

   WATER BREAK

    

   2. 10-12 Minutes- Find the Color

      1. Reinforce the different turns and parts of the foot from Funny Turns 

      2. Rename each area after doing colors for a bit

         1. Ex. Bluey for Blue, Bingo for Orange, Rusty for Red….

      3. Give two colors or two areas at a time to make it more challenging 

    

   WATER BREAK

    

   3. 10-12 Minutes- Play the Game! 

      1. 5v5 to 6v6,, depending on the number of children at practice

         1. Okay to have uneven numbers, like 5v6 or 5v4, etc. 

         2. Use big goal if possible and rotate players to try out Goalkeeper position

         3. When the ball is out of play, teach throw-ins, goal-kicks, corner-kicks

      2. Coach the players with the ball on dribbling, turning, and stopping the ball 

         1. Reinforce the sole and inside of the foot to control the ball and stop the ball before it goes out of bounds.

         2. Laces to dribble into space