U4/5 week 5 - May 28

Greetings coaches!  Thanks to those coaches who helped out at Super Soccer Saturday, a good time had by all! :)  We really appreciate your extra time spent to help on this day.

A gentle reminder to wear athletic clothing AND footwear (can be running shoes) to practice...look the part!

Teams 7-12 you have your photos this week.

Theme:  Goal tending

You know after all that telling the kids not to use their hands, now we are going to use them!!!  Preface it that one person on the pitch can use their hands...the goalie keeper!

We always pair goal keeping with shooting so this will continue to be part of our theme as well.


Warm up/Agility 
Play a game of donkey tails
Half have pinnies as tales in shorts, other half try and get as many pinnies as possible or some variation of this.

Introduce ready position. You may want to have them play a Simon Says game where you introduce this skill.

Ready position
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OzDq4HlsZMY

In partners (parent partner?) have players bowl ball to each other working on proper bowling, scooping and hugging the ball technique. You may want each pair to bowl it between an arch (as an option).  Maybe have them move to passing it back to player on their knees who then attempts to dive on the ball.  (If kids are granny bowling it that is totally fine and age appropriate).

Bowling technique (non granny style)
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xir3iUxCFfE

and scooping and locking the box  (stress this part)
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9w-WW5AkU5Q

(some of this may be above them, but they will get the idea and the videos are excellent so that you can demo the skills well!)

Soccer bowling in pairs (either use balls on top of cones or use the tall cones I will have more at the field) however this time they are bowling with hands not feet.

Swamps and Crocs: have a player go in goal if they want.
This time practice throwing it over the swamp to parent, parent rolls it back.  Players try and score on net defended by player.  (see last weeks post for more details on crocs and swamps)
or
4 goal shooting.  Except have kids go in goal, have parents and kids not in goal try to score on kids, then switch up goalies so everyone gets to shoot and everyone (who wants to) gets to go in goal. (see last week for more details)

Nuts and Squirrels:  play one round of passing with hands back to house and one round of passing back with feet.  Have parents help with each house.

(can be found in Active Start plans session 1)
15 x 15 grid - 4 small goals or "hoarding areas/trees" on sides or corners of grid.....all balls (nuts) in middle of grid.  Kids (squirrels) in pairs or 3's depending on numbers in each goal/hoarding area.  Coach shouts "go" players take turns running into the middle and dribbling back a ball back hoarding area (trying to get as many nuts as they can), when there are no balls left in the middle coach yells "steal" or something else appropriate and then they may try and steal nuts from anywhere (other hoarding areas).  No defending the nuts!

Chain Soccer
Set up a small grid, depending on number of players. Separate players/parents into 2 teams. Number players 1,2,3,4,5 etc. Call out a number. That numbered player/parent combo from each team enters into the field to challenge for the ball. Players try to score on opposing side while defending their own side. Parents and players not called can act as goalies on their side.

Games, cheers & snacks!