Coaching small sided games for Under 8s

The last 6 weeks I have been running a Soccer Summer School (I am in Australia8-)) and have been looking after a group of 8 year olds. Normally there are upwards of 12 players, both boys and girls.
What I have discovered is the amazing development the players make, even at this age, playing small sided games.
With 8 year olds players I tend to have 3 a side on a 40 by 30 yard pitch. I try and encourage the teams to play to a simple formation, which is a 1-2 formation when attacking ( one sweeper, 2 attackers) and a 2-1 formation when defending. This simple game has great benefits to the learning of players at this age because of the amount of space available and the number of touches that each player has. Without really knowing it these game teach the players the concept of width and depth, albeit in a simple way.
During the course of a game, I generally stop the game to explain a coaching point, but limit the number of times that I stop the game, because at this age, players will learn from just playing. The coaching points that I teach are generally quite simple ones and generally revolve around decision making and how to make that decision.

We are lucky enough out our club to have a number of Pugg goals, which make the games even more fun as the players actually kick the ball into a net. There is the added bonus of not having to dispute if a gaol was scored , which often happens when using cones or other markers for goals.


In any training session, try and incorporate a Small Sided Game for at least 30 minutes, and if combined with skills sessions (Click Here=> to see my review on Coerver Coaching System ) and the Principles of Play, your team will develop a Winning Formula

TheSoccerHelper