Soccer Drills for Kids

Over the past few years, perhaps no sport has grown as quickly in participation as soccer. This is especially true for games played by young people and children. If you have a child who is interested in soccer or are a coach, you will be well served in learning drills that can help your children achieve success in this highly competitive sport.

When dealing with children, it is imperative that the kids enjoy the practice for them to get the maximum benefit from it. With that in mind, the following drills are aimed at keeping children interested, as well as getting them in proper shape to play the game.

When practicing, it is important that each and every child touch the ball as much as possible. Most children have short attention spans, and interacting with them as much as possible will help them stay focused. It is important to avoid drills that reward the stronger players, and punish the weaker children. There is no better way to quickly alienate some of the weaker kids, some of whom may yet turn out to have the most talent. Make sure your drills and practice games are simple and easy to explain. Find the drills and games that the kids enjoy, and keep doing them. Weed out the drills that seem like drudgery to the kids and you'll keep their focus intact. Also, make sure the drills you come up with reflect real-game situations, in order to get the most out of your workouts.

Drill For Kids

One drill that is common and entertaining for kids is “hit the coach.” Each player has a ball in an inbound area. Cones or other dividers mark the boundaries and the smaller the child, the smaller the area should be. When the game starts, the children dribble the ball in their area, and try to hit the coach, who runs around the field trying to avoid being hit. After the coach has been tagged 5 times, the coach will make an animal noise selected by the child who made the last hit.

This game works for as few as two to three kids, and for as many as can fit onto the field. It teaches kids to dribble, how to keep their heads up to avoid running into other players, and to be able to hit the coach. This game is an excellent beginning to a practice since most kids love the game.

Try this, as well as coming up with games of your own, to keep kids interested, and as a way to develop needed skills at the same time.