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Message: [QUOTE="Phillymoose, post: 594469, member: 254"] I have extensive playing and coaching experience and my daughter plays at the highest levels of soccer in SoCal at the U12 (U13 in the fall) age group - and I don't just watch practice - I study what her coaches are doing out of my own interest and for edification. Everyone here has great suggestions -and certainly it matters if this is a highly competitive team or just rec (although - no offense, if it was highly competitive - you wouldn't be coaching nor asking for help), but the one thing I would emphasize in addition to the other suggestions is short sided games. Set up pop-up goals on a small field and let them play 3 v 3 or 4 v 4. This will do the following: 1) dramatically increase the # of touches on the ball for every kid 2) force the kids to work in limited space and have a good first touch on the ball 3) get them to think about the field 'locally' 4) get them playing faster - which will slow the game down a bit when they get on the big field 5) give you immediate feedback on your team's pecking order 6) is really, really fun for the kids. This will not tell you who has the best shot or the most speed, but it will tell you who the soccer players are. If the kids are relatively advanced/skilled, I would also break them into teams (of maybe 6 per team) and use half a game field as the boundaries. Tell them that the team that completes X number of passes in a row to teammates will earn a point. This game is just 'keep away' - but it will get the kids moving into space and supporting teammates. It will also help first touch on the ball and teach the kids to always be anticipating the next pass. As they improve, you can increase X (the number of passes required to earn a point). This is also an excellent measuring stick of your team's progress. If X = 3 at the beginning of the season, and it is 5 or 6 by season's end, consider it a job well done. I wouldn't care one iota about game results (if it is rec), although some of the parents might - but teach the kids the fundamentals. As for the real technical stuff. How to trap and shoot etc. there are gazillions of youtube videos with the how to's. [/QUOTE]

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