coachKidsSports.com

Competition helps people figure it out. Brian McBride

OK coach, the soccer season is about to start, do you know what you're practicing this year?  Even if you have decided on the one or two fundamentals you will concentrate on this season and have a few drills planned, a couple extra ideas can't hurt.

About a month ago I came across a website where you can find a couple of those ideas.  The site is www.WorldClassCoaching.com .  Although it is primarily written for advanced level soccer teams, it still has several areas suitable for recreational teams.  

The discussion board has several interesting topics and, most importantly, it's frequently updated.  Out of the 30 active topics on the first page (out of 67 pages!), all have activity within the past two weeks, most within the last two days.  If you post an issue, someone is going to see it quickly.

You can find some great training ideas in their training sessions archive.  The drills are broken into three levels with the first level appropriate for the youngest and least experienced players.  I found some of the Level 1 drills to be a little advanced for the youngest players because they involved several steps.  But it is possible to take out some great ideas to build age appropriate games if you find the kids have trouble following the steps.

About three weeks ago I signed up for three of the free newsletters they offer.  A few times a week I get an email with a new drill.  Today's was a 4v4v4 passing game that would be great for a 10-12 year old team.  Two of the teams pair up basically to play keep away from the third team.  When the defenders gain possession, they switch with the team of the player who made the give away.  This drill could scale down to 2 or 3 on a team and to a 20' or 30' square from the recommended 40'.

Another drill was a three sided passing drill.  The three players start in a triangle, player 1 passed to a player and runs between the other two players.  The player with the ball passes to the remaining player and runs between where player 1 is now and the remaining player.  The trio repeats this moving the triangle down the field.  I'm sure you can see how you can add to this drill as the kids improve.  Limit the touches a player has before making a pass or break out the stopwatch and see who can set the record.

Both of those drills are from the WorldClassCoaching.com email newsletter.  I have to wade through a few sales pitches for training sessions, DVDs and books, but that's why I love my scroll wheel mouse…

Are there any resources you've found with interesting practice drills or games?  Share them in the comments.