Fun Soccer Games - 12 to 15 Year Olds

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If there is one age group that can cause the most hassle for a coach it's teenagers. Suddenly the sweet-natured little tykes have become hormone-driven monsters!

It's a crucial time for youngsters in their development as soccer players, not to mention human beings. If you want to instil in them a lifelong love of the game and respect for themselves and their teammates, then how you manage them at training is vital.

They may be older, and I'm sure they will argue they're wiser, but teenagers still want to have fun. And that's the common element of all the games in Fun Soccer Games for 12 to 15 Year Olds.

I'm Keith Boanas, an English Football Association Coach Educator and Head Coach for Surrey County Football Association.

Working with coaches on a regular basis, I know that keeping players involved and enjoying themselves is essential if you want them coming back. Young teenagers may try and assert their independence (or just try and annoy their parents!) by skipping coaching sessions.

So by making the games entertaining and fun, players are far more likely to keep coming back to training sessions every week.

My new coaching book, Fun Soccer Games for 12 to 15 Year Olds features all my favourite and most successful soccer coaching games.

I'm confident they will engage the most moody and disruptive of teenagers. My games will not only increase the core skills of your players, but they will also get them working together and thinking tactically... essential skills on the pitch and off it.

Drills vs Games

Have you ever tried to run a drill for a group of teenagers? Did it go well?

I doubt it.

You see, they're called drills for a reason. In today's age of Xbox's and 3D TV, how many teenagers are going to want to spend an hour passing a ball back and forth in a straight line?

You will be lucky if you can run a drill for five minutes before their interest has disappeared completely.

Start your session by telling your players that you are going to do some technical drills and it will probably go something like this:

"We are going to do some passing drills today"

A hand shoots up from one of your players.

"When are we going to play a game???"

"Not yet, we've got to do these drills first"

"Aww, coach!"

If they don't have fun, they won't come back

Players view drills for exactly what they are, boring and monotonous. If you keep running drills not only will you lose your player's interest, ultimately, you will lose your players. No player – especially a teenager – is going to come to your sessions week after week if they are not having fun.

So, how do you overcome this? The answer is simple, play games.

What can Fun Soccer Games for 12 to 15 Year Olds do for your players?

Teach basic soccer skills
Let them have fun
Engage them
Educate
Promote teamwork
Fire their creativity
Keep them coming back

Let's look at each of these:

Teach basic soccer skills

Games are the best way to teach a range of basic soccer skills. In Fun Soccer Games for 12 to 15 Year Olds I have covered all of the basic skills such as passing, shooting, dribbling, heading and even goalkeeping.

Let them have fun

Above all else, players want to have fun. That's why the soccer authorities in the UK and United States back the idea of teaching soccer through games.

Games are fun which is why we continue to play them well into adulthood. Top soccer matches are still games, they've just developed a more competitive, and commercial, edge.

Engage them

How do you get a youngster to buy into your games? Make them engaging.

The games in Fun Soccer Games for 12 to 15 Year Olds are based on things that every youngster can relate to, with fun themed games such as Bend it like Becks and It's behind you plus a host of other ideas.

Educate

Games can educate your players beyond the learning of basic soccer skills. My games are based on simple sets of rules and educate players in simple ideas such as right and wrong. They are introduced in a fun environment and with achievable, desirable objectives.

Introduce teamwork and competition

Young kids can be selfish, they're not always keen to share their toys and they strive to achieve objectives independently.

But by the age of 12 children are aware of the benefits of working together to win and this needs to be developed by the coach.

Fun Soccer Games for 12 to 15 Year Olds introduces teamwork in a variety of ways.

Working independently.
Working in pairs.
Working as a group to win!

Fire their creativity

I've used these games over and over again and I know that they work. However, I'm never afraid to make changes, to the rules, to the playing area, or even to the premise of the game.

If your players would rather be a fighter pilot than a spaceman, go for it. Based around a simple set of rules the youngsters can put whatever spin they like on each game. If they want to be medieval jousters, that's not a problem.

You can even let them change the rules. It's a case of how would they like to play the game as much as how should they play the game.

Keep them coming back

If teenagers play a game and enjoy it you can be sure they'll want to keep on playing - ever played peek-a-boo with a baby? Ever seen a baby get bored of it? OK, so there's a big difference between babies and teenagers, but the principle is the same. Your teenagers are going to latch on to these games and want to play them over and over again.

You don't need to introduce endless variety. Ask the teenagers what game they want to play and off you go. They'll be back week after week, there's a big difference between consistent fun and monotony.

The Games

Tunnel Vision – improve central attacking and defending.

Pick Pockets – improve running with the ball and dribbling.

Spin to Win – the striker starting with his back to goal, learns one or no touch turn and shoot. Includes passing into the feet of the striker.

Shoot on Sight – improve shooting accuracy/power plus support play and follow ups.

Magic Number – create a fun 1v1, 2v2 up to 3v3 competition for attackers and defenders plus the goalkeeper. A good game for smaller groups or strikers and central defenders.

Sweeper Keeper – encourage playing out from defence/retaining possession using the keeper.

Pin it to Win it – improve defending and pressure in groups of three (e.g. front three or unit, and fitness).

Safety Box – encourage use of wide defenders and width in attack to get ball forward and deliver crosses.

Connect Four – combining and passing from end to end to score.

Triple Whammy – close range finishing, one touch and quick play, reacting to loose ball/follow ups, bravery.

It's Behind You – defenders dealing with a ball that is played into the space behind them.

Bend it like Becks – encourage trick shots, swerving, lobs and chip shots.

Inside/Out – teach some understanding about defending to the inside or outside and why.

Prison Break – possession play and counter attack.

Pin Point – passing and shooting low and accurately.

Age specific coaching

The English Football Association recognised the need to introduce soccer to youngsters in a way that is fun and specific to their age requirements and introduced new Youth Modules to address this important age of learning which I highly recommend. This book should be a complement to them.

Similarly, in the United States there is the National Youth License which works towards the same goal of age specific coaching.

Both groups stress the importance of teaching players to:

Become technically competent with both feet.
Control the ball effectively in a variety of different situations
And all players should:

Be comfortable in possession
Understand that incisive forward passing, at the right time, leads to goal scoring opportunities.
 

Easy to Use – Simple to Understand

Fun Soccer Games for 12 to 15 Year Olds has been designed to be as easy to use and understand as possible.

Set Up - Showing everything you'll need to run the game, from the suggested number of players, to the size of the area, and the number of balls and cones.

Main Objectives - What is the game principally teaching? Passing, dribbling, heading, and so on.

The Rules - Who goes where, how to score a point, who wins. This section has everything you need to know to keep the game running.

What To Call Out - Never be lost for words with these concise phrases to address the key factors of each game and to boost your player's confidence.

Progressions - Ways to adapt and develop the game to suit your players.

Hint - That little bit of advice. These hints are not key to the game but they'll make your life a little bit easier.

Difficulty - Indicating the relative difficulty of game. Choose from easy, medium and hard. Even new coaches will find them easy to run.

Key - Making sure you can differentiate between runs and passes, and pitch markings in the illustrations.

Illustrations - Three pictures clearly show how the game is set up and developed, and roughly how it should unfold as you play it.

Captions - Explaining the key points of the game.

Special Bonus – 25 Top Tips Collected in 30 Years of Coaching

Managing a group of young teenagers is a difficult task at the best of times, and particularly hard if you are new to coaching.

However, there are small steps you can take that will improve your confidence speaking to teenagers, help you to get and retain their attention, create a safe and fun environment and make sure that the game is enjoyed by all of your players.

To accompany each of the 25 games in the book I've written down hints and tips that I've picked up in my 30 years as a coach.

These are not essays on mastering the art of coaching, but short, sharp insights that you can easily digest and make an instant difference to how you handle your team.

For example:

Essential Tips for Coaching Young teenagers: "Use and encourage humour but take care to avoid overuse of jargon. Remember, what adults see as funny, teenagers may not"

These short sharp tips will help you tiptoe through the potential minefield that is youth soccer coaching. In the example above it's far too easy to offend a child or their family by giving them a nickname. They have a perfectly good name already, so why risk causing offence?

What coaches are saying about Fun Soccer Games for 12 to 15 Year Olds

"I have printed the manual off and put it into a plastic presenter which I keep in my kit bag but usually struggle to find it due to other club coaches "borrowing" it to get some ideas for their sessions.

The best thing is it didn't cost me anything, I took it to a managers meeting to show another coach how good it is and the Club Treasurer saw it and immediately gave the money for it from Club funds he was so impressed."

Andy Spence, Brandlesholme Warriors JFC, England

 

"Fun Soccer Games for 12 to 15 Year Olds has helped me to be more organised preparing for the weekly session and the boys have had great fun with the games.

They love to play Pin It To Win It because the defenders can press and if they win the ball they have the opportunity to score themselves. They haven't stopped asking to play Safety Box since we first played it.

Not only does the book give me some great games to play (saving me a lot of time), but the front of the book also provides coaches with some fantastic tips."

Jon Loveridge, Walpole Lions FC, UK

"Fun Soccer Games for 12 to 15 Years Old is brilliant!! Great variety, graphic illustrations and clear explanations, with progressions as well, gives any coach a wealth of training activities that will enhance player development and team performance.

No more wondering what else you can do to improve your players, just open the book and find your answers right there. You will not be disappointed with this book! "

Terry Michler, CBC High School, USA

Fun Soccer Games for 12 to 15 Year Olds is packed with great games presented in an easy to understand format. All with an end result. The boys' latest favourite is "It's behind you" which gets very competitive! It has also improved the defensive partnerships in a very short space of time."

Russell Bulgin, Toton FC, England

 
 
"Fun Soccer Games for 12 to 15 Year Olds is a fantastic coaching manual. Well organised, with a variety of games, very flexible and adaptable for coaching adults (which was my case). Often I was stuck for ideas how to design a certain session or how to illustrate a certain aspect of the game and this is where this book helped me!."

Mihail Chompalov, UK

 
"The manual is clearly structured, its index helpful in narrowing down choices, and the game descriptions and illustrations very easy to follow. Many of the games are also easily adaptable to smaller groups."

- Raúl Escalante, Idea Futbol, Mexico