Kids like nothing more than to have fun – and fun games are great for encouraging youth teams to play with flair and imagination. From the very basics to skills like stepovers and feints, these games get young players to show what they can do – and because players are under no pressure to perform, fun games will encourage them to beat their opponents and attempt outrageous passes.
Neymar makes training fun
For the younger age groups, start off with games that fire their imagination like Space Invaders, which gets young players excited and burns energy. It’s also a great way to coach dribbling, control of the ball and passing.
You can also use fun games to start off training sessions or to get players up to speed before they play a match – Tiger Tails is easy to set up and gets young players running around, changing direction and looking to see where the other players are.
Even if you coach older players, fun games are great for getting across a coaching point. Shrinking goal is a fantastic way to even up sides with a goal that shrinks or gets bigger depending on how accurate the players are with their shooting.
You can even have fun with your goalkeeper in this Sweeper keeper game, which is a fantastic way to coach playing out from the back and retaining possession using the keeper – a tactic used by most professional teams.
Finally, with the World Cup in full flow, you can get your players to pretend they are playing in a match and get them to try out this free kick that was played to perfection by England’s Paul Gascoigne and David Platt in the Italia 90 World Cup.
This is a great game since it provides a natural handicap that makes even the most unequal of teams (in terms of player skill) equal. So let your players choose their own teams, if necessary, and enjoy the game’s effect! MORE
This free kick was played to perfection by England’s Paul Gascoigne and David Platt in the Italia 90 World Cup. Gazza’s kick was taken from too far out for youth players to try and emulate, so this is our version of it. MORE
This fun game gets the keeper sweeping up any loose balls played behind the defence. It encourages playing out from defence and retaining possession using the keeper. MORE
It is a very difficult time to be coaching our players around the world. So to help you I have created the Coaching Classroom where you can download lessons to give to your players online. Here I have focused on Compactness and Penetration MORE
I was out walking on the local golf course where I live this week and in the distance I saw a child running from what seemed miles away at top speed. As the child got closer I realised that it was someone dribbling a ball. Of course on the fairways it was like being at Wembley on a well cared for football pitch! It was great to see a child enjoying dribbling a ball, chipping over the bunkers and swerving around the patches of heather that catch out an unwary golfer. MORE
At the United Soccer Coaches Digital Convention yesterday I was in the presentation by Dan Abrahams on performance of your team with well being in mind. He explored three environmental approaches and combines them to help you establish a healthy and safe coaching environment for players of all ages and levels. MORE
I'm usually high up in the sky on my way to the United Soccer Coaches convention in America at this time of the year – last year I was at the convention in Baltimore and there was loads of coaching education on offer. Yet it is still exciting to be entering the United Soccer Coaches Digital Convention 2021 on my computer in the home office. MORE
Turning with the ball has always been a skill that draws names from the great players through the ages – think of the Cruff turn or Zidane spin turn. It used to make me wonder how players like Lionel Messi, Andrés Iniesta, Zinedine Zidane or Johan Cruyff could turn their opponents inside out, game after game – I now know it needs practice and from a young age. MORE
One of the ways to improve your team in 2021 is to get them communicating on the pitch. Players do this by verbal and non verbal actions, like pointing where they want a ball to be passed or calling for the ball when overlapping from behind like a fullback running outside a winger. MORE
