Wow, today was an exciting and tiring day. It felt great to be back out on the field, and it was different to be a coach instead of a player this time.
We started with a team meeting, where the team manager and I discussed the goals of the season, my coaching philosophy, our upcoming tournament, and the season's budget. Then I took the players and started what would be a short and fun practice.
First, I showed the team how I wanted them to warm up before each practice and game. I explained that this was part of the discipline I wanted to instill in the team. The warmup involved team running and stretching, and it was pretty how much my team always warmed up when I was growing up.
Next, I did a short exercise where we all introduced ourselves, so the team could get to know one another. After this, we moved to game action--keep away with offensive-minded players against defensive-minded players. After about ten minutes of that, I put together teams with equal amounts of offensive and defensive players and had them play keep away. What I quickly learned was that to 8 and 9 year olds, keep away means pass it to the best player and let him dribble. The kids also bunched up way too easily and there was no room to play. So I changed the game a little bit to encourage wider play.
I played a drill I call "Channels." In this drill, I set up a big enough field for them to play a small-sided game. I think I used 30x30 dimensions. Then, I set up about a 5 foot wide channel on both sidelines. I put a player from each team in each of the channels on the sidelines. So, for example, today we had 10 players at practice, and were playing 5v5. I took two players from each team and put them in channels on opposite ends of the field. Their teammates would then play 3v3. The rules were simple--before a team could score they had to have their teammates in each channel touch the ball. The players in the channels are untouchable and cannot be challenged, so they have time to find good passes. This drill was a little advanced for this age group, but it still got the players to play wider and opened up the play a bit. I think I'll try it again next practice and see if the kids will develop better wide play.
Another problem with this team is that some of the kids want to try passes they are not capable of completing yet. Basically any pass over 10 yards is impossible, at least without the opponent intercepting it. This makes wanting to play wider a bit more difficult, but I think the players began to understand that you can string together several short passes to complete one "long" pass.
We ended practice with a nice "1, 2, 3, Lyon FC" chant and off the players went. Our next practice is Thursday, and I'll post another update then.
If you have any ideas for drills for my team, I'd love to hear them. I'm open to any ideas.
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