The main idea behind playing youth soccer is for the children who participate to have fun. One of the best ways to do this is to give the youngsters fun drills and games that will help them build their skill level and improve consistently. It's best to change the drills fairly quickly so you keep the interest level high.
Relay Drill
Divide your team into three groups of five. Set up three sets of five cones just past midfield. On your whistle, have the first player from each group dribble to the right of the first cone, the left of the second, the right of the third and continue in this manner until she is done with the fifth cone. Dribble the ball straight back to midfield where the second teammate takes over and does the same drill. Do this until all five players have completed the drill. The team that completes the drill the fastest wins.
Circle Drill
Have six players make a circle around one player. This drill is designed to help players receive and deliver passes with accuracy and speed. The player in the middle has to deliver the ball to one of her teammates. That teammate will pass back to her and she must receive the ball, then deliver an accurate pass to a different teammate. The player in the middle stays there until she delivers an inaccurate pass or fails to receive a teammate's good pass cleanly.
Shooting Accuracy
Set up three cones at the lower left corner of the net and three at the lower right corner. Put the ball in front of the goal about 15 yards out. The idea is to take six shots and to see how many cones the shooter can knock down. Six out of six would be spectacular. For youngsters playing the game, knocking down three cones would be an excellent result.
