One of your jobs as a youth soccer coach is to come up with some preschool soccer drills that will teach your players some fundamental skills. These are the skills that you will develop throughout the season. Regardless of how far your children go in the game of soccer, it is their understanding of the fundamentals that will determine the amount of success they enjoy.
These are just a couple of examples of the types of preschool soccer drills that you can use in your youth soccer practices.
Sharks and fish
This soccer drill teaches young players not only how to move with the ball, but it also gives them great practice in keeping the ball under control.
Start this game by choosing one of your players to be the shark. All the other players are the fish. Have the fish line up on one side of the play area with their balls and let the shark roam freely within the field (without a ball).
When you blow your whistle, have all the fish try to move from one side of the field to the other with your ball. The shark will try to steal or hit the ball away from the fish as they swim past. When all the players have crossed the field or lost their ball, the round ends. All the players who lost their balls become sharks for the next round.
The game continues until all the fish turn into sharks. The winner is the last player to maintain control of his ball. The winner becomes the shark of the next game.
Steal the bacon
Steal the Bacon is a classic game that teaches aggressive play and winning fumbles.
Divide your team into two groups. To get the most out of this exercise, the two groups should be matched equally. Assign a different number for the players in each group. Again, try to match the skills of the players with the person in the other group. For example, player n. 1 in group A and player no. 1 in group B should be players with similar abilities.
Have the two groups line up next to each other on opposite sides of the field. You will start the drill by throwing the ball into the middle of the field and calling out a number. Players whose number is called will run to the ball and try to win it. Once they gain possession, they will dribble across the field and attempt to throw the ball into goal.
The player who cannot win the ball initially becomes a defender and tries to prevent the ball handler from scoring. If they can steal the ball, they must dribble towards their own goal and score. The round continues until one player scores. If neither team can score, you can call a second number and two more players will join their teammates to help.
As the game progresses, you can start the round by calling more than one number, so you will have multiple people from each team participating in the drill.
Preschool soccer drills are a great way to let your players have fun, while at the same time developing their foundational skills.