U4 Game for a Soccer Coach - 'animal hunt'
As a soccer coach you will appreciate how fun this U4 drill can be for young players.
Preparation
You will need a marked out area not too large to keep the kids close to you. The kids will need a soccer ball each and you will need to explain to them that they are in the jungle looking for wild animals!
Explanation
So the kids have a soccer ball at their feet and you have told them that they must dribble the soccer ball toward the animal noise they hear. The animals will be four willing parents. Ask four parents to each stand on a seperate corner of the marked out area. Tell each parent what animal noise they will need to make. For example, you could have a monkey, lion, bear and an elephant.
As a soccer coach you will talk to the young kids and say "now it is time to go find the elephant". The parent will then make an elephant noise (and hopefully make a trunk with their arm) and the kids will dribble their soccer ball toward them.
Progression
To make this soccer drill more fun get the kids to do the animal impressions too. You could also get the kids to bring in cuddly toys of animals that the parents will hold up. If you want to win the kids over sit them all down for 2 minutes at the start of the session and talk about their favourite animals and be really enthusiastic.
Coaching Points
-> Don't let the kids put their hands on the soccer ball
-> See if the kids can change direction by placing the bottom of their foot on the ball and rolling it behind them. This will eventually turn into the drag-back turn. Do this step by step with them!
-> Get the kids to say with you 'oh no big toe' to encourage them not to use their toes to dribble the ball.
