Pre-Season Preparation: 5 Elements You Must Include For The Foundation Phases

For may of us, pre-season has already began.  I remember my first pre-season as a young player - plenty of running and bodyweight exercises without a ball in sight.

Ugh.  Well, being built for long distance, I didn't mind the running.  Still, nothing compared to having a ball at my feet.

Thankfully, coach education has come a long way since then and balls are now a common sight at pre-season practice.

Foundation phase pre-season has no reason to look like it does at the adult level.  Players needs are far different.

Keep it fun, keep it game-based and give the players a reason to have a smile on their face when they leave.

Unsure what that looks like?  Think back to when you was their age and what you would have liked to do in your practices.  I don't think the bleep test is likely to be in there!

We must also be aware of the players need to be ready for the start of the season.  In which case, let's be sure to include these 5 elements

 

Consider the Psycho-Social Corner

“Players should feel safe to take risks in order to grow, learn, contribute and perform effectively. You can support this through taking an interest in your players as people” - Rebecca Garlick

People first.

Football can be an all-encompassing beast.  It can be easy to view the game as the most important thing.

It isn't.  The people are.

When the team I support got relegated a few years back, one of the biggest concerns of the fan base was the people behind the scenes who would lose their jobs.

With foundation phase football, our players are at a delicate age.  One wrong move and we may lose them forever.

During their break, players will have broken up for school.  They will be spending more time at home than usual.  We are still in a pandemic which will have caused havoc with their lives.

Some are prepping to move to a new school, having spent 7 years at their previous one.  This is a big change.

With all of these things going on, you have the opportunity to be one of the few consistent factors in their life.  Use it for positivity.

Spend time speaking to players 1 on 1.  Ask them how their break has been and listen.  If they only give one word answers, see how you can tempt a bit more conversation with open-ended questions.

Ask them how they view success at Football and state how you plan to support them with this.  Their vision may be very different to yours.

 

Keep it Fun

"What is Football without Fun?" - Maurizio Sarri

Football is many things.  Above all else, regardless of age, it must be fun!  For foundation phase players, this is arguably the most important aspect.

I mean...who chooses to do anything that they don't find fun?!

A study that polled over 10,000 children aged between 8-12, asked why they play the game.  "Because it's fun" ranked in the top 3.

What must be considered is that fun is subjective.  For some, fun is seeing their friends.  For others, it's learning to become better.  Some may like playing team games, others may prefer individual activities.

You may even get the occasional child who says "push ups".  Seems unlikely though...

Have you asked what your players enjoy most about Football?  If not, use your first session back to ask them.  They'll appreciate it.

1 v 1's

"That’s the way the US won the first Women’s World Cup.  We did it by playing extraordinary 1V1 soccer and we did it by pressing for 90 minutes." - Anson Dorrance

1 v 1's are the backbone of youth football.  If our players are comfortable in 1 v 1 situations, they will never feel panicked on the ball.

Shielding, dribbling, feints, fakes, turns, running with the ball and finishing.  A variety of technical skills that are all covered in 1 v 1 practice.

And that's just from an attacking standpoint!

1 v 1's bring out the competitive element in players.  It is them against their opponent and they have no one but themselves to rely on.  A mini-tournament to finish practice and the intensity increases to help develop the players football-fitness.

Most importantly, it's a fun practice.  Players get to embrace the attacking principle of creativity.  Coaches can set the challenge of bonus points for attempting new ways to beat an opponent.  Players who are finding it too easy can even go 1 v 2.

The opportunities are endless.

1 v 1 Practices

1 v 1 to Goal - Defender in front of opponent

1 v 1 Back to Goal - Defender behind/at an angle

1 v 1 Game - Small Sided Game

Transitional 1 v 1 - Defender in front, behind, to the side and at an angle

 

Small Sided Games

"Small-number practices provide more touches, more opportunities to experiment and more similar possibilities that are repeated over and over again." - Paul Holder

As important as 1 v 1's are, they remove one of the key elements of the game - the option to pass.

That option opens up many more.  Combination play, decoy runs, following in for rebounds and pressure & cover in defence to name a few.

Small Sided Games are a staple of any foundation phase practice.  The data supports why.

More passes, more dribbling, more shots and more 1 v 1 encounters (study).

Whether our teams are playing 5 v 5, 7 v 7 or 9 v 9, the situational repetition of skills in SSG's will all occur in these formats.  So let's maximise the opportunity the players to work on them in practice.

 

Small Sided Games

6 Goal Game - Multiple scoring opportunities

Exploit the Overload - 2 v 1 situations

3 Ball Game - Transitions

Sweeper Keeper Game - Playing out from the Back

 

Arrange Friendlies

Kids like playing games.  They also enjoy putting on their jersey with their number.

Whether competing in a cup final or playing an in-house friendly with their mates, it gives them chance to emulate their footballing idols.

Friendly games give them that added opportunity to do just that.

From your point of view, it's a great way to get the players understanding the principles of play again in their full format. Any new ideas you want to implement in your season plan can also come into fruition.

A team I coached a few years back had the main focus of learning how to counter attack be a running theme throughout the seasons practices.  A pre-season friendly tournament allowed us to put some of those ideas into practice.

We sat back on goal kicks and then saw if we could create a scoring opportunity within 6 seconds of winning the ball back.

It's also a wonderful opportunity for any new players to get a feel for how match days can be.

Match days can be a nervous experience for seasoned players.  As coach's, we can provide the best environment possible to alleviate those nerves, yet we cannot control what happens before the game starts.

Some players may be riddled with nerves before a game.  Maybe a they had a bad nights sleep, are too excited, have been made to believe it's the biggest thing they've ever faced or any other reason.

Add to that the possibility of it being the brand new experience their first ever game and melt downs are a real possibility.

Giving them the chance to get that experience out of the way will do wonders for them.