Congrats on getting involved in coaching kids soccer! In this post we will discuss what you can use as a soccer drill for 5 year olds. Many dads sign up to coach their kids soccer team because it will allow them to spend more time with their kid. You can also create lasting memories and get a little physical fitness yourself. Even if you’re not a dad, welcome to The Dad Matters.
As exciting as it is to become a coach, coaching a soccer team can be a little overwhelming. Maybe you haven’t played soccer in years… or ever. If that’s the case, don’t worry, most of these kids are not going to care if they are learning the right drills or not. Most of them won’t remember the drills anyway. These soccer drills will also be considered games that a kid can play with a soccer ball. They will just be ways for kids to learn how to use their bodies.
Here is how this article is going to be laid out:
- Understanding goals for soccer at this age
- Creating a clear team vision
- Tips for a soccer coach to keep in mind
- List of soccer drills for 5 year olds
Let’s get started!
Goals for soccer at this age
Many of these kids will be playing soccer for the first time. Maybe they come from a family of soccer players. Perhaps they watch it on tv every week. But, many times parents are going to put their kids into soccer because it’s their first foray into a team sport.
All of that is to say, you are going to have a lot of kids with varying levels of athleticism. Some will be dribbling in no time while others just want to be able to kick the ball hard. The goal for most parents is to get their kid active and to help them socialize.
Soccer for 5 year olds should be fun. It is not about the “W”, though they can be fun. Remind the parents that, at this age, we want them to enjoy physical activity. As the kids get older and better understand their body and movement, they will fine tune their sporting prowess. But right now, we just want them to like it.
Don’t measure the season by wins, but by the engagement that you have with your athletes.
Set the expectations
Set a clear vision at the start of the season for your team.
Helping everyone understand the purpose of this team will help parents, and more importantly you, stay centered on what you’re trying to achieve. It can be easy to get caught up in the adult aspect of sport rather than remembering what is important to kids.
You team motto can be something like:
- The hope is happy kids
- We all play
- Learning is the goal
- Growth is the goal (to remind them that it is a process)
- The goal is retention
- We want people to want to come back next year (to remind people that finding joy in the sport is more important than winning)
- We score together (to promote team building)
- Soccer is fun
- Let’s party on the pitch (a pitch is a word used to describe a sports field in Britain)
- Don’t be a pitch pooper (when someone is preventing it from being fun)
Remind the parents of your motto as often as you need to. Some parents expect a lot out of their kids in the sports world. Just remind them of the purpose of this season. Make it clear that parents should be examples of sportsmanship as well.
Tips to keep in mind as a coach
As a coach, you will set the tone for your team. You will be the leader of your tiny little soccer crew and they will look to you as one of the examples they should follow in the sport.
Be relatable
Your team members should not be scared of you. They should be comfortable talking with you and hearing what you have to say. They should not be terrified of feedback or direction. The following tips will help with establishing that relationship.
Be positive
Look for the good things that each athlete is doing. They will all be different so it will take effort on your part to know them individually. Remember to comment on the good rather than belittle for the bad.Try to limit how often you say things like, “no that’s wrong”, “you’re not doing it right”, or “are you even listening to me?”.
You are not the parent
It is not your job to parent the child. You can set expectations, but don’t spend all of your time trying to get one kid to pay attention. This can be to the detriment of the other team members.
Be encouraging
If a kid is taking more time to learn a skill than their teammates it can be discouraging. Some kids will get frustrated easily, but a coach that is encouraging and hopeful will inspire a kid to keep trying.
Be cool
I am not saying to just be the cool coach, but really, be calm. Don’t get frazzled. Laugh. Smile at the experience. Just like your athletes are learning, you are two. Everyone is in it together.
Don’t yell at refs
Just don’t do it. You are likely volunteering to be the coach and most of the refs are either older kids or local people as well. This experience should be fun all around and a learning experience. If there was a bad call talk with the ref. If you feel a kid is in a situation where a kid can get injured obviously you can address it with the ref and the other coach. But set an example to the kids, and their parents, of how to deal with this appropriately. Remember, it is 5 year old soccer. The kids are not playing for honor or money, they are playing for fun.
Be resourceful
Your organization will likely have some tips for new coaches and even a network of people you can ask for help. Use your resources. You do not need to recreate the wheel.
Without any further adieu, here is a list of soccer drill for 5 year olds.
Soccer drills for 5 year olds
Aside from making your kids dribble the ball down the white line or play keep away (either you from them, or them from them), there are a lot of creative and fun things you can do. Some of these are from a youtube playlist that I will include at the end of this list for the visual learners.
I will also include a printable version of these drills that you can take with you to practice in case you don’t want to keep pulling out your phone.
No-cano (a mash up of “no” and “volcano”)
If you have the tall orange cones that look like volcano, you can put them in a line and have your athletes kick the ball weaving between the “volcano’s”. The goal is not to hit the cones/volcano. If they do, you can make an explosion sound. If you want to make it a little crazier, you can make an explosion sound and make all the kids fall down. You can play with the speed on this one, starting slow and then getting faster.
Circle kicks
This is a drill that helps kids learn each other’s name and build team unity. Have the kids stand in a circle about 10 feet apart with you in the center. You will call out a kids name and kick the ball to them. They will then kick the ball back to you. Later in the season, once they become more comfortable with each other’s names and kicking the ball you can get out of the middle and have them kick it to one another while saying names.
Animal Coach (Kick the Coach)
This game is a two-phase game. But it is one you can play at the beginning or end of practice to remind them to keep it fun.
The coach will stand with their feet soccer ball width apart and the kids will kick the ball at the coach. While you may have the visual of gym class dodge ball, remember most kids are learning how to kick a ball for the first time. All of your athletes will kick at the same time and the athlete that gets you will choose what animal you have to act out. The more dramatic and over the top you are with the animal the more fun it is.
Repeat as often as desired.
Tip Toe Tap
Have the kids stand on the painted line with the ball in front of them. They will take two tip toe steps and then tap the ball with one foot. Then they repeat it with the other foot.
They should not be kicking it hard, but enough to move the ball forward. This will help them to get ready to kick the ball while running up to it in an open field situation. It will also prepare them for dribbling the ball.
Jump turn kick
It is as simple as it sounds. Have the kid stand with their back to the ball. When you blow the whistle they jump, do a one half turn and kick the ball. Then they chase it down and wait for your whistle to do it again. This will teach them to kick it after different types of movements.
Tiny, Little, Big
This is a fun one where kids get to be as loud as they want. You will want to start this out so that it is more controlled, but as the drill/game progresses they can take over the yelling. When you yell tiny, they will give the ball a tiny kick. When you yell, “little”, they give a little bit bigger of a kick, and when you yell, “big” they give it a big kick. Once they’ve learned the game they can try it themselves. They start in a line and yell, “Tiny”, “Little” “Big” between each kick of the ball.
If you want to change it up on them and teach them to listen you can try different orders of directions. Tiny, tiny, big or Tiny, little, tiny or tiny, tiny, tiny, or every kids favorite, BIG, BIG, BIG!
Jumpy Crab
A defensive soccer drill that will help a 5 year olds learn different ways to move their body is the Jumpy Crab. They stand with their arms out and up with “pincher” hands. Their legs are spread apart and they look like a crab. They will then jump to the right 5 times with their hands in the air “pinching” and their heels clicking as they jump.
As they learn how to do this they will them do it while someone dribbles the ball beside them as they jump. This teaches them to side hop and keep their hands out of the way rather than grabbing the other player.
Battling pirates/princesses/unicorns/cowboys/goats
Depending on your team make up you can call this whatever. But being descriptive can help them have fun with it. You will have two lines of kids the __pirates (any name)___ and the ____ unicorns (any other name)____.
You will kick the ball and the person at the front of each line will go out and try to get the ball and bring it back to you.
Super far, super star
Have your kids place their balls on the white where the goal is. They will stand behind their ball and kick it in the goal. Every kid will get it in. Then they will get their ball and take a step back and try again. They continue to do this until it is too far for anyone to get it in. To make this more fun, you can have them yell, “Super Star” when they kick it.
Incoming!!!
This is a game where you teach kids to play offense and defense. The set up is 1 kid near the goal, and 2 kids coming towards the goal kicking the ball. You will have two kids kicking the ball back and forth down the field trying to get a goal. You want them to work together (at least at the beginning).
Once they have had a few passes back and forth you yell, “incoming!” and the defensive play now try to get the ball. The offensive players still try to score a goal.
Call out the kicker/My Ball
Many times in kids soccer, it turns into a chase the ball situation. All of the kids are running around trying to get the ball at the same time. It looks like a school of fish swimming through the ocean. One way to reduce how many kids chase the ball at once is to choose who will get it.
Know that this is a little more advanced drill and this is as much a listening game as it is a soccer drill. Have two kids chase the ball while you dribble it away from them and then tell them, “now just ____insert kids name here___”. Let them get it and then repeat it with two other kids. Once the kids know the drill you can have kids stand all over the field next to a soccer cone. You dribble the ball around the field and when you get close to a kid yell, “my ball” and try to get it from you. You will keep dribbling towards another kid and once that next child yell’s, “my ball” the first kid has to go back to their cone.
There you go!
I hope that these tips for coaches and list of soccer drill for 5 year olds that can help you have a blast coaching. If you are more of a visual learner check out this youtube playlist of soccer drills for kids.
Know that you can use almost anything as a soccer drill for 5 year olds. The more crazy it is the more they’ll enjoy it. Have fun!
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Below is the print off of the soccer drill for 5 year olds.