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So I stepped up and am now the coach of my daughters 10u rec team

Posted on 9/11/25 at 9:38 am
Posted by LSURoss
Dragon Believer
Member since Dec 2007
16399 posts
Posted on 9/11/25 at 9:38 am
I know the basics of soccer and have coached other youth sports before.

At this age do I just keep them spaced out and practice dribbling and passing?

Any recs on practice drills would be appreciated.

Posted by lsugorilla
PNW
Member since Sep 2009
6361 posts
Posted on 9/11/25 at 9:47 am to
Laps around the ‘dumb questions tree’ were always a hoot when I was young.

“Which tree is the dumb question tree, coach”.

Another lap son
This post was edited on 9/11/25 at 10:07 am
Posted by LSURoss
Dragon Believer
Member since Dec 2007
16399 posts
Posted on 9/11/25 at 10:17 am to
Yeah, my philosophy is that parents signed their kids up to wear them out. So I am going to run them alot. Justified bc that's a pretty big part of soccer.
Posted by lsugorilla
PNW
Member since Sep 2009
6361 posts
Posted on 9/11/25 at 10:45 am to
Recent thread


Some good suggestions here
Posted by LSURoss
Dragon Believer
Member since Dec 2007
16399 posts
Posted on 9/11/25 at 11:10 am to
Nice. Thank You!
Posted by St Augustine
The Pauper of the Surf
Member since Mar 2006
70456 posts
Posted on 9/11/25 at 2:21 pm to
Teach goal keepers to run up to the edge of the box and chuck that shite up the side quickly if your team is out gunned. Otherwise there are some long days trying to get out of your own half.

We all want the kids to learn how to play out of the back. But there can be some really frustrating times if the other side is just sending their forwards and and you can’t get it out of your own end.

I always played one of my absolute best players at the back to have outlets for the keeper and to sweep up and heavy touches from the other team.
This post was edited on 9/11/25 at 2:25 pm
Posted by MikelArteta
Your mother's
Member since Apr 2024
77 posts
Posted on 9/11/25 at 3:23 pm to
At this age, every practice should contain running and the basics (passing to each other, running with the ball, and shooting at the goal). I'd start them off with warm up, passing, dribble through cones, then shooting. Positioning will be harder, every u12 and below game I've watched they all just run toward the ball haha. My childhood coach had a really simple way of explaining where you should position yourself on the pitch.

Split the pitch up into 3 lanes and assign them lanes to stay in during the game. Left lane attacker = LW, middle lane attacker = striker, etc.

This way instead of telling them what position they are playing, they'll just have to remember which lane to stay in. He always told us to "never leave your lane!!" and I always remember being wide open on the right wing to receive a pass, dribble at the goal, and shoot!

Best of luck and remember its u12 so have fun!
Posted by saderade
America's City
Member since Jul 2005
26212 posts
Posted on 9/11/25 at 3:35 pm to
quote:

So I am going to run them alot. Justified bc that's a pretty big part of soccer.
Don’t run them unless that means the running while dribbling the ball or playing games.

This is how I structure U9/U10 practices
1st part is ball mastery/ dribbling etc
Then some type of 1v1, 2v2, or passing drills. I’ll progress to small sided games and then maybe to scrimmage. There are loads of drills and sessions online. The most important is to keep them moving and have fun.
Posted by RedPop4
Santiago de Compostela
Member since Jan 2005
15045 posts
Posted on 9/13/25 at 9:38 pm to
This is the way
Posted by Broyota2
Member since Nov 2010
13616 posts
Posted on 9/14/25 at 2:18 am to
Run small sided games and I mean a TON of small sided games. Thats where you learn to pass quickly, basics of forming triangles, etc.

Just pick up a few little collapsible goals and watch YouTube videos on how to run them. There was a stark difference in how my team played before vs after. Wish I would have started them on it waaaay earlier.
This post was edited on 9/14/25 at 2:21 am
Posted by LSURoss
Dragon Believer
Member since Dec 2007
16399 posts
Posted on 9/17/25 at 4:31 am to
Update after 2 practices.

We are the Teal Pandas and I have 2 lefty kickers.

All but 2 have played before.

We worked on staying spread out, matching up, passing, trapping and dribbling

Are the parents seem cool. We are going to be just fine.
Posted by lsugorilla
PNW
Member since Sep 2009
6361 posts
Posted on 9/17/25 at 10:07 am to
quote:

Teal Pandas


TPFC!
TP Clap clap FC clap clap.
TP clap clap FC Clap clap.
Posted by WinnPtiger
Fort Worth
Member since Mar 2011
24936 posts
Posted on 9/17/25 at 10:10 am to
quote:

I have 2 lefty kickers. All but 2 have played before.


you fixin to make a title run baw?

up the Teals
Posted by LSURoss
Dragon Believer
Member since Dec 2007
16399 posts
Posted on 9/17/25 at 10:55 am to
quote:

you fixin to make a title run baw?

up the Teals


Will report after the 1st match Saturday @ 10:30am Field 17B Ward 3 Powerhouse complex!
Posted by vistajay
Member since Oct 2012
2794 posts
Posted on 9/17/25 at 11:32 am to
Some of the best times of my life were spent coaching my daughter's U10 team. Enjoy.
Posted by baldona
Florida
Member since Feb 2016
23260 posts
Posted on 9/18/25 at 7:50 pm to
quote:

Run small sided games and I mean a TON of small sided games. Thats where you learn to pass quickly, basics of forming triangles, etc.


With travel ball girls I agree, but with rec league I do mostly open field dribbling. It’s more about dribbling in open space as they generally bunch up, kick it back and forth, and then need to learn how to open field dribble fast but controlled once they get open.

1.) I do a ton of open field dribbling starting at midfield and do large spread out cones and then shots on goal or


2.) start at the goal and have them race to mid field, first one to get back and score wins.

Force them to take long shots. u-10 girls still tend to dry and dribble into the goal. Goalies still aren’t very good, if they shoot anytime around the goal box they will score more often than not.
This post was edited on 9/18/25 at 7:52 pm
Posted by djsdawg
Member since Apr 2015
39287 posts
Posted on 9/19/25 at 4:09 am to
7v7 or 9v9? Young rec league kids just arent good enough to do much passing, so I wouldnt waste my time on that.

Always put a good player at Center D. I rotate my 4 best players there. I just started giving them freedom to essentially play as a CM, which has been working well. If we are losing late, I send them up front to add to the attack.

Put speed at MF. Coach the D to attack attack attack. I align the RD and LD on the posts, and tell them to stay in the box.

On goalie kicks, clog the middle of the field with your players to ensure no interception goals.

Constant O vs D drills. I call it "around the world" where I put 4-5 attackers around the field vs 4-5 D players. 1 O player starts the attack vs the 4-5 D players. Once the play stops, the 2nd player attacks, and so forth. After the final attacker turn is stopped, I added in Corners from both sides.

I also do the same idea but in a simulated scrimmage where each Q involves my 3-4 attackers vs the 4-5 D. Each Q involves a FK, GK, KO, CK, and Goalie punt.
Posted by cwil177
Baton Rouge
Member since Jun 2011
29546 posts
Posted on 9/19/25 at 8:38 am to
quote:

you fixin to make a title run baw? up the Teals

We’re the teal pandasssssssss

Teal pandas FC!

We’re by far the greatest team the world has ever seen!
Posted by MOT
Member since Jul 2006
30353 posts
Posted on 9/19/25 at 10:35 am to
No more bamboo
Who gives a frick?
We’re teal pandas
And we’re going up
Posted by LSURoss
Dragon Believer
Member since Dec 2007
16399 posts
Posted on 9/26/25 at 5:24 am to
Update.

We are focusing on how to lineup for kickoffs and playing man defense.

We got beat in game one. We had 2 subs and the other team had 6. They were doing full line changes and my girls just couldn't keep up.

We do have 2 outstanding goalies that kept us in the fight for a while.
This post was edited on 9/26/25 at 5:25 am
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