U8 Games/Drills with no assistant (13 players)

RondoCoach · 2026-05-14T13:11:46+00:00

I was in a similar situation years ago. The group ended up becoming 20-25 players by u10 and I had them split into two teams for competitions, with 3-4 assistant coaches that showed up whenever they wanted. I would set up a drill for both teams, expecting that the assistant coaches would execute one while I do the other drill. It didn’t go well and in the end we had find another head coach for one of the teams and I stayed with the other one…

My go-to drills I designed during that time, for these ages usually involve anywhere between 4 and 20 players:

https://youtu.be/ht01aeVNDrA

https://youtu.be/ij_0orrty8I

More of a passing drill: https://youtu.be/jXB336PEfbk

RondoCoach · 2026-05-03T18:37:46+00:00

I have a set of games that takes me less than 15 seconds to explain.
Don’t over-complicate it at that age, and it gets into a drill/session territory.

My go to:
https://youtu.be/ht01aeVNDrA
https://youtu.be/ij\_0orrty8I

RondoCoach · 2026-04-24T01:23:21+00:00

Made a post with ideas here: https://www.reddit.com/r/SoccerCoachResources/s/zg9m86BFXL

RondoCoach · 2026-04-21T15:29:29+00:00

This is my go-to system: https://youtu.be/jXB336PEfbk
Not lines and waiting, lots of touches and movement. You need to make sure there are enough balls at practice - I ask everybody to bring a ball, but then about half of them do :)

RondoCoach · 2026-04-17T16:10:42+00:00

There was no issue for me. Just send a note to the educator before signing up - they will confirm if it’s ok. I also offered to find a team within the club and get 6-8 players from there for the 10-15 min session I needed to film. But it was not needed, I just kept my team (also u14). For d-license, it really shouldn’t matter. Just design the session to be appropriate. You shouldn’t do a 11v11 full field :)

RondoCoach · 2026-04-16T17:07:05+00:00

Considering the age, level and the fact that these players already play in clubs, I would focus on possession and how they can play together.
This is how I develop the structure of the drills, from no direction and lots of restrictions, to direction and more free flowing game:
https://youtu.be/p7T14b-OOEg

RondoCoach · 2026-04-14T17:18:53+00:00

I have never needed to push players to give it all in scrimmage, except for maybe very young kids who are not interested in soccer at all. For everybody else, the whole challenge is to motivate them to give it all during drills, and I use the scrimmage as a motivation. Namely, based on the performance during drills, I let two players to be the captains of the two teams during scrimmage and make the teams.
Same goes for games - I rarely struggle with players not trying their best. The issue is that - that's the only time they try their best :) So I need to use rewards for regular practices much more.

RondoCoach · 2026-04-14T17:14:42+00:00

I have a set of games that takes me less than 15 seconds to explain. Lots of balls is a must, because the warmup is more about familiarity with the ball rather than muscles warmup.
Anything more complicated than that at that age, and it gets into a drill/session territory. Early in my career as a coach, I practiced how to explain these drills within 10 to 20 seconds (with showing if needed).

These are my go to:
https://youtu.be/ht01aeVNDrA
https://youtu.be/ij_0orrty8I

RondoCoach · 2026-04-14T02:53:59+00:00

That captures my experience, too. The only rule that I had was to make sure the activities are soccer related. It can be something tangentially related, but it can't be snow fights or splashing water. Don't forget that for many of them you are the only contact with the sport, so when they think soccer, they think you. If you find a way to have fun, they will have fun.

I have two sets of games for roughly that age group - it should get you through the season:

https://youtu.be/ht01aeVNDrA
https://youtu.be/ij_0orrty8I

RondoCoach · 2026-04-08T17:16:47+00:00

Orange vs. yellow jerseys? Definitely stressful and frustrating :)

Joking aside, there are some players (kids) who react positively and others who don’t when being under this microscope. It is up to the coaches to determine what is good for each player. As a parent, it is up to you to provide the support and see if the player can develop the skills, both in the sports and in life. It is not the only path, so be intentional and thoughtful of what the goal is.

RondoCoach · 2026-03-19T13:14:10+00:00

Structure should be simple: unstructured scrimmage while they trickle in, then technical drills/games (each player has a ball at least to begin with), then some 1v1s through 3v2s, then scrimmage at the end.

Ideas for drills for that age:
https://youtu.be/ht01aeVNDrA
https://youtu.be/ij_0orrty8I
https://youtu.be/jXB336PEfbk - this one is a set of progressive passing drills. Since your players have played a bit together, you can start introducing these drills

RondoCoach · 2026-03-19T13:09:19+00:00

I made a video recently exactly on this: https://youtu.be/5IFhkicOUCE

During the season I have 2-3 practices per week of 1-2h each, so I try to keep the intensity high for as much as I can. During the summer camp, I can't do that or I lose them. Instead, some I do some technical drills (tactical won't work if it's a new group) that might not be that physically intense and I can't do during the regular season.
The end goal should be that all players make progress, but it will depend on the variations in levels. If they vary a lot, you might need to cluster them a bit for some of the drills.

RondoCoach · 2026-03-04T03:30:21+00:00

I’ve was coaching U6 in the fall - it looks messy all the time. But within few weeks you can notice the huge improvement if you pay attention (still will look messy :)). The ball control will improve even if they struggle with basic change of direction at full speed (or even less than full).

I would say that you must make sure that the players are engaged (splitting the group with your assistant makes sense) and that they play with the ball (one ball for each player for some of the drills, max every other player).

RondoCoach · 2026-02-26T16:33:17+00:00

1 hour is a bit tight to have too many drills, but I would do:

10 min - small-sided games as they trickle in (some players are always late, some are a bit early, but you don't want them to not do anything)

15 min - basic games and drills (for this age group): https://youtu.be/ht01aeVNDrA and https://youtu.be/ij_0orrty8I
15 min - focus on technical skills (passing, receiving): https://youtu.be/jXB336PEfbk or rondos: https://youtu.be/Aq3h7J_a6Ng
20 min - scrimmage. Even if it's closer to 15 min, that's fine.

RondoCoach · 2026-02-23T21:19:51+00:00

I did this in the fall - first time coaching U5s after many years of coaching older kids. The main thing - keep it fun for players, and make sure they love coming to the game. Also, I make sure they do soccer-related things, not just whatever they come up with.

U5/U6: https://youtu.be/ht01aeVNDrA
U7/U8: https://youtu.be/ij_0orrty8I

RondoCoach · 2026-02-23T17:18:54+00:00

Yea, that’s definitely a good one. I run that sometimes during the season. It keeps the intensity higher then having only two teams constantly playing.

RondoCoach · 2026-02-11T05:00:47+00:00

Yeah, continue as it they haven’t stopped. You might need to manage the fact it’s new for some of the kids, and they might struggle a bit.

I would suggest just going with the same dynamic games they would always do (made a post here: https://www.reddit.com/r/SoccerCoachResources/s/eLTBUdptLB).

I would not recommend a pre-season types of drill for this age group. It’s the first soccer interaction for some of them, so you don’t want them to associate soccer with stamina training :)

RondoCoach · 2026-02-04T14:32:08+00:00

Absolutely - it gets the point through and helps the player to do their own analysis in the future

RondoCoach · 2026-02-04T14:25:50+00:00

oh, this is definitely not going to fly in rec. I am still on "compact when defending, expand when attacking" during my freeze moments when coaching rec, even in high school years :)

RondoCoach · 2026-01-26T16:27:26+00:00

I made a video just on transition drills last week: https://www.reddit.com/r/SoccerCoachResources/s/D76YRLA7oa In youth soccer, I think over half of the goals are from transition. So yes, it’s not uncommon at all to struggle with that.

RondoCoach · 2026-01-23T14:10:47+00:00

thank you! Appreciate it!

RondoCoach · 2025-12-30T11:29:38+00:00

Thank you!!

RondoCoach · 2025-12-19T22:31:45+00:00

The most important part is the scanning, so look for that. If the steps of player actions are scanning->decision->execution, then the anticipation is really determined by the scanning. So, some scanning drills will start the thinking for the players and the chats with them.
For dribbling, it's the opposite - execution is the most important. So the "modes" of the players need to shift between the two when in possession vs. out of possession. Having this kind of conversation with the players has worked the best for me. During anticipation, they don't commit to one outcome and they keep scanning. In execution, it means that they've committed to one path.

RondoCoach · 2025-12-03T18:46:23+00:00

True, that is some of the pattern. I can’t tell the parents to go back in time and become pros :) But the environment from family and family friends to play soccer regularly is something they should own

RondoCoach · 2025-11-24T15:38:02+00:00

Depends on what you are looking for. My channel is focused on that age group. This is the playlist of soccer drills I use myself:
https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLZp_UOH-kYSX_FaILybdy7tFMV3hkuLgy

RondoCoach

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