“Our parents have signed us up to play the world’s most popular team sport, and we hope you will patiently teach us how to play soccer properly.
“We love being active, and it is extremely difficult for us to just sit or stand around. Our attention span is rather short, and we have sudden shifts in behavior from good to bad.
“We enjoy group play, but prefer to play in smaller groups. We have difficulty in co-operating with others and are not ready to be placed into playing positions.
“Playing soccer is stimulating for us, and we are starting to become aware that there are rules/laws to follow. We continue to play ‘at’ soccer by imitating rather than playing the actual game. We will make lots of mistakes both physically and mentally, and we hope you will patiently handle them appropriately.”
Sincerely,
Your U-8 Player
At this age, interest in playing soccer needs to be developed in an enjoyable way, so that the children will eventually end up loving to play the game.
It is a fact that coaching younger players can be especially challenging. Keep in mind that U-8 players can be impatient and easily distracted. This should be expected. Don’t get frustrated. You can reach and teach all players with the right approach.
The FUNdamental SOCCER Practice is a youth soccer coaching approach that has been proven to work with children. No More: Drills, Eye-foot coordination games, Soccer related games, Lines, Laps, and Lectures. It uses a methodology that is often at odds with the traditional methods but really works with children.
FUNdamental Soccer has partnered with i360 to bring you an excellent player development platform. iSport360 has been helping thousands of youth sports teams stay connected, active and strong – even before this pandemic began.