U-Littles Introduction | Applicable Activities | Circuit Approach

Passing With U-Littles

In the standard Thoughtful Soccer practice, there is no special passing segment. Why? Because the entire Teamwork Skills segment involves continuous passing.

Your U-Littles, though, won't be ready for scrimmaging situations of more than a player or two. So including a few passing activities is a good idea.

Two-Touch Passing

Each player must work with a coach or parent. One passes the ball to the other, who gets only two touches. The first touch is to control the ball, and the second touch is to pass it back. Both players should get in the habit of counting as they play this game: "One, two." They can also count how many times the ball is passed back and forth before someone goofs up.

We're passing the simple push pass here. The ball should be contacted with the inside of the foot. The foot is used like a putter in golf. Make sure the weaker foot is also practiced.

One-Touch Passing

The same setup as above is used. Now, though, each player gets only one touch.

Spiderman (Keep-Away)

I'm not a big fan of Keep-Away games, because there are no goals and goals give directions to a field. But with U-Littles, Keep-Away is a great way to get players passing together a bit and dealing with a little pressure.

The playing area can be a circle or a square, with three or four players inside. In the middle is a big, scarey, spider (coach or parent). The spider pursues the ball slowly enough that the players can pass to each other. For realism, the spider should steal the ball every now and then. As the players improve, the spider can move a bit faster. Eventually, one of the players can be in the middle rather than an adult.

When you first play this game, the players will stand rooted to one spot. A second coach or parent can help move players as the ball is passed, so that the player with the ball can pass around rather than through the spider.