The following is a guideline of what our players and coaches should be striving to achieve as they work through their weekly training sessions and games.
U-9 and U-10
Emphasis at the young ages should be on teaching the kids all the basic techniques with emphasis on dribbling, shooting/passing, and receiving the ball. The proper technique for heading and tackling may also be briefly introduced. Training sessions should be dominated by individual ball skills and small sided games to maximize the number of touches that each player receives during practice. Tactics may be briefly introduced but the focus should be on the individual skills at this age.
U-11 and U-12
At this stage the training session become a bit more intensive to allow the kids to master the fundamentals and be able to perform them under low pressure. At the end of this stage all players should strive to be able to volley air balls at low speed, passing/shooting (inside/outside of foot, instep), receiving (foot, thigh, chest), heading (proper technique for clearing and shooting), dribbling (4-5 different moves), juggling (15-20 touches with 3 different surfaces), basic tackling and shoulder charge, begin to learn basic combination play and basic principles of attack and defense.
U-13 and U-14
At this stage the training sessions continue to improve technical skill while adding more intense defensive pressure as well as restrictions in time and space. Training sessions may start to focus on more specific player or position skills. At this stage all techniques should be reasonably well developed and should focus on application of these techniques under pressure. Groups of players should be beginning to be aware of their roles as a group within principles of attack and defense.
U-15 and Above
Skill development is in its final stage and all players should be perfecting their match skills. Training becomes more intensive with focus on match condition work as opposed to fundamentals work. There is an emphasis on functional training under greater defensive pressure and time and space constraints at this stage. All tactical principles of attack and defense should be taught and incorporated into team play. Greater emphasis on fitness training is also added at this stage.
