Plan 4: Ball skills and familiarization – dribbling/shielding/shooting
1. Warm-up – 10 mins
Name: Traffic Lights
Organization / area - Half field
Number of players / balls - one ball per player
Activity description
A really fun game that teaches your players ball control and spatial awareness. Start with the 3 most common lights that all kids know:
- Green Light – go (dribble the ball, don’t go outside the lines, don’t bump into other “cars”)
- Yellow Light – slow down
- Red Light – stop (foot on top of the ball, head up)
Progressions
After a couple of minutes start to introduce new lights one at a time: Ask the kids - Who know’s what we do at a (color) light???
- Double green light – Go really fast
- Blue light – step on top of the ball and pull it back under you to reverse directions, (demonstrate)
- Orange light – hop over the ball, back and forth, (demonstrate)
- Pink Light – switch balls (drive a different car)
- Black light – everybody dances
- make up your own fun variations too!
Water Break
(Make it fun: to get water they have to walk like a robot or hop like a bunny, etc.)
2. Skills Game
15 mins Name: Sharks and Minnows
Organization / area - Half-field
Number of players / balls - 2 players without balls (sharks), all others with 1 ball each (minnows)
Activity description:
Start with your 2 sharks inside the shark tank (net). It may be a good idea to have the coaches start as the sharks the first time to demonstrate the objective of the game. All the minnows are swimming in the sea with their fish food (ball). The sharks have to try to steal the fish food and put it into the shark tank. Once a minnow’s food is in the tank, then they also become sharks and try to steal food from the remaining minnows. Continue until only 1 minnow left.
Progressions
Give all players a turn starting out as the sharks.
3. End with Game (20 mins)
3 v 3 dual sided - split teams 3 player on the A field and 3 player on the B field. Subs sit in the middle of the fields. Parents sit on the outside of the fields. Coaches can be on the field encouraging players but please refrain from shouting instructions. Just let them play !
4. Don't forget the Team Cheer !
Potato Chip, Potato Chip, Munch, Munch, Munch, Who do we think is a very fine bunch ! HORNETS YEAH !
