Andre Botelho’s Soccer Coaching Blog

Fun soccer games must be an important element of your training session. It is good that you have added warm ups, soccer drills, and even small sided games, but if you have not added FUN to the soccer coaching session, then you are missing a crucial thing.

Soccer should be fun!! And when I say fun… I really mean FUN! … fun for referees…

And above all… soccer should be fun for your players…

Here’s a great FUN soccer drill you can teach in your next coaching session:

Game: The Battle Of Troy (Level: Intermediate)

Age Information : 9 - 12

Level of Difficulty : Intermediate

Time Duration : 15 - 20 Minutes

The Battle Of Troy is an advanced fun soccer game. It is best suited for players within the age group of nine to twelve. The level of difficulty is intermediate. The minimum number of players that can participate in this game is six.

However, you can include more players – just make sure that the total number does not exceed fifteen. Depending upon the size of the field and the total number of players, this game should take approximately fifteen to twenty minutes.

It is a fun game, but it seeks some good soccer skills from the players.

Step-by-step instructions

• The setup requires you to mark a grid of cones – 20 yards X 50 yards in size.

• Divide the grid into three equal sections by marking two lines in the middle, as shown in the diagram.

• Place a goalpost in the third section.

• Divide the players into two teams of six players each. Name the teams as team A and team B.

• One team will be the attacker while the other team will be the defender. In the beginning, team A will attack and team B will defend. You must place the players accordingly.

• The three players of the defending team B will take positions in the first section, two defenders in the middle section and one defender in the third section.

• The players of the attacking team A will line up in pairs on the opposite side of the goalpost outside the grid, as you can see in the diagram.

• The first player in each pair will have a ball.

• The game will start at the blow of the whistle.

• As soon as you blow the whistle, the first player (with the ball) from the attacking pairs will enter the grid in the first section.

• The objective is to cross all the three sections and finally score a goal in the third section.

• It is like the Battle of Troy as there are enemies (defenders) in every section of the battleground (grid).

• Both the attackers and the defenders are going to have a tough time. In the first section, there will be three attackers and three defenders. If a defender manages to steal the ball from one of the defenders, he/she will kick the ball outside the ground. The attacker who loses the possession of the ball will be eliminated from the game.

• The remaining two players will go ahead to the middle section where they will face the two defenders. It is also possible that in the first section, no defender could stop the attackers and the middle defenders get the tough task of defending against three attackers. Because of all these possibilities, the game is quite interesting for the adult players.

• The coach will count the number of goals made by the attackers.

• After the first round, switch the players’ roles. It means the defenders will now become attackers and attackers would be the defenders. Team A is now scattered in the three sections – three players in the first section, two players in the second section, and one player in the third section. The team A players will line up in pairs as team B did in the first round.

• The second round will start with another blow of the whistle.

• The game stops after six rounds. It means that each team gets three opportunities to attack and score goals.

• In the third round when the team B players become attackers, the players who did not get the opportunity to attack in the first round will start the game.

• In the end, the team with the highest number of goals is declared as the winner.

Diagram

Key Points

• Since these are advanced players, you must encourage them to showcase good dribbling techniques while attacking.

• The three attackers in the first section must co-operate with each other. The objective should be to score a goal for the team. One of these attackers may try to engage the defenders with him/her. This way, the other two attackers get open spaces to enter the next section.

• You can also introduce some variations. For example, you can include a two-yard free zone in each section. This is the zone where the attackers are safe. The defenders cannot enter this zone. However, do not allow them to stay in the free zone for more than five seconds.

• The attacker may be allowed to leave his/her ball inside the free zone and help the other attackers move to the next section by passing and receiving the ball with each other.

That’s all for today… and always remember to have some fun when coaching soccer!

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Andre Botelho

Tags: Fun Soccer Drills, Fun Soccer Games, Soccer Practice Games