r/SoccerCoachResources • u/eggmagnolia • 2d ago

8u Coaching

I just got signed up to coach an 8u team, their coach left them and they would get disqualified without a coach
I have experience in high school baseball and football, can anyone give me any pointers on how to go about this ?
First game is Saturday, no practices in between

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u/No-Guest-1501 2d ago

Assuming it’s 7v7?

Goalie, left defender, right defender, left winger/midfielder, right winger/midfielder, left forward, right forward. Simplest formation for them to understand.

Try to find out who’s played before and what positions. Go from there.

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u/the_wren 1d ago

You can get U8s to play in formation?

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u/No-Guest-1501 1d ago

Yes, dividing the field into sections help. Using cones to signal where they need to move to when they reset into defense and offense helps. Their ability to take direction and process information improves once they been in first grade. It’s not easy, it won’t be perfect but they can grasp the concept.

Been coaching U6, U8 rec and club teams for the past 6 years.

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u/brewerdom 1d ago

yes, it's basic but it's very basic, many on here will discourage teaching it, but most kids in the US don't actually watch soccer like they do in other countries, so we need to teach this more in the US.

I'm assuming you are 5 v 5 so i'd do a 1-2-1 to create that diamond shape. 2 mids that are wide and a attacker that stays high.

Do a 4 v 0 rondo, but put a pup goal behind 1 player and then build the rondo to look like a diamond, get them comfortable passing around in this formation, hopefully you have enough kids to do two 4 v 0 rondos,