The Exercise
Manual

Everyone dribbles. The two coaches hunt.

1. Put one cone at each corner of a square about 20 walking steps on each side.
2. Every girl gets a ball and stands anywhere inside.
3. You and your assistant are the sharks. You have no ball.

1. Say go. Everyone dribbles around inside the square, keeping their ball away from the sharks.
2. The sharks walk and jog around trying to kick balls out of the square. Don't sprint — you'll flatten someone.
3. If a girl's ball gets kicked out, she runs and fetches it, does three toe-taps, and comes straight back in. Nobody is ever out.
4. Learn a name out loud every time you take a ball: "got you, Maya!" That's what the first two weeks are really for.
5. Run it about ten minutes, adding girls as they arrive.

You call the colour. They all react at once.

1. Same square as Sharks & Minnows. If it's already out, use it.
2. Every girl has a ball. You stand where they can all hear you.

1. Explain the three calls once, and demonstrate each: green = dribble normally. Yellow = slow motion, tiny touches. Red = stop the ball completely dead with the bottom of your foot and freeze.
2. Call colours in random order. Leave a few seconds between calls at first, then start switching fast.
3. Nobody is out for getting it wrong. Just call it again.
4. Once they've got it, add a fourth call of your own — "shoot" or "spin" or anything silly.

One call, everyone finds a different way to stop it.

1. Everyone dribbles freely inside the square.
2. Shout a body part — "knee!" — and every girl has to stop her ball with that body part as fast as she can.
3. Call sole, knee, elbow, hand, bottom, forehead. Make it ridiculous on purpose; the laughing is the point.
4. Let a girl do the calling for the last two minutes. They love this and it costs you nothing.

Filled circle leads, outlined circle copies.

1. Put them in pairs. Deliberately pair an experienced girl with a newer one — this activity is the best mentoring tool in the book.
2. Both girls in a pair have their own ball. One stands a couple of steps behind the other.

1. The front girl dribbles anywhere she likes — turns, stops, changes speed.
2. The back girl follows and copies whatever the leader does, with her own ball.
3. After about 45 seconds, shout swap. They change roles.
4. Give the experienced girl a job before you start: "make it something she can actually copy." That turns showing off into leading, and it keeps her interested.

Call a number, they scramble into groups of that size.

1. Everyone dribbles freely around the square.
2. Shout a number — "three!" — and they have to get into groups of exactly that many, as fast as possible, bringing their ball with them.
3. Anyone left over just joins the nearest group. Never send anyone out. That's the whole difference between this being fun and being a source of dread.
4. Call another number and go again. Vary it: two, five, four, three.

A pass between her feet unfreezes her.

1. The usual square. Pick two taggers (three later in the season). They don't have a ball.
2. Everyone else has a ball and dribbles.

1. Taggers try to tag dribblers. No kicking balls away — a hand tag on the shoulder.
2. A tagged girl freezes with her feet apart and her ball held in her hands above her head.
3. Any teammate can free her by passing her ball between the frozen girl's legs. Then both carry on.
4. Swap taggers every couple of minutes so everyone gets a turn.

Tap the top with alternating feet. Then roll it across.

1. Ball still on the ground in front of her.
2. Tap the top of the ball lightly with the sole of one foot, then put that foot down.
3. Tap with the other foot. Then back again. Keep alternating, like jogging on the spot on top of the ball.
4. The ball should barely move. It's a tap, not a kick.

1. Put the sole of one foot on top of the ball.
2. Roll the ball sideways across her body to the other foot.
3. The other foot's sole catches it and rolls it back.

1. Twenty seconds on, ten seconds rest. Six or eight rounds.
2. Count out loud as a team so nobody is counting alone and nobody's number is visibly lower than her neighbour's.

Foot on top, drag it back, turn and go the other way.

1. Dribbling forward at a walk.
2. Put the sole of the foot on top of the ball and stop it.
3. Drag it backwards a step, still with the sole.
4. Turn the body around and dribble away in the new direction.

1. Demonstrate once at walking pace. Don't explain the mechanics.
2. Let them do it fifty times with nobody watching them individually.
3. Then add the whistle version: everyone dribbles, and on your call they all pullback and go the other way. (That's Red Light Corner in the skill blocks.)

Reach across the ball, push it the other way, accelerate.

1. Dribbling forward.
2. Reach the kicking foot across the front of the ball, so the flat inside arch of the foot is on the far side of it.
3. Push the ball sharply back across her body, in the opposite direction to the way she was going.
4. Take three quick steps away. The speed change is what beats the defender, not the touch.

Tap it between the feet. Then plant beside it and swing.

1. Ball between her feet.
2. Tap it with the inside of one foot so it travels to the other foot.
3. That foot taps it straight back. Keep going, side to side, getting faster.

1. Ball still on the ground.
2. Plant the standing foot beside the ball, pointing at the target. Not behind it, not a step away — beside it. This is the single biggest cause of bad shots at this age.
3. Point the kicking toe down and lock the ankle stiff.
4. Swing through and strike the ball with the laces — the hard top of the foot, not the toe.
5. Practise the plant and the swing ten times before anybody kicks anything hard.

Swing the inside of the foot through it. Then push it forward.

1. Plant the standing foot beside the ball, pointing where she wants it to go.
2. Turn the passing foot sideways so the flat inside arch faces the target.
3. Swing through the middle of the ball — like a door swinging shut. That image works better than any technical description.
4. Accuracy over power, always. A soft accurate pass is a good pass.

1. When the ball arrives, don't stop it dead on her toes.
2. Push it forward into the space she wants to go, so it's already moving in the right direction.
3. Now she has time. This is why some girls always look unhurried.

Take it sideways with the far foot, not straight back.

1. Before the ball even arrives, look over her shoulder to see what's behind her. Call this "taking a picture."
2. Receive the ball with the foot furthest from where it came from — the far foot, not the near one.
3. Take that first touch sideways, across her body.
4. She now ends up facing up the field instead of facing back where the ball came from.

1. Roll the ball to her gently from the side. Any touch that leaves her facing forward is a success — say so.
2. Then add the shoulder check before every touch. Ask her what she saw.

Swing the foot over without touching, then go the other way.

1. Dribble up to the ball and slow down.
2. Swing one foot over the top of the ball without touching it, from inside to outside, as if stepping around it.
3. That fake makes the defender lean the wrong way.
4. Push the ball away in the other direction with the outside of the other foot, and go.

Four zones, one task each. They wander between them.

1. Mark four small squares, each about 8 steps across, in a block of four with gaps between them.
2. Give each square one job: toe taps, sole rolls, in-and-out touches, stop-it-dead.

1. Girls go wherever they want with their own ball and do that square's job.
2. Every three minutes shout switch — everyone moves to a different square.
3. There are no turns and no lines. Everybody is touching a ball for the full twenty minutes.
4. Walk between squares and say one specific thing to each girl by name.

Through the gates, then shoot. Collect your own ball.

1. Make two lanes side by side, one per coach, each about 20 steps long.
2. In each lane put two gates — two cones about 2 steps apart — spaced along the way.
3. Put a goal at the end of each lane.
4. Six girls line up behind each lane. That's a queue of six, which sounds wrong — see step 3 below.

1. First girl dribbles through both gates, then shoots at the goal.
2. She fetches her own ball and jogs back to the end of her line.
3. Don't wait for her to finish. Send the next girl as soon as the one ahead is through the first gate. Three girls should be moving at once, so nobody actually stands still.

First half alone. Second half against somebody.

1. One square, about 20 steps. Everyone dribbling inside it.
2. On your whistle, every girl does a pullback and heads the other way.
3. Whistle every 5–8 seconds. Nothing else to it.

1. Make six gates scattered around, each two cones about 2 steps apart. With 12 girls that's one gate per pair.
2. Two girls stand on opposite sides of their gate. One ball between them, in the middle.
3. Say go. Both try to win the ball and dribble it through the gate. Whoever does gets a point.
4. Reset and go again. Rotate partners every two minutes so nobody gets stuck losing to the same girl.

Push it a long way ahead, then chase it down.

1. Mark two long lanes, each about 25 steps long and 6 steps wide, using cones down the sides.
2. Six girls at the start of each lane.

1. Push the ball a long way ahead — much further than feels comfortable — then sprint to catch it.
2. Catch up, push it long again, sprint again. Two or three big touches gets her to the end.
3. Jog back down the outside and go again. Send the next girl as soon as the one before has taken her first touch.
4. Race a coach a few times. Lose about half.

Win, move up. Lose, move down. Nobody is ever out.

1. Mark four small grids in a row, each about 10 steps square, with a small cone-goal at each end.
2. Three girls at each grid: one attacking, one defending, one waiting (she's next).

1. Attacker starts with the ball and has 20 seconds to beat the defender and score.
2. Whistle at 20 seconds regardless. Whoever won that duel moves up one grid; whoever lost moves down one.
3. The waiting girl steps straight in. Everyone is playing again within five seconds.
4. Nobody is ever eliminated. A girl who loses six in a row just ends up at the bottom grid — which is exactly where she can compete and start winning.

Her only job is to stay in front. That's the whole exercise.

1. Pairs, one ball. One girl attacks, one defends, in a lane about 10 steps wide.
2. The attacker dribbles slowly side to side and forward.
3. The defender's only job is to stay in front of her for 15 seconds. She is not allowed to try to win the ball.
4. Swap roles. Repeat several times.

1. Same setup, but now the defender gets one tackle attempt per go.
2. If she misses, she goes back to just staying in front.

Still ball first. Then a moving one.

1. Six girls, a goal, and a pile of balls about 10 steps out.
2. Ball is completely still. She walks up and strikes it into an empty goal.
3. Ten shots each, then collect. Focus only on the standing foot and the ankle.

1. Coach stands to the side with a ball.
2. Coach rolls the ball across in front of the girl.
3. She takes one touch to set it, then shoots with her second touch.
4. Next girl goes immediately. Keep it fast.

Shoot, then immediately shoot again. Everyone tries goal.

1. She shoots. The instant the ball leaves her foot, the coach rolls a second ball in from the side.
2. She has to react and finish that one too.
3. Two shots per go, back to back. Next girl.

1. Every girl rotates through. Nobody is assigned; everybody tries it.
2. The set position: feet apart, knees bent, hands up in front with thumbs together making a W shape.
3. The scoop: get the whole body behind the ball, don't just reach with hands.
4. The bowling roll: step forward, low, and roll the ball along the ground to a teammate's feet. Because punting is not allowed at 8U, this is her distribution — and eight-year-olds are immediately good at it, which makes it a confidence builder rather than a chore.
5. Cheer every save absurdly loudly. Say nothing at all about goals conceded.

Pass through the doorways. Count how many in 90 seconds.

1. Scatter eight gates around a grid about 20 steps square, all pointing different ways. Each gate is two cones about 2 steps apart.
2. Pairs, one ball between them.
3. Pair an experienced girl with a newer one. Give the experienced one a job before you start: "your passes have to be easy for her to control."

1. Ninety seconds. The pair passes the ball back and forth to each other through as many different gates as they can.
2. One girl stands one side of a gate, her partner the other, pass through, then both move to a new gate.
3. Count out loud. Shout the score at the end.
4. Change partners and go again. Four or five rounds.

Pass, then run. The run is the lesson, not the pass.

1. Two lanes, one per coach. In each, put a cone about halfway up and a target goal at the far end.
2. Coach stands off to one side of the cone.

1. Girl passes the ball to the coach.
2. She immediately sprints past the cone — not toward the coach, past her, into the space beyond.
3. Coach passes it back into her path so she runs onto it.
4. She dribbles on and scores in the target goal, collects her ball, jogs back.

Two go to the corners, one goes long, keeper rolls it.

1. Mark a build-out line with cones right across the field. Check with your commissioner where your league draws it; about 25 steps out from the goal is a reasonable stand-in for practice.
2. A keeper in goal with the ball. Six girls in front of her as the team.
3. Two coaches and two girls are the opposition. They must stay behind the build-out line until the ball is touched — exactly like a real game.

1. Keeper has the ball. On your call, two girls sprint to the two corners of the penalty box, as wide as they can get.
2. A third girl runs long, up the middle.
3. Keeper rolls it — never punts, which is not allowed — to whichever girl has the most grass around her.
4. That girl takes one touch forward and looks up.
5. Reset and do it again. Twenty times. It should become automatic.

The defender can only guard one goal. Attack the other.

1. Mark a box about 15 steps square with a cone-goal on the left side and another on the right side.
2. Three attackers, one defender.

1. The three keep the ball and try to score in either goal.
2. The defender can only cover one goal at a time, so the answer is always the goal she isn't at.
3. Swap the defender every 90 seconds so everybody defends.

One presses. The other stands behind her as the safety net.

1. A grid about 15 steps square with a small goal at one end.
2. Two attackers, two defenders.
3. Start it 2v1 for the first few goes so the defenders can feel the correct shape without being under pressure.

1. One defender goes to the ball and slows the attacker down.
2. The second defender stands behind and inside her — not level with her. She is the safety net if the first one gets beaten.
3. Freeze it every few goes and check: are they side by side? That's the mistake. Move them into the right shape and let them look at it.
4. Then play live, and rotate every two minutes.

Three quick stations, six minutes each, four girls at each.

1. Ball goes over the head, using both hands.
2. Both feet stay on the ground until the ball has left her hands. That's the rule referees actually call.
3. Practise throwing to a teammate who is moving, not standing still.

1. Exactly the same picture as the Build-Out Drill: two girls wide to the corners of the box, one goes long.
2. Take the kick, hit the wide girl, she takes one touch forward.

1. One girl at the near post (the post closest to the corner the ball is coming from). One girl at the top of the box. Everybody else stays out of the way.
2. Kicker aims for the near-post girl. That's the whole routine — don't add anything.

Fast for two-thirds. Slow and low for the rest.

1. Attacker stands still with the ball. Defender starts ten steps away.
2. On your call the defender closes her down — sprint about two-thirds of the way, then brake and take the last few steps short and low, knees bent.
3. She stops about two steps from the attacker. Close enough to reach, far enough not to be knocked past.
4. Freeze it there. That is the whole rep. No tackle at all for the first several goes.
5. Swap and repeat. Ten each.

Stand off-centre. The only door open is the wide one.

1. A grid about 15 steps square. Put a cone-goal in the middle of one end, and a second, wider goal out at the corner.
2. Attacker starts at the far end with the ball. One defender.

1. The defender is not trying to win the ball. Her only job is to stop the attacker reaching the middle goal.
2. She does it by standing slightly to one side, so her body shows the attacker the wide route and closes the central one.
3. If the attacker scores in the corner goal, the defender still wins the rep. Say so out loud, every time.

Reach with the foot. Never dive with the body.

1. Defender is already in front, two steps away, low.
2. The instant the ball is a little too far from the attacker's foot, stretch the near foot out and poke through the ball — toe or the inside, straight through it, sideways or back the way it came.
3. Her weight stays on the back foot. If she leans her whole body in and misses, she is out of the game.
4. Recover the standing position immediately — poke, then get small again.

1. Attacker dribbles slowly across the defender, deliberately letting the ball run a bit long every few touches.
2. Defender waits for that moment and pokes. She is not allowed to poke while the ball is under the attacker's foot.
3. Twenty reps, then swap.

She cannot win. She only has to last.

1. Two attackers with a ball, about 20 steps from a goal. One defender.
2. You count down loudly from eight. If the attackers have not scored by zero, the defender wins.
3. Her job is to back away slowly, stay between the ball and the goal, and stay central — not to tackle. If she lunges at either attacker, the other is through and it is over.
4. Rotate every rep so everybody defends. Keep it fast — a rep is ten seconds.

The curve beats the straight line. Get in front, then turn.

1. Attacker starts with the ball about 25 steps out, facing goal. The defender starts five steps behind her.
2. On your call the attacker goes. The defender has to get back, get goal-side, turn, and face her before she can shoot.
3. The defender does not chase the ball from behind — she runs a curve toward her own goal, ends up in front, and only then defends.
4. If she gets in front and forces the attacker wide, she has won even if no tackle happens.

Wide to either touchline. Never square across your own goal.

1. Mark a danger zone with cones: the area straight out in front of your own goal, about 15 steps wide and 15 deep.
2. Mark two safe channels wide on either side, near the touchlines.

1. You serve a ball toward the defender near her own goal — rolled, bouncing, awkward.
2. She clears it into either wide channel. A clearance that crosses the danger zone does not count, however far it goes.
3. Keep it low and wide. Remember any head contact stops play, so a high ball into a crowd hands the other team a restart.
4. Ten each, then add a passive attacker closing her down.

Four goals means there is always an empty one.

1. A grid about 20 steps square.
2. Put a cone-goal in the middle of each of the four sides — two cones about 4 steps apart. No keepers.
3. Three against three.

1. Score in any of the four goals, from either side of it.
2. After you score, your next goal has to be a different one. That's what makes them lift their heads and look for space.

No goals. Dribble the ball over the line to score.

1. A rectangle about 25 steps long, 18 wide.
2. Mark a strip about 3 steps deep across each end — that's the end zone. No goals at all.

1. You score by dribbling the ball across the opponent's end line under control — the ball has to stay at your feet.
2. Kicking it across doesn't count. She has to take it there.

Long and thin, so space keeps opening up ahead.

1. Mark a pitch that is deliberately long and narrow — about 40 steps long, 20 wide.
2. A goal at each end.

1. Normal game, but a goal scored after a run of ten or more steps with the ball counts double.
2. Count it out loud when you see one so everybody notices.

The two purple girls are always on the attacking side.

1. Five against five, plus two neutral players.
2. A neutral always plays for whichever team currently has the ball. She is never on defence.
3. Rotate who the neutrals are every few minutes.

1. Because the attacking side is effectively 7 against 5, passing succeeds constantly — which is the entire point in the week you introduce passing.
2. A goal counts double if three different girls touched the ball in the move.

Use the edges and your goal is worth double.

1. A normal pitch, but mark a channel about 5 steps wide down each long side with cones.

1. A goal counts double if the ball went through one of the wide channels first.
2. Suddenly the edges of the field are the most valuable real estate on it, and the knot of girls in the middle unpicks itself.

Four teams of three, one goal, everybody plays every round.

1. One goal with a keeper (rotate the keeper each round, volunteers only).
2. Four teams of three. Balance them deliberately by size and experience — don't let them pick.

1. Two teams play at a time, two-minute matches, both attacking the same goal.
2. Whoever scores stays on; the other team swaps out for the next one.
3. Play a full round robin so every team plays every other team.
4. Nobody is ever eliminated. Every team plays every round no matter what the results are.