Week 4 · U4
Lose it? Chase it! Win it? Go!
Objectives — what the players will do
- 1Chase the ball the very second it runs away
- 2Zoom straight toward a goal the moment they win the ball back
- 3Keep giggling and chasing — never stand and watch
Play 1 — starts when the second player arrives
Runaway Balls
Everyone dribbles anywhere with a ball each. Every so often a coach shouts "RUNAWAY BALL!" and gently rolls each child’s ball into open grass — kids sprint after their runaway, catch it, and the moment they have it back everyone yells "GO!" and they zoom it to any cone and home again. No waiting, no turns — every ball is always running away.
Practice — the one taught activity of the night
Lose It? Chase It! Win It? Go!
Kids dribble in a big space while a coach plays the sneaky fox. The fox pinches a ball and dribbles away in slow motion, cackling. The robbed child chases RIGHT away — no sad faces, chase faces! — pokes the ball back, and the second they win it the whole group shouts "GO!" and they zoom off to score in any little goal. The fox always just misses catching them, wails dramatically, and sneaks off to pinch another ball. Every chase ends in a win and a goal.
The fox only rolls the ball a few steps away instead of stealing it — chase, catch, GO!
After winning it back, score before the fox counts to five in a very slow, very silly voice.
Play 2 — always finish playing the real game
Lightning Game
Play a real 4v4 game. Whenever the ball changes feet, coaches shout "GO GO GO!" — the loudest cheers tonight go to the fastest chasers when the ball is lost and the quickest zoomers toward goal when it is won. Keep it all giggles, no lectures.
Key coaching points — in your own words
- ·Lost it? Chase it right now — zoom!
- ·Won it? GO! Straight to the goal!
- ·No sad faces — chase faces!
- ·Fastest chaser in the whole world!
The fox pinches balls a little more often and the goals move a little further, so the chase and the zoom both grow.
No stealing at all — just runaway-ball chases, and every single chase ends in a happy win.
Game-day focus — watch for this on Saturday
4v4 diamond, everyone attacks and defends — rotate everyone, and cheer the instant chase when the ball is lost and the quick zoom forward when it is won.
Message to forward to your parents
Today’s game was "Lose it? Chase it! Win it? Go!" — the second the ball gets away we chase it, and the second we win it we zoom for goal. At home, pinch their ball and shuffle away in slow motion; when they win it back, shout GO! and cheer the zoom.
This week's two videos
Every session is Play-Practice-Play: kids play from the moment they arrive, you teach ONE thing in the middle, then they play again. Watch the prep video the night before — the activity video is that middle PRACTICE part.
US FOOTBALL Play-Practice-Play Grassroots training session #soccertraining #soccergame
Watch the night before to understand the idea
Real footage of a grassroots Play-Practice-Play session from start to finish. Watch around Week 3 to compare your delivery against a live example — especially how the coach lets the game do the teaching. Lift the small-sided second-Play ideas straight into your Apply-week festival games.
For U4: The play-first shape is right; halve every block so the whole night fits an easy 60 minutes.
Watch on YouTubeSoccerCoachTV - FUN Upside Down Cone Game.
Your PRACTICE part — the one thing you teach mid-session
A simple, high-energy cone game that works as the arrival activity in Introduce week. It gets U8s smiling and on the ball inside thirty seconds — exactly the Play-phase energy this month should open with. Add a second ball to raise the chaos and the laughter.
For U4: Perfect U4 chaos: flip cones, giggle, repeat; add a second ball to double the laughter.
Watch on YouTube