Week 5 · U4
Finding space
Objectives — what the players will do
- 1Dribble into empty grass where no one else is standing
- 2Spot a crowd and zoom somewhere new
- 3Spread out big instead of bunching around the ball
Play 1 — starts when the second player arrives
Open Grass Explorers
As kids arrive, everyone dribbles anywhere while you call adventures: "find some grass all to yourself!", "dribble somewhere NOBODY is!". Parents join in as friendly obstacles to steer around. Keep calling new empty corners to explore.
Practice — the one taught activity of the night
Treasure Hunt
Scatter cones (treasure) all over the field. Kids dribble their ball to a treasure, scoop it up, and carry the loot while dribbling to the next one. The trick you are secretly teaching: the best treasure is the one nobody else is near. Coaches keep sprinkling new treasure into the empty spaces.
Leave the ball behind for a round — run and grab treasure first, then add the ball back in.
A coach becomes a sleepy pirate guarding a few treasures — kids must find the unguarded ones in the empty grass.
Play 2 — always finish playing the real game
Butterfly Game
Play a real 4v4 game. When someone dribbles into open grass, shout "you found space!" like they found gold. If everyone bunches up, laugh, call "bees in a jar!", and watch them scatter like butterflies.
Key coaching points — in your own words
- ·Run to the empty grass!
- ·Too crowded? Zoom somewhere new!
- ·Spread out like butterflies, not bunched like bees!
- ·Treasure hunters look for the empty spot.
Shrink the field a little so they have to hunt harder for the empty spots.
Make the field bigger and add more treasure than kids, so open space is everywhere.
Game-day focus — watch for this on Saturday
4v4 diamond, everyone attacks and defends — rotate everyone, and celebrate any child who spreads out instead of chasing the bunch.
Message to forward to your parents
Today was all about finding open space — dribbling to the empty grass instead of the crowd. On a walk this week, play "run to the empty spot!" and watch them hunt for it.
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.
SoccerCoachTV - How to Get your Team to Talk More!
Watch the night before to understand the idea
A quick, practical fix for silent teams that works even with U8s: give players simple words and reward every shout. Watch before Week 1 and pick two calls — a name and "I'm here" — as your month-long standard. Reinforce them in every Play phase.
For U4: At U4 "talking" means shouting one teammate's name out loud — that is the whole target.
Watch on YouTubeU6 Sharks and Minnows Activity
Your PRACTICE part — the one thing you teach mid-session
A quick look at Sharks and Minnows, the classic escape-and-dribble game, run by Cal South coaching education. Use it in Challenge week as a chase game with a duel flavor — the first taste of 'win your duel' at U7–U8. Every player has a ball; nobody stands in a line.
For U4: Coaches are the sharks and hunt in slow motion; minnows dribble to safe islands — that IS finding space.
Watch on YouTube