Week 6 · U8
Passing & link-up play
Objectives — what the players will do
- 1Pass with the inside of the foot to a teammate's feet
- 2Choose the right weight — firm enough to arrive, soft enough to control
- 3Look up and find a friend before passing
Play 1 — starts when the second player arrives
Gate Passing Arrival
As players arrive, pair them up with one ball and a cone gate. How many passes through the gate in 60 seconds? Beat your record, then switch partners. Everyone is passing within seconds of walking on.
Practice — the one taught activity of the night
Passing Gates
Scatter six to eight cone gates (two yards wide) around a 25x20 area. Pairs move freely and score a point for every clean pass through any gate to their partner. Run 90-second rounds: which pair can hit the most gates? Between rounds, show the technique once: ankle locked, foot turned sideways like a hockey stick, strike the middle of the ball.
Wider gates, shorter distances, unlimited touches.
Two-touch only (control, then pass), or passes with the weaker foot count double.
Play 2 — always finish playing the real game
4v4 — Pass Before You Score
Normal 4v4 game, but a goal counts double if a teammate passed to the scorer during the attack. Shout out the passer as loudly as the scorer.
Key coaching points — in your own words
- ·Which part of your foot makes the truest pass?
- ·Can you pass to your friend's feet so they don't have to chase it?
- ·Hard or soft — what does this pass need?
- ·Before you pass — can you see your friend, and can they see you?
- ·Pass and GO — can you move to a new spot the moment the ball leaves your foot?
Add a wandering "pass pirate" (coach or player) who tries to block gate passes, so pairs must look before they pass.
Park partners still on either side of one gate and simply groove the technique.
Game-day focus — watch for this on Saturday
Count completed passes out loud from the sideline — make passing the celebrated thing. Wide players get wide so passes have somewhere to go. No booting: control it, pass it.
Message to forward to your parents
This week is about LINKING UP with teammates through passing. Even five minutes of passes against a wall at home builds the technique fast — soft foot to stop it, sideways foot to send it.
This week's two videos
Prep the night before; copy the activity on the field.
10 Best Soccer Passing Drills for U8, U10 and U12 | Fun Soccer Drills by MOJO
Watch the night before to understand the idea
Your drill bank for the whole month — watch before Week 1 and pull the simplest passing games (Gates Passing, Numbers Passing) as your Practice-phase activities. Everything here fits the fun-and-maximum-touches mandate for this band. Reframe each game with LINK-UP language: pass, then move to help your friend.
Watch on YouTube5 Beginner Passing Drills For Football / Soccer | Joner Football
A drill you can copy on the field
Five simple partner-passing progressions with clear technical detail on inside-of-the-foot contact and first touch. A good pre-Week 1 refresher on what clean technique looks like at this age. Lift the coaching points, then wrap them in games.
Watch on YouTube