Soccer Drills for U8

Most guys reading this definitely must have nurtured the dream of becoming a soccer player, a la Santiago in the movie 'Goal', or even better, Christiano Ronaldo or Diego Maradona! If you have, I am sure you know what soccer drills are all about. For excelling in soccer, if you sense the spark, you have to the kids young. They should be encouraged to start, let's say from the age of 7 or 8. Thus, if you know a soccer prodigy, who lives nearby or you have one at home, I am sure you would like to read what is coming up.

Soccer Drills for U8

Listen and Draw
This is a fun soccer drill which enhances the listening skills and the ball control of the children while passing. Make players stand in 2 lines facing each other. The distance between the two lines should be approximately 15 - 20 feet apart. Hand them a ball and ask the players towards pass the ball back and forth, amongst them and all the while narrate a story. When you say draw the player with the ball will gently draw the ball to the partner with the sole of his feet. This is one of the interesting U8 soccer passing drills. Once the players master the art of passing, you can have lots of variations in this drill.

Going Green
Again, this helps the players with their ball control skills. Spread the players out evenly, side by side, and give each of them a ball. One of the players is positioned as light and will face the others, around 30 yards away. Now, the game commences when the player designated as light turns away and shouts 'green light'. This is an indication for the others to dribble the ball towards him. Then the light will turn back and say red light, which means that the players have to stop dribbling and freeze instantly. The fun part is that if the light says red light and if anyone is caught moving, the player moving has to retreat 5 steps. The one who reaches the light first, then takes over and the game resumes.

Dribble All the Way
Okay, this is one of those soccer drills, U8 players are going to love. It is mainly focused on dribbling and helps in initiating quick responses. To do this drill, mark a 10-yard square. Ask each player to begin dribbling the ball in the square. Now, this gets tough here. The coach will call out a name of any body part while the players are dribbling. The catch is that as soon as the players a body part being called out, they should try and immediately get the ball in contact with that body part. Following the contact of the ball and the body part, they carry on with dribbling. After the children get used to this drill, the coach may go on to advanced drills of the same nature. This is one of the most fantastic soccer drills U8 players can learn from.

Shark'ed
Another very good option when it comes to U8 soccer drills is the sharks and the minnows. To do this drill, have a small rectangle marked and give only 2 of the players red jerseys and all the others yellow ones. The ones with red shirts are the minnows and the yellow ones are the sharks. Now, each of the minnows will have a ball at his or her feet. When the coach yells 'go', the minnows should start dribbling in the playing grid, using both their feet. At the same time, the sharks would be standing besides the minnows, but outside the grid. The next time the coach says 'go', the sharks will enter the grid and attempt to steal the ball away from the minnows. The trick here is that the sharks only get 15 seconds to do this. Minnow is knocked out of the game if the shark is able to steal the ball from him. The last minnow to remain is declared the winner. This is by far one of the best soccer drill as it shows how much that player loves the game. Moreover, it greatly contributes to the skills of the players to dribble and steal the ball from the other player.

These were a few of the best soccer drills for U8 players. There are many more such drills, which children will love. So that was all about soccer drills U8 players can try out and have a great time practicing! All the best to all you future Michael Owens and Zinedine Zidanes!