Skill Priorities

FYSA Soccer Skill Priorities and Benchmarks

(Developed with guidance from Mass Youth Soccer Statewide U6-U12 Curriculum and USSF Licensing Courses)

The following information in this document is presented as guidelines to consider and apply when coaching players with an emphasis on the development of those players.

We must keep in mind that although we play to win, winning is generally a direct result of how well we train and help players develop to their fullest potential.

Remember that 1 v 1 attack and dribbling are the foundation of player development.

When we are considering spending time developing skills / aspects of the game, stop and ask yourself:

“How well can they dribble? i.e. Control the ball.
How comfortable are they with the ball under pressure in tight space?”
“What type of decisions do they make and how quickly do they make them?”

Encourage players to be deceptive, creative and to take risks
– we never want them to stop doing these things.

From the ages of 5-14,
our purpose needs to be about the development of the individual player,
not the success of the team.

Team is important,
though not at the expense of the individual development of our players.

Juggling
should be encouraged as an at home skill development activity. It should be emphasized at each practice as a transition time activity or have cool-down competitions. Encourage players to challenge each other!
Please do not use practice time for juggling other than a transition activity, a cool down or a 5 minute competition