2. Red light, green light- all players dribbling in grid following verbal instructions from coach.  Red light players must stop the ball quickly, green light they start dribbling again.  Works on mastery of the soccer ball and maintaining control.

3. Zen dribbling- all players single file line with enough space in between players to allow for dribbling.  Coach moves throughout the grid and players must follow every move.  Works on mastery of the soccer ball and maintaining control.

4. Freeze Tag- all players dribbling in grid.  Either coach can act as the person tagging players or one player can be “it”.  If a player dribbling gets tagged they must freeze where they are at.  They stand with their legs spread apart, other players with balls can unfreeze them by dribbling the ball through their legs.  Objective for players with the ball is to never have the entire group frozen.  Works on mastery of the soccer ball and maintaining control and adds the element of helping out your teammates.

5. Knock-out- all players with a ball dribbling.  Coach is trying to knock out balls and players are trying to avoid the coach while still moving inside the grid with the ball.  Can change it up a little bit and have a player trying to get the balls.  Do not have them just knock the balls out have the defending player dribble across the sideline so that you don’t have balls flying all over the field.  You can add more defenders as the players get better with the ball.

6. Cross the River- Add a middle section to the grid.  Half the team on one side of the grid with balls at their feet and the other half on the other side with balls at their feet.  All players dribble on their side of the grid, coach gives command to cross the river then all players have to dribble across the middle section of the grid without running into each other or having their balls touch.  If they run into each other or their balls touch that player has to sit out for one round.  You can add the coach in the middle as the “alligator” who is trying to steal the balls as they cross the river.  Can also use a player for the role of the alligator.  Works on mastery of the soccer ball and maintaining control.

7. Gate game- set up multiple little gates (about two steps apart with cones) inside the grid.  Match up players 1v1.  They have to stay with that player for the duration of the activity.  Objective is for the player with the ball to dribble through as many gates as possible in a set amount of time.  If the player who starts as the defender wins the ball they now are trying to score by dribbling through the gates.  Each player keeps track of their own goals.  Works on mastery of the soccer ball and maintaining control with added pressure from a defender.

8. Prison Break- Half the players inside the grid with balls and half around the outside of the grid.  Players on the inside are the “prisoners” and the players along the outside are the “guards”.  Prisoners try and get past the guards without losing the balls.  Start with the prisoners dribbling around and then coach gives the verbal command to break.  At that point all the prisoners try and dribble past the guards.  Works on mastery of the soccer ball and maintaining control.

9. Cowboys and Indians- Split the team into two teams-yellow and blue if you have pennies or dark shirts against light shirts.  “Cowboys” have the balls and the “Indians” are trying to steal the balls and dribble across the edge of the grid.  If a cowboy loses their ball they stay inside the grid and help out their teammates.  The cowboys can pass the ball to anyone on their team that has lost their ball.  Coach can keep a stopwatch going to see how long the cowboys can keep the balls going.  After all balls are over the edge of the grid switch roles and have a little competition.

10.   Snow cones- four players per grid.  Grid size should be about 12 yards long and 8 yards wide.  Two players on each end line.  Set up two cones as midfield markers on each side of the grid.  Place a ball on top of each cone (this is the snow cone).  One side of the grid passes a ball across to one of the players.  The player receiving the ball tries to dribble into the grid and knock off one of the balls from the cone by dribbling their ball into it, they must dribble and not kick their ball at the cone to knock the ball off.  If they successfully knock a ball off the cone they have to replace the ball quickly because the next two players are going to be playing quickly.  This activity is fast moving but allows for a rest to play ratio.  If you have 8 players on your team set up two grids with a little space in between so the coach can walk in the middle and observe both grids at the same time.  This activity promotes mastery of the ball with a clear objective for the attacking player.

If in any of the above activities the players are having to easy of a time or are struggling the coach must adapt the space a little to make the environment successful.  A coach can always tweak an activity to keep it interesting or more successful.  Remember coaches must always strive for creating a successful environment for the players so that they feel good about what they just did on the soccer field.  Players should always get into the car after practice with a smile on their face so that they want to come back for the next practice.  If the players are having fun then you as a coach are probably having fun as well.