U12 soccer drills
Ages 11 and 12, 9v9

A free 90-minute U12 soccer practice plan, minute by minute.

Look wide, play through: find the player between the lines.

Counter-attacks: look forward first, then finish early.

Draw them to one side, then go out the other.

A 10x10 with one attacker on each side line and one defender inside. Attackers may slide along their own line but not leave it.

4v1 in a 10x10 with a helper walking the outside holding up a colored cone. The receiver has to call the color before the first touch.

4v2 in a 10x10 with two mini goals fifteen yards away.

The first rondo. Three attackers on three sides of a small square, one defender inside, two touches and five passes for a point.

A 4v1 rondo where the receiver has to call a number shown by a helper before the first touch.

Four attackers on the sides of a 10x10, two defenders inside working as a pair.

The first rondo with a player in the middle. Four attackers on the sides, one inside as the link, two defenders.

Cone gates scattered 12 to 15 yards apart across a 30x30. In pairs, pass through a gate to your partner, then both run to a new gate.

4v4 to mini goals on a 35x30 with a five-yard channel down each side. One attacker at a time may be in a channel and nobody may tackle them there.

Cones laid out in your team shape on half a field, one player per cone.

5v5 plus keepers on a 40x30 split into back, middle and front bands.

Threes in a line, ten yards apart.

Four attackers around a 12x12 with two defenders standing as a gate in the middle, three yards apart.

Three lines of cones split a 15x12 into thirds. Four attackers on the ends, one in the middle third with three defenders.

Three zones and two neutrals. You can only score by going through the middle.

A 4v1 rondo with one rule that changes everything: after you pass, you must move to a different side of the square before you can receive again.

Three attackers with one ball travel down a 10x30 channel against a defender who may only walk, keeping a triangle around the defender the whole way.

Nobody may receive in a corner, or in a straight line with a defender.

A long, narrow rondo. Two attackers on each short end of a 16x8, two defenders inside.

Two attackers on each side line of a 20x14, two in the middle, three defenders.

Two goals to attack, and a goal after a switch counts double.

Two servers twelve yards apart, a receiver in the middle with a shadow defender behind.

A rondo that rotates: leave a space so a teammate can arrive in it.

One way, then the other. You can’t receive until you’ve made a double move.

A passer and a runner on a 20x15 with a mini goal.

Pass into the target, run on the pass, finish the lay-off.

After four passes, one attacker breaks out toward goal.

Half a field with a goal. Keeper, two backs and a center mid build against two pressers, with three cone gates on the halfway line.

A server twelve yards from a receiver with a shadow defender behind, either tight or loose.

A 45x35 with a halfway line.

The simplest build-up picture: a goal, a keeper and two backs on the edge of the box against one presser, with two gates on the far line.

Keeper, two backs and a center mid in a diamond against two pressers, with three gates across the far line.

Half a field. Keeper, two backs and two wide mids build against three pressers, and a striker waits in an end zone past halfway.

A full 9v9 where every restart is played short from the keeper and the opponents drop to halfway until the first pass is received.

Two attackers against one defender in a 15x10 channel, ten seconds to dribble over the end line.

Three attackers against two defenders on a 20x15 with two mini goals on the far line and twelve seconds to score.

4v2 on one side, 2v2 on the other. Move a player across and make it 3v2.

Two wide players and a striker against three defenders and a keeper on a 30x25.

4v4 on a 35x30 with a target player on each end line and three gates across the middle: a wide center gate and two wide ones.

4v2 in a 12x12 where the defenders try to keep the ball when they win it, and the four have five seconds, counted out loud, to win it back.

Several 12x12 boxes with a 2v2 in each. Five passes is a point, and if you lose the ball you have five seconds to win it back for two.

When you lose it, the nearest two press the very next pass.

3v3 on a 20x15 with a mini goal at each end.

Win the ball in the rondo and break out 4v4 to goal.

Six seconds after you win it, a goal counts double.

A full 9v9 with nothing marked and one rule: every time possession changes, the bench calls it.

The same warm-up before every game, all season: rondo, move, pairs with a ball, a habit game, shots and saves, then the huddle.