Coaching tools › Practice plans › U7
Free practice plan · Ages 6–7 · 1st gradeA U7 shooting practice plan:
Go at Goal
Sixty minutes, eight to twelve players, and a goal at the end of every activity. Players learn to look for the open goal, go at the defender and shoot. Every activity here is free on this site, with its own page and an animated video.
- Head up to find the open goal.
- When it is 1v1, go at the defender.
Bring: 1 ball per player, 30 cones, 4 pug or cone goals, pinnies in 2 colors.
Your job: Keep the lines short. If anyone is waiting, build a second field.
The session, minute by minute
Small-sided games
ArrivalAs players arrive, send them straight into 2v2 or 3v3 on two small fields with cone goals. No lines, no laps, no lecture. Ball goes out? Roll a new one in and keep it moving. Brand-new group? Swap this for free play on the island, every player with a ball.
Soccer Island: Cone Colors
Every weekEveryone dribbles inside the island while sharks wait in the water outside the cones to steal any ball that floats away. New today: Scatter 8 to 12 cones around the grid, half one color and half another. One color is Number 1, the other is Number 2. Players dribble around; when you call a number they dribble to a cone of that color and stop the ball with their foot. One rule: never the same cone twice in a row.
EasierCall the color instead of the number.
HarderSay nothing: hold a cone in the air. Players have to look up, spot the color, and go.
If it stallsEveryone racing to one cone? Put out more cones than players and remind them: a different cone every time.
1v1 Four-Goal Game
PracticeOne attacking line and one defending line, each starting between two small goals. The attacker dribbles out and can score in either of the two goals the defender is guarding.
EasierThe defender starts a step late.
HarderDefender wins it? They attack the other two goals.
If it stallsLong lines? Build a second field next door.
Water break
WaterFour minutes.
1v1 to Goal + Keeper
PracticeShort field, a goal and keeper at each end, teams of four at most. The attacker starts on the dribble and a defender comes out. Beat them and shoot. If the defender wins it, they attack the other goal.
HarderAdd a second attacker: 2v1.
If it stallsToo much waiting? Run two short fields.
3v3 on two small fields
The game3v3 on two small fields with cone goals (4v4 if numbers need it). Coach only today's two points and celebrate them loudly.
The coach tip
Rotate keepers every few minutes so everyone gets a turn, and start a new game on every goal or ball out.
Questions coaches ask
Do U7 teams use a goalkeeper?
Not in games. 4v4 has no keeper. Here a keeper simply gives players someone to shoot past, and they rotate so everyone gets a turn.
What if the attacker never gets past the defender?
Use the Easier rule in the 1v1 Four-Goal Game: the defender starts a step late.
How do I stop players waiting in line?
Run two short fields. Teams of four at most, and a new game on every goal or ball out.
More free practice plans
Thirty-six sessions like this one, Pre-K to 2nd grade
The Full Season Intramural Curriculum is one page per session for four grades, eight weeks each, with an easier and a harder version of every activity, a fix for when it turns to chaos, and an animated video of all 112 activities. Built so a professional trainer and a parent who volunteered last week run the same session.