Coaching tools › Tools › Practice plan template
Printable · free PDF, no emailA soccer practice plan template
you can fill in with a pen
One page per session, in the shape every session on this site uses. Page one is the 60-minute plan for ages 4 to 8; page two is the 90-minute plan for ages 9 to 18. Fields for the two coaching points, the line to say out loud, an easier and harder version of each activity, and what to look for on match day. Print it, fill it in, clip it to your bag.
Download the template
Letter size, two pages, prints in black and white. Nothing to sign up for.
How to fill it in, in ten minutes
- Name the habit. One sentence a player can repeat: get big, look first, help the ball. Everything on the page serves it.
- Write two coaching points. One technique, one decision. Stop at two. You will say them twenty times each; three is where players stop hearing any of them.
- Pick the rondo. Players start as they arrive, so the rondo needs no explanation. Use the same one for two weeks. The rondo library has eleven with a video.
- Sharpen, then solve. Sharpen is technique with a decision in it; Solve is a small-group problem, usually to goal. Copy the setup and the Say this line from an activity page, then write the fix for when it stalls.
- Give the game one rule. One condition tied to the habit, and a bonus for doing it. Freeze checks, double goals, a bonus for a switch. One rule, not three.
- Write the match-day look-fors. Three things to watch from the touchline and two questions for halftime. Fill them in before the session, so you coach toward Saturday.
See it filled in
Every free practice plan on this site is this template with the blanks filled: the U6 and U8 plans use page one, the U10, U12 and U14 plans use page two. Read one, then write your own.
Questions coaches ask
Is it really free? Do I have to give an email?
Free, no email. The link above is the PDF. Print as many as you like for your own teams; please do not repost the file. Send other coaches to this page instead.
Which page do I use?
Page one is the 60-minute shape for Pre-K to 2nd grade: arrival play, Soccer Island, two or three activities and the game. Page two is the 90-minute shape for ages 9 to 18: rondo, sharpen, solve, play and a set piece. Pick by age, not by ability.
How do I fill in the two coaching points?
Write what to do with the ball, in words a player can repeat, and stop at two. One is a technique (receive on the back foot), one is a decision (look before it arrives). If you cannot say both in a breath, they are too long.
What goes in Say this?
The sentence you will say out loud, as written, when the activity is running. Not an explanation. Fewer than ten words. The activities on this site each have one you can copy.
Can I use it for a 75 or 60 minute session?
Yes. With 75 minutes halve Sharpen. With 60, skip Sharpen and run Rondo, Solve, Play and the set piece. Never cut Play. The clock column on page two assumes 90; cross it out and write your own.
Keep reading
Free practice plansComplete sessions by ageU6 to U14, every minute accounted for, with a video of each activity.
See the plans ›
Free activity library86 activities, each with a videoBy age and by theme, with the setup, the scoring and the line to say out loud.
Browse the activities ›
ReferenceField, goal and ball size by age4v4 to 11v11 under U.S. Soccer standards, with the build-out line and heading rules.
See the sizes ›Thirty-six sessions already filled in
The curricula are this template completed for a whole season: twelve weeks of sessions, match-day pages and an animated video of every activity, for ages 4 to 8, 9 to 12 and 13 to 18.