Abbotsford Soccer

Wee Kickers Outline

Wee Kickers Outline

TO: Parents of U-6/U-7 Wee Kicker players

FROM: Technical Director & Wee Kickers Master Coach

RE: Welcome to our Club!

The purpose of this letter is to outline the club philosophy for the U-6 & U-7 Wee Kicker players. By explaining to you the skill priorities and program objectives for your child, the program’s format, and your role within the program, we hope we can clarify many of your questions and work together to make sure we provide a wonderful experience for everyone involved. Above all else, please remember that, as a Club, our primary objective is to make sure that every player gets what they want out of the game at the different levels of play from U-6 through U-18 while having fun.

The Wee Kickers Program will only be a success WHEN the parents become involved and take on the role of a facilitator and join in all the sessions and support the Master Coach.

Parents will be required to remain at the field during all the Wee Kickers sessions.

Program Objectives

The primary objectives of the U-6/U-7 Wee Kickers program is to give the game back to the kids, instill a love for the game ,develop facilitators into future coaches, educate parents on positive sideline behavior & facilitating an environment that allows “The Game To Be The Teacher” for in the end soccer is a player’s game.

The Wee Kickers Program is based on & inspired by the street soccer concepts of free play, small sided games & minimal rules. No set teams until U-8, young children start to identify with the concept of “team” around the age of 7 or 8, so forming season long teams & having coaches, refs & rules for these young players is an adult imposed condition that eliminates most connections to the ideals of street soccer & free play.

Once players graduate to U-8 they will enter Mini Kickers recreational program U-8 to U-10, and be placed on teams and be coached by the "Team Coach" and receive additional coaching from a "Master Coach" on a rotational basis.

Skill Priorities

The primary objective in skill development of the U-6/U-7 Wee Kickers program is to encourage players to dribble. We want players to be comfortable with the ball at their feet and want to help build their confidence.

By encouraging them to dribble, we hope to encourage creativity as well as adding their own personality to the game. Please recognize we do not list kicking or booting the ball as an objective. We do not want the children to aimlessly kick the ball as it is not helpful to their development as a player. They need to touch the ball as often as possible and to develop skills. We much prefer they learn how to dribble as opposed to just kicking the ball. Typically, young players find dribbling much more fun.

Program Structure and Facilitators

The players will be organized in to group of approx ten (1) players at the beginning of the season, and one or two parent volunteers (facilitators) will be assign to each group and the facilitators will work with the Master Coach to deliver the program at each session as outlined by the Master Coach.

There will be skills sessions for approximately the first 30 minutes of each session followed by the group breaking off into small sided game for the remainder. During the small sided games the groups will enjoy the opportunity to play against the other groups as they move through the mini game portion of the program.

Field Layout

Players will play small sided games 3 v 3 & 4v 4 within their group of playmates. You will be asked to sit a few yards away from the sidelines during games in an area designated as the Parent’s Area.

The objective here is to give the players a sense of freedom, encourage the players to think for themselves and minimize the effect that we adults have on the children’s play.

We hope to encourage them to think for themselves when on the field and wean them out of their dependency on the adults and eliminate any pressures from parents for them to perform.

Sideline Behavior /We ask that you:

1)  Refrain from sideline coaching, screaming or running up and down the sidelines. It is not acceptable if you hear yourself yelling from the sideline: Go Timmy, Timmy go, Kick it, Boot it, Get it Timmy, Timmy pass it, Timmy hustle, get rid of it, Timmy play your position, Timmy play wide, Timmy get up stop being a wimp; Timmy run harder etc.

I think you get the idea…Geppetto was the last puppeteer to have his son on strings, so unless your son or daughter is named Pinocchio let him or her play on their own.

2)  Feel free to cheer and applaud. This is not “silent soccer”, but it should be positive soccer.

Please refrain from offering negative comments and please applaud good plays by all players.