Summertown U9s Stars

My u9’s team are competing in the 2-team Oxford Mail Boys Red League which is their first properly competitive season. Last year we played various friendly matches which prepared the lads for the coming season and it will be interesting to see how they perform when there are three points at stake at the end of the match!

My attitude to football coaching at this age group is that I am trying to teach the boys how to play football in the right spirit and have the confidence to express themselves and practise skills that they might be too nervous to try. They are being taught to work as a team but also encouraged to learn and develop personal skills that they see professionals doing so as to be able to beat opposition defenders with those skills. So, stepovers, drag-backs, dummies and Cryuff turns are all part of their skill set which they practise in training and I then encourage them to try in match situations – seeing them beat a player using one of those skills is sometimes more rewarding than seeing them scoring a goal!

Last season was enjoyable and we went to the Kassam for a Saturday Special and for our end of season event we went Laser Gaming – photos below.

Looking forward to this coming season and seeing the lads continue to improve in ability and confidence.