Fa "Powerplay" rules for kids (1 Viewer)

I guess a positive is that if one set of kids are way to good for the others then the better ones will get more of a challenge.

It's a shift in philosophy in this country that has been creeping in for a few years. In other more successful countries they don't play matches at all until U14s and just concentrate on core skills instead. In my match session yesterday I didn't allow the kids to speak so they could only use visual communication. The goals were only a couple of yards wide and if the ball hit either post I awarded two goals rather than one. The ball wasn't allowed over knee height. Every time a player touched the ball he or she had to use each foot at least once. They found it frustrating at first but at the end they all said they enjoyed it and felt they gained more from it than if we played a standard match.

A while ago my lads team were winning by 7 -0 do I took 2 players off and then another. We won 10-0 but I took no pleasure in it. In fact it was the worst I’d felt in 10 years running a kids team. I think it’s a great idea.

Nick said:

Was it just a massive gulf in quality?

Click to expand...

Yes they just weren’t very good. Winning by that score doesn’t prove anything though. Having said that we’ve were beaten by 10 once but the other team we’re trying as hard as they could. It’s just not a good thing for anyone to have to be involved in.

Its a good idea. Neither teams players gain or learn anything from winning/losing by huge margains.


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One of things our coach introduced is scoring by clickers on the touchline. Each positive play gets a click (so a good passing move might two or three even if they don't score) and each team's score is revealed at the end. It kept the kids playing until the final whistle because even if they were 3 goals down they might still win on clicks. Great for friendlies. Started by the U19 England rugby team apparently.

I like that we're moving away from the idea of just scaling down proper football for kids and hoping that's enough.