Pre-Season Training

Get the ultimate guide to running a successful pre-season with your team. Starting with our no-nonsense, four week pre-season training guide.

Building your team's pre-season schedule

Building your team's pre-season schedule

What to include, on and off the pitch, to prepare players for the new campaign.

Pre-season checklist

Pre-season checklist

This handy guide will help to ensure everything is ready when players are back. Download and print the PDF to tick items off as you go!

Pre-season: FAQs

Pre-season: FAQs

We answer your frequently asked questions around preparing for a new campaign.

Pre-season tips for grassroots coaches

Pre-season tips for grassroots coaches

Integrating new arrivals and getting players match fit are among the challenges facing coaches before each campaign. NATHAN COOKSON provi.

6 ways to help your new players fit in

6 ways to help your new players fit in

Bringing a newcomer into a tight-knit squad isn’t always easy. Here, HANNAH DUNCAN provides tips on how you can make any new additions fe.

Confidence tricks

Confidence tricks

Developing young players is not just about technique – you have to coach their self-esteem, too. TOM WHEELER provides some advice on prom.

5 signs that players do enjoy training

5 signs that players do enjoy training

If your youngsters are having fun in your sessions, that is really half the battle won. Here are some of the tell-tale indicators that th.

Why values are vital

Why values are vital

Setting principles for your team can help unite everyone around one cause. But, as STEPH FAIRBAIRN notes, the best outcomes are achieved .

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Volunteer coach

Volunteer coach

You volunteered to coach but have no coaching experience or qualifications. You’re short of time and could benefit from being told what to .

Travel / ODP coach

Travel / ODP coach

You’ve been coaching a while but are looking for ideas and inspiration to help you take your team to the next level.

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High School coach

You’re looking for an extra edge in the pursuit of excellence and will do whatever you can to help the players in your care be successful .

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Director of Coaching

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Help players to get to know each other

Help players to get to know each other

Steph Fairbairn provides her tips for integration and building relationships.

New season checklist

New season checklist

As pre-season takes place, preparations for the upcoming campaign should be ramping up. This guide will help ensure you have got everything .

End-to-end and back

End-to-end and back

Put a string of passes together in this activity, with the focus on connectivity and receiving.

Combat 2v2

Combat 2v2

Players are challenged to attack quickly, and be compact when defending, in this activity.

The RAMP warm-up

The RAMP warm-up

Prepare your players for training, reduce injury risk and support them mentally and physically as well. By strength and conditioning coach A.

How to use games and matches in training

How to use games and matches in training

A quick guide to small-sided games and group practices - including benefits, limitations and how to get the most out of them.

Active cool down

Active cool down

Get players back to their baseline state, post-session.

What to include in your pre-season sessions

What to include in your pre-season sessions

John Allpress, a former Tottenham Hotspur and Football Association player development coach, explores the elements that make up a .

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Soccer Coach Weekly Issue 170

Latest Issue

Soccer Coach Weekly Issue 170

Download printable PDF

Creating a healthy, happy environment

Creating a healthy, happy environment

You will get the best from your players if they are part of a team culture that is inclusive, welcoming, safe and also allows for mistakes, .

Beating nerves on <a href=a return to coaching" />

Beating nerves on a return to coaching

If you have been away, keep it simple and get support, says STEPH FAIRBAIRN.

The five pillars of an effective pre-season

The five pillars of an effective pre-season

From getting to know new players and re-establishing old bonds to sorting out logistics and getting everyone on the same page, we discuss a .

Complete Pre-season Guide

Complete Pre-season Guide

Pre-season is a difficult time for experienced coaches, let alone beginners. But don’t worry. We’re here with our pre-season guide to help .

Week 4: Focus on the first game

Week 4: Focus on the first game

Your players have made it to week 4 with the first whistle of the new season not far away. But before it blows you’ve got one final week to .

Week 3: Create a match strategy

Week 3: Create a match strategy

The basics have been taken care of with passing, possession and fitness, and there has been plenty of small-sided game-play thrown into the .

Week 2: Tactics and techniques

Week 2: Tactics and techniques

The second week of pre-season is a lot more than just shaking off the cobwebs. Now it’s the real thing! Some of your players may not be .

Week 1: Shaping up

Week 1: Shaping up

The first week of Soccer Coach Weekly’s pre-season plan is all about getting moving and getting some focus on what it is we are aiming to .

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Gerald Kearney, Downtown Las Vegas Soccer Club

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Paul Butler, Florida, USA

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Rick Shields, Springboro, USA

Rick Shields, Springboro, USA

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Tony Green, Pierrefonds Titans, Quebec, Canada

Tony Green, Pierrefonds Titans, Quebec, Canada

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