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TFA's philosophy is that players should not train longer than they play; e.g. an 80 minute game = an 80 minute training session. We believe 75 minutes is enough time to get your session plan across to the players without ‘losing them’ in the process. For U10’s and under, we plan for 60 minutes, as the attention span is less than an older player.

Every coach within TFA plans their sessions before hand; we set up the practice so that the players have just enough time to take on water (2 minutes max) in-between progressions. This results in the session being very fluid and little time lost as they move through their exercises.
This is important for two reasons.

1. It keeps the intensity up at practice, which reflects within the game.

2. We do not lose players through boredom, waiting in lines, etc. When looking around at TFA coaches you will never see long lines, this equates to players having more touches on the ball.

Mandatory Sessions (2 weekly):
Again, every TFA coach will have a planned practice session. You will see the coach pacing out his cones before the session has started, normally setting up 2-3 progressions so the players can efficiently move from one exercise to another, along with water breaks. Sometimes these sessions change through various reasons.

• There are less players than planned, so the need to change the size of the field, etc.

• If the group is progressing quicker/slower and needs more/less space.

Our warm-up includes lots of touches on the ball so the players are comfortable going into the next progression. This involves what’s needed for the next phase, for example headers and volleys if we are progressing to crossing and finishing on goal working and refining their technique before hand will help the player later on in training and eventually the game.
We do not do many ‘exercises’ (drills), as we prefer the player to see the bigger picture of the game. This helps them understand the decisions involved. At TFA, we play a lot of small-sided games with varying limitations, problems, etc. For example, we will inform the players to play 2 touches to quicken up their speed of play.
Every session will always end in a cool down where the players jog/stretch and the coach reviews the practice, or an up-coming event and what we are looking to achieve.

Optional Sessions (2 weekly):
As you can probably tell from looking in, these are a lot of fun for the players (and coaches)! These optional practices are a free for all where the player plays for fun, without ANY coaching. You will see the players express themselves in a way that you might not have seen before.
This is open to ‘groups’ of players; U9/10’s, U11/12/13/14’s and U15/16/17/18’s. The older players (U14’s and U18’s) are responsible for the warm-up. Each player will take the group and do a 10-15 minute warm-up. We feel this is very important for the older guys to experience being a leader, not only thinking about what they need to do, but others as well. The groups will ‘semi critique’ the session asking what we thought, more touches needed, bigger space, etc. This is a fun chat with lots of raised eyebrows!
The coach will then split the group into small-sided team/games; including the U11’s with the U14’s. This is normally 4v4 to 6v6 at the most. We will offer for example 4 points to a U11 to score, 3 for a U12, 2 for a U13 and 1 for a U14. This encourages the older guys to bring the younger guys into the game as they score more points. In addition, we have a ‘Flash of Brilliance’ (FOB) for all players to gain points. This could be a move, pass, shot, tackle or act of sportsmanship.

This encourages individuals of any age to try something different or new. This is very fun to watch, seeing a U11 wheel away doing the airplane after scoring on a U14, or someone attempting to curve the ball around another player with the outside of their foot!
The learning curve changes from year to year. The U14’s are seen as top of the ladder, next year they will be U15’s and very much on the bottom rung. This is reminded to all of them, as well as being positive and a respectable role model to the younger players. “If it’s not positive, it stays in your mouth!”

We end the session with the cross bar challenge, again, another exciting spectacle! The boys try and strike the cross bar from the edge of the penalty area, U11’s are allowed to drop kick the ball out of their hands. At the end of the season the winner will receive a prize!
These optional practices are set up for fun and trying new tricks, moves, etc with absolutely NO coaching opinions. These have replaced (unfortunately) the ‘old’ kick around in the back yard or park (or for me the street!) Nowadays, parents are sometimes reluctant to let their player venture too far without thinking of the consequences. Hence, these sessions, where they are in a safe environment, playing with other soccer players.