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Getting started

A girl in the Foundation Phase controls the ball and thinks about what to do next, with two opposition players in front of her applying pressure and a teammate providing support on her left.
The technical corner and the Foundation Phase
A coach guides his team using a tactics board.
Why is technical/tactical development important?
A coach explains a tactics board to players.
How to support technical/tactical development
A young female player tackles a member of the opposition.
Learning to 'hide the ball'
A boy in a Foundation Phase training session practises a piece of skill.
How to help 5-11 year olds stay on the ball and master it
A young player uses skill to stay in possession of the ball.
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Mastering the ball
A Foundation Phase player shields the ball from his opponent, to hide it, before looking to turn and attack.
Hide, manoeuvre and attack
A player in a red bib chases his opponent to try to win back possession during a Foundation Phase training activity.
The stadium game
A Foundation Phase player runs with a ball towards a ‘gate’ created by using two cones, during an activity run by Pete Sturgess.
The stadium game with tunnels
A young boy in the Foundation Phase runs past his opponent with the ball and strides towards goal at Leicestershire and Rutland’s Holmes Park.
Revealing the ball to attack
A young Foundation Phase player takes the ball forward and prepares to shoot goalwards.
Hold and release
A Foundation Phase player wearing a blue bib, keeps possession of the ball under pressure from an opponent behind him.
No going back
Two players, with a ball each, look to take on their opponent in a 1v1 challenge.
Score - can you keep the goal?
A Leeds United coach kneels to talk to his players who are sat down on the fustal court at St. George’s park, listening to his advice.
Leeds United academy: reaction games
A young player applies some pressure to try to win the ball off of his opponent during a Foundation Phase training session.
Developing positive and enthusiastic defending
A young player gets the ball under control with his right foot during a match and looks to drive forward on the wing.
Instinctive decision-making
A Foundation Phase player runs forward with the ball with two opposition players closing her down, and two teammates in front of her that are available for a pass.
How to help 5-11 year olds excite with the ball and seek creative solutions
A girl in the Foundation Phase passes the ball to her teammate while being closed down by an opposition player.
How to connect and combine creatively with others

Players aged 5-8

A young player stretches out his arm to help shield the ball from his opponent.
Introducing defending
A young defender wins the ball and looks to run forward with it whilst under pressure from an opponent.
Intelligent defending

Players aged 9-12

A young girl smiles and kicks a ball during an SSE Wildcats training session.
Planning a long-term journey
A coach watches on as a group of young players take part in his session focusing on activating an attack.
Activate your attacks
A young player puts his right foot in to tackle his opponent and stop a counter-attack during a Foundation Phase training session.
Mastering defensive techniques and roles

Mastering the ball

5 - 11

Many parents lead busy lives and this can result in players arriving at different times for their training sessions.


Coaches can use these informal opportunities to build good rapports and relationships with the young players and also to sow some ideas that might encourage them to practise more.

Watch the video below to see how the coach in this example deals with the situation by setting some players individual challenges, to encourage them to try to gain mastery over the ball when they play and train.

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Individual practice

The activities should be both age-appropriate and challenging. Achieving success when something is quite difficult, brings a great deal of satisfaction and promotes a good attitude to practice. Once players are comfortable with individual skills, get them to begin to combine them and then lastly, bring them into lots of game-like situations to develop them even further.

Let’s take a closer look at some individual ball mastering skills.

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Ball mastery

To learn more about Foundation Phase DNA, click here.

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