U13 session plans
Ready-to-run U13 sessions built on the same structure coaching courses teach: warm-up, skill practice, main practice and a game.
Players can now understand team ideas. Link every practice to a moment in the game they recognise. Each plan below is written for 18 players over 90 minutes. Different numbers? The session planner rebuilds any plan for exactly who turns up.
Your assistant coach: sessions built around your squad and what you're working on.
U13 session plan: keeping the ball
Big circle rondo (8v3)
A large rondo with the whole group: eight on the outside, three inside. Great for team bonding at the start of a session, with lots of touches and pressing practice.
Area: 20 m circle. Coach: Angles: give the passer two options. Pass across the circle when the press comes.
Wing-back rondo for 3-5-2 and 3-4-3
A 5v3 rondo in a central box with a wing-back in each wide channel. Teaches a back-three team to use the wing-backs to escape pressure and switch the play.
Area: 30 x 20 m with 4 m wide channels. Coach: Wing-backs: stay wide and high so the pass to you is open. Back three: draw a defender in before passing wide.
3-5-2 wing-back switch of play
Draw the opposition to one side, then switch to the far wing-back arriving unmarked. The signature attack of a 3-5-2, practised as a pattern then as a 7v5 game.
Area: Three-quarters pitch. Coach: Far wing-back: stay wide and high, don't drift towards the ball. Switch quickly: two quick passes beat one slow long one.
4v4 with four corner goals
Each team defends two corner goals and attacks two. Teaches switching play and looking up, because the open goal is usually on the other side.
Area: 30 x 25 m. Coach: If one goal is crowded, switch to the other. Stay spread: two wide, one deep, one high.
U13 session plan: playing out from the back
Shadow play (team shape walk-through)
The team moves the ball through its formation with no opposition, rehearsing build-up patterns and positions. A calm pre-match warm-up that switches minds on.
Area: Half pitch. Coach: Correct distances: width and depth. Receive on the half-turn.
Directional rondo: play through the lines
A rondo with a direction: defenders start in the middle and the attackers try to move the ball from one end to the other through them. Links rondos to real games, where the aim is to go forward.
Area: 20 x 15 m. Coach: Draw the defender toward you before passing past them. Use the drop player: play in, set back, play through (the third-man pattern).
3-5-2 outside centre-back overlap
The wide centre-back carries forward and overlaps the wing-back, creating an overload on the flank. A powerful 3-5-2 pattern to break down a compact defence.
Area: Half pitch. Coach: Centre-back carries only when there's space. Midfielder covers the centre-back's position.
1v1 tournament (up and down the pitches)
Players play 60-second 1v1 games on a row of mini pitches; winners move up, losers move down. Huge numbers of 1v1s and a fun competitive ladder.
Area: Several 15 x 10 m pitches. Coach: Be brave: take players on. Get back goal-side when you lose it.
U13 session plan: pressing
Ball fartlek
Players move round the pitch mixing jogging with the ball, fast dribbling and short sprints on the coach's call. Endurance work that keeps the ball involved.
Area: Full pitch perimeter. Coach: Keep good control even when tired. Recover on the jog.
Double box rondo (transfer)
Two rondos side by side. After a set number of passes, the team switches the ball into the other box; two defenders chase it across. Combines rondo skills with switching and pressing.
Area: Two 12 x 12 m boxes. Coach: Switch when the defenders are drawn in. Receivers in the far box get ready early.
3-5-2 press: wing-backs jump
In a 3-5-2 press, the wing-backs jump forward to press the opposition full-backs while the back three shift across. Teaches a high press without leaving gaps.
Area: Half pitch. Coach: Wing-back jumps on the pass, not after it arrives. Wide centre-back covers behind the wing-back.
Pressing triggers game
A 5v5 (or 6v6) game where the defending team scores a bonus goal for winning the ball within five seconds of a trigger: a back pass, a bad touch, or a pass to the touchline.
Area: 40 x 30 m with goals. Coach: First presser: curve your run to cut off one side. Second player covers; everyone else moves across and up together.
U13 session plan: attacking play
Pass and race
Partners pass across a gap and, on the coach's call, the receiver races the passer to a gate with the ball. Passing, then a sharp 1v1 race.
Area: 20 x 10 m. Coach: Quality passes while waiting for the call. Explode away on the call.
Beat the press: 2v1 in a channel
Two players pass their way through a channel past a pressing defender to stop the ball on the end line. Teaches when to pass, angle of support and passing under pressure.
Area: 20 x 10 m channels. Coach: Draw the defender, then pass. Support player: get level and wide, not behind the defender.
1v1 with your back to goal
The attacker receives with a defender tight behind them and must turn or hold up the ball and shoot. The striker's toughest 1v1, made into a repeatable game.
Area: 20 x 20 m to goal. Coach: Feel where the defender is before the ball arrives. Spin off them when they're tight, protect the ball when they're not.
1v1 tournament (up and down the pitches)
Players play 60-second 1v1 games on a row of mini pitches; winners move up, losers move down. Huge numbers of 1v1s and a fun competitive ladder.
Area: Several 15 x 10 m pitches. Coach: Be brave: take players on. Get back goal-side when you lose it.
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