After another Katie, Kimberly and Tegan warm up, we carried on the running with the ball with the younger group.  They started by simply running with the ball towards the goal and trying to score – we encouraged them to try a toe poke finish!  We then added a chaser to start just behind the player with the ball.  We talked about running at pace but keeping the ball under control and making sure we got a shot at the end, before they got caught.  We then moved the chaser alongside the player with the ball, this gave us some great battles.  Finally, we moved the chaser in front of the player with the ball, but facing away so they couldn’t see when the runner set off.  Claire was brilliant with her double head turn as Emily-Sue shot passed her.

Click here to download a copy of this week’s session plan for the Under 12s

We then played a game in which each team had to keep 2 players in each half of the court at all times.  This meant the girls couldn’t chase after the ball, and had to pass it across the court to their attackers.  We encouraged them to play backwards if it meant they kept the ball.  Finally we progressed to allowing one player on each team go anywhere they wanted.  All the players really gave it everything tonight and we have to say they are such a wonderful group to coach, loads of smiles and hard work!

Click here to see some images from this week’s sessions

We welcomed a new girl to the older group, Beth.  This part of the session didn’t quite go to plan.  We wanted the girls to play a 3v1 in part of the court, break out and to score they had to deliver the ball from a wide area, for a second post, first time finish if possible.  At first the girls didn’t use the space to make sure they got the 5, then 3 passes before breaking out of the first part of the court.  They just didn’t use the space at all.  We got the tactics board out and had a good chat, and yes it did improve, but they couldn’t work out how to get the ball wide quickly and deliver across the D.  Oh well, that’s coaching!  We did get some results but this is definitely a session we will cover again.

Click here to download a copy of this week’s session plan for the Over 12s

We finish the night by playing a 5v5 game with 1 sub each.  After each minute, 1 player had to run round the opposition’s goal before tagging the sub.  We used this to show the intensity of the game, and if you don’t work hard to recover, get off the pitch in this case, then your team suffered.  Also, we wanted to see if the girls could manage themselves with who is going off next without being told.  Top organiser tonight was Tegan, she really was in charge, great to see and hear.

We finished with a game with no restrictions, it was a bit crowded as the girls were shattered after working hard earlier, and their movement suffered.  That said, the group worked so hard all session and the coaches were very pleased by their progress, well done to all!

We finished the night by welcoming York RI U11s for a team session.  They were such a lovely bunch, and also completely mental, we thought we would share the pictures!  Click here to see how hard they worked tonight!

Player of the week for the Under 11s was Holly.  Don’t know what her parents had fed her this week but she was so determined tonight!  She never stopped running and scored a couple of fantastic goals, great attitude, keep it up Holly! 

Player of the week for the Over 12s was Drew.  She has really improved her control and passing since she started futsal.  As a natural defender she likes to stay back and have the game in front, but recently she has started to venture forward and managed a second post finish.  Really good improvements Drew, keep it going!