2015 Soccer: Cowabunga Kick-offs

Dad coached Nigel's (U6) soccer team this past year, and both he and the kids had a lot of fun. The practice games were a particular hit, including:

• LA Freeway (red light, green light with crashes and police)
• Sharks and Minnows (or the Blob variation)
• Relay races (running, dribbling)
• Soccer trail (dribble along a path)
• Soccer pirates (sneak in and steal balls)
• Big snake (dribbling)
• Persistence (continuous attempts to drive the ball into the goal despite opposition)
• Soccer bowling (knock balls off cones by kicking other balls at them)
• Soccer billiards (use one ball as a "cue ball" to direct a second ball into the goal)
• Crab soccer (soccer played while crawling on all fours, belly up and back down)
• Freeze tag (be tagged by a teammate or have a ball kicked between their legs or do 10 toe taps on the ball to unfreeze)
• Red light, green light (players have to freeze with their feet atop the ball)
• Passing circles (make a circle and pass the ball back and forth between the players, all taking one step back when a ball goes out of the circle)
• Coachodile (kicking or throwing ball at him to tranquilize him, but not entering his circle to avoid being bitten)
• Military death runs (running while chanting, military-style)
• Ministry of silly walks (full range-of-motion warm-up motions)
• Obstacle courses (running, jumping, hopping, backward, etc.)
• Fartlek runs (all directions, switching things around)
• Hokey-pokey (dribble in a circle around a cone instead of dancing, place feet upon ball instead of putting appendages into the center)

During the games, Nigel's favorite activity seemed to be what Dad came to call his "Cowabunga Kick-offs". When it was his turn to kick off, Nigel would retreat all the way back to his goal, then run at full speed toward the ball and deliver a huge kick to it. The results of this endeavor were mixed, but Nigel certainly loved the idea, and even managed to score a goal with one of them!