Field Hockey: fun games for juniors

This question is specific to juniors. I feel strongly that the basics such as hitting cleanly and accurately should be concentrated upon but I am anxious that repeated practice can make this dull. Do you have fun sessions to ensure the basics are practiced but a sense of competition and fun is retained?

I am coaching 5th and 6th graders…are the drills on this website for that age level or older?

Hi,I perhaps naively, expected to have most of our team from last year carry over and only have a few new comers to integrate and get up to speed with the rest. However meeting the team at our first practice last night i find I have five players still at school from last year and the rest all new comers, most of whom had not held a hockey stick at all till practice.This being only my second season coaching (year 9 to year 13 boys) has left me feeling a little blindsided, and feeling quite unsure how to prepare practices that target both groups of boys. Do i lump them both groups together, keep them separate? What drills/exercises to best bring the new comers up to speed.I don't want to neglect either group, keep practice worthwhile for the experienced boys, but also bringing the new comers up to a level were they can mix in with the others and learn organically from them while practicing as a team. David

I'm currently coaching a team of 18 year old girls.(Field Hockey) Some players don't show up for practice or when they do, they aren't motivated to give their best. Despite my tiring efforts to try and motivate them as a good AND bad guy. I am out of ways to punish and/or motivate the girls. What do you coaches do to keep your team committed? And when they aren't, what are your ways of handling the situation?

Hi all just wondering if there are any coach's that have any good tip for a new coach like me. I am coaching under 6/8yr olds and find they get bored very easy. How do you keep them from getting bored and what fun drills do you use? Cheer James first time coach

What fun warm ups can I use with a group of 7-11 year olds with and without hockey sticks? Many thanks xx

I have been given my first team ever!! They are 11 year old girls and I wanted guide/ recommendation on how I should structure my one hour sessions? E.g. how long should I spend on a warm up, drill etc. .Cheers,Freya

I really struggle to make practice fun and useful for the GKs. My attention is naturally focussed on the outfield players, meaning most of the time I simply have drills finishing with a shot on goal to keep the GK involved. Pretty boring for them. Any ideas how I can involve them more? Thanks, Charlie

Hi,I perhaps naively, expected to have most of our team from last year carry over and only have a few new comers to integrate and get up to speed with the rest. However meeting the team at our first practice last night i find I have five players still at school from last year and the rest all new comers, most of whom had not held a hockey stick at all till practice.This being only my second season coaching (year 9 to year 13 boys) has left me feeling a little blindsided, and feeling quite unsure how to prepare practices that target both groups of boys. Do i lump them both groups together, keep them separate? What drills/exercises to best bring the new comers up to speed.I don't want to neglect either group, keep practice worthwhile for the experienced boys, but also bringing the new comers up to a level were they can mix in with the others and learn organically from them while practicing as a team. David

I'm looking for drills to give junior goalkeepers confidence to step off the goalline and close down play. ideally fun and ideally helping them become more confident and vocal

I am coaching 5th and 6th graders…are the drills on this website for that age level or older?

Hi all, after "volunteering" at the last minute to coach last season, I'm looking forward to coaching again this season but would like to be a bit more organised starting the season. Last season I used drills from here (thank you contributors) and put together a practice plan each week addressing what I thought were our weakness from the game just played. This got us through the season, we were promoted after grading and finished the season in the top 4 playoffs for our grade.I wonder if there is some kind of guide to putting a more coherent training plan together for the season.I'm coaching a boys secondary school team, aged 12-18. What kind of skills should they have mastered?What should they be attempting, working towards mastering (individually and as a team)?I last played as a collage boy on grass fields, the change to turf pitches has obviously obsoleted (along with age) much of what I knew as a player.Any pointers appreciated.David