(If you're a Premium Member, you should only have to log in once as long as you leave a link open.) Our league plays an end of season tournament, which was to start a week later. I held two practices before our first tournament game, the second practice of which we held on the game field. By this time I was able to play the two weak and large girls as outside FB's because they had learned to kick balls and weren't afraid of them. So we went over defensive assignments again and really dialed that in, then I had my 3 starting forwards and 2 starting midfielders go against our 3 starting fullbacks and 2 starting stoppers, basically our starting offense against our starting defense. I rotated players some during this too, but the focus was on defensive assignments and aggressive attacking. We played this for about 45 minutes during the practice on the game field and had a lot of fun and really dialed it in. The following is from SoccerHelp Premium, "Shifting � Importance Of". It is part of a letter posted by Coach Corey on the Forum and explains how he taught positions and then won the U-12 Tournament, scoring 11 goals and giving up 0. Up to that point his record was 3-4-1: Here's how he taught his 3 Fullbacks: "The defensive assignments were critical! Most critical of those was having the center FB play off the near post when the ball was on the wing. Having the Stopper be a First Defender really paid off because the other team had to get past three defenders (Stopper, Near Fullback, and Center Fullback) to get a chance to score. Also critical was having the Far Fullback play in the middle of the Penalty Box (outside the Goal Box about even with the Center of the goal) when the ball was on the Wing. There were a few occasions during the tournament games where the Far Fullback playing right in the middle of the Penalty Box allowed her to clear the ball out and avoid a scoring opportunity by the other team's Far Forward. Critical! Having the defense "dial in" their assignments and really play in the right places at the right time really made a big difference." Note from David: Also read No. 3 and No. 4 at Premium "Quick Team Improvement Program". How to Teach Soccer Positions
How a Coach Went from 3-4-1 to winning the Tournament
His Team Scored 11 Goals and Gave Up 0