Overview of ALL STARS Soccer

This targeted program was developed in collaboration with the U.S. Soccer Foundation to introduce youth to the sport of soccer in a supportive environment. It focuses on individual and critical life skill development, as well as small-sided games.

The ALL STARS Soccer education topics are from the national soccer benchmarks outlined in the U.S. Youth Soccer Player Development Model to ensure the best possible experience for all youth. For the nutrition topics, the ALL STARS Soccer Curriculum uses benchmarks outlined in the 2015-20 Dietary Guidelines for Americans and the United States Department of Agriculture.

How to Use This Targeted Program

The ALL STARS Soccer targeted program contains 24 practice sessions for each of the three age groups (6-8, 9-11, 12-14). Each session teaches youth fundamental soccer skills blended with nutrition education. The health and nutrition information is integrated seamlessly during the practice, without interrupting the physical activity.

ALL STARS Soccer sessions can be run during standard program rotations or used for practices within an intramural league. Throughout this targeted program Facilitator’s Guide, the term “coach” is used to refer to the adult facilitating the session. The adult facilitator could be a volunteer coach or paid youth development professional.

Since these sessions build on each other, they are designed to be completed in order. Two activity options and multiple progression suggestions are provided, so sessions can be tailored for youth of all skill levels.

Sessions for Group Agreements and for scrimmage sessions are also included. Scrimmage sessions allow youth to practice their skills, play and have fun. Follow every two to three practice sessions with a scrimmage session or a scheduled league game. 

Sports and Recreation Core Program Area

ALL STARS Soccer is part of the Sports and Recreation Core Program Area. Programs in this area promote physical health by providing low-risk settings for youth to exercise and eat healthy foods. These playful experiences build movement and nutrition skills. Youth develop positive attitudes toward physical activity and healthy eating to support a lifetime of healthy decisions. Sports and Recreation targeted programs and High-Yield Activities are linked to the Healthy Lifestyles priority outcome area.

Sports and Recreation Outcome Statement

Youth have the ability, confidence, and intrinsic motivation to lead physically active lifestyles and adopt healthy eating habits. 

Social-emotional skills are essential for youth to build healthy relationships with themselves and others, recognize and manage emotions, and solve problems. Opportunities to learn and practice social-emotional skills are embedded in the ALL STARS Soccer targeted program. 

Sports and Recreation Skills in ALL STARS Soccer

Coach Role in ALL STARS Soccer

In ALL STARS Soccer, both the soccer education topic and the nutrition education topic are delivered in progression, with each session building from the previous one. It is important, as a coach, to provide your activity participants with knowledge of the game of soccer and an understanding of how each soccer skill relates to the nutrition topic of the day. Coaches should use the following staff practices to teach participants the soccer and nutrition topics associated with each practice.

Coach Practices to Support Youth in ALL STARS Soccer

Preparing

• Do not use elimination games.
• Engage all youth by primarily placing a small number of players on each side.
• Put youth into even teams and change and re-form teams frequently.
• Ensure all youth get quality playing time in every game.

Teaching Skills

• Use the guided discovery method, which asks a series of questions to allow youth to think through and discover things for themselves.
• Use progressive instruction by introducing concepts or rules one at a time.
• Demonstrate skills as you explain them. Use the “I, You, We” method to introduce the skill. First, demonstrate the action (“I”); second, ask a player to demonstrate the action (“You”); and third, ask the entire group to engage in the action (“We”).
• Check in during tasks and games to ensure youth feel comfortable with the current difficulty level, and adjust the difficulty accordingly.
• Provide opportunities for youth to self-assess their performance.

Reinforcing Content

• Relate the soccer/nutrition topic to youths’ lives (e.g., name groups and teams after healthy food options).
• Issue off-the-field challenges related to the soccer and/or nutrition content. (E.g., “I challenge you to bring one nutrition food label to the next session.”)
• Provide recognition when youth make choices that support their own health and/or the health of others.
• Provide personal examples that relate to the soccer/nutrition topics. (E.g., “I choose to drink low-fat or nonfat milk with my meals instead of soda.”)

Positive Youth Development Supports Character and Social-Emotional Development

All Boys & Girls Club and Youth Center programs offer opportunities for youth development professionals to model, recognize, reinforce and reflect on character development. Positive youth development provides direction for how you interact with, engage and model behavior for youth. You get to shape the lives of young people every day. As a result, you set the expectations and show youth what essential character traits (e.g., caring, citizenship, fairness, respect, responsibility and trustworthiness) mean, and how they look. These character traits come to life when youth practice social-emotional skills like teamwork, conflict management and emotional regulation.

Youth can start to build character using “caught and taught” approaches. Youth “catch” social-emotional skills when they observe youth development professionals modeling them, and when they interact with peers. Youth can also be “taught” skills to build good character when the skills are explicitly introduced and practiced during program sessions and activities.

Use this formula to understand how character develops over time:

Youth Development Professionals Model Good Character + Youth Practice Skills Regularly = Character Development 

Coaches facilitating ALL STARS Soccer can model good character in the way they support youth, offer feedback rather than criticism, and encourage honesty and responsibility.

To build character traits, include many opportunities for youth to practice the social-emotional skills embedded in ALL STARS Soccer. These include skills related to:

• How youth feel about themselves
• Their relationships with others
• Their ability to regulate emotions
• Their ability to solve problems 

When character development is present:

• Youth development professionals model and youth practice skills that display respect, fairness, trustworthiness, responsibility, caring and citizenship
• Youth successfully get along well with others
• Youth are better able to control their emotions and solve problems

When character development is absent:

• Youth do not feel a sense of belonging at the Club and Youth Center
• Youth lack skills that foster positive peer relationships
• Youth lack self-control and act out in frustration

For more information, see Practicing Social-Emotional Skills to Achieve Character Development in the BLUEprint at BGCA.net/ProgramBasics. It will show you the specific social-emotional skills young people should practice to demonstrate the positive behaviors indicative of the six essential character traits.

Inclusion

Inclusion is a core component for building a safe, positive environment in your Club or Youth Center. Youth will feel physically and emotionally secure when everyone is focused on making sure ALL youth feel included. In order to fulfill our mission, Clubs and Youth Centers must create safe, positive and inclusive environments for youth of every race, gender, gender expression, sexual orientation, ability, socioeconomic status, religion and cultural belief. When we create inclusive environments at our Clubs and Youth Centers, we improve the overall experience for all young people. When implementing activities, ensure ALL youth:

• Feel represented
• Have a sense of belonging
• Can meaningfully participate in activities

Inclusion Resources

The Program Basics BLUEprint is the definitive guide to program planning and delivery in Boys & Girls Clubs and BGCA-affiliated Youth Centers on U.S. military bases. It also reviews youth development fundamentals. To learn more about implementing inclusive practices, see pages 23-24 of the Program Basics BLUEprint.

Fostering Group Unity

In order for a group to work together effectively, youth need to believe the environment is emotionally supportive and safe. By creating Group Agreements (or ground rules), youth have a shared vision for their time together and feel emotionally supported by other young people. Instructions for facilitating a Group Agreements is in Session 1.

Practice Session Components

A full practice session should run for 50-60 minutes from start to finish. That way players work toward achieving the recommended 60 minutes of daily moderate-to-vigorous physical activity. Coaches should anticipate spending approximately 75-90 minutes at the program site, which will include setup, practice, clean-up and coach debrief. The nine steps in an ALL STARS Soccer practice session are explained in the Facilitator Resource: Practice and Scrimmage Session Components under the Resources tab of this collection.