Coach Rachel here, ready to answer your questions about Tiny Troops Soccer. Today’s question is all about how we structure our program to help your child be successful. Let’s dive in and take a closer look.

Parent Question: How is Tiny Troops Soccer structured and how does it benefit my child?

At Tiny Troops Soccer, we pride ourselves on being the premier developmental soccer program for children from 18 months through 4 years old. As a parent, you want your child’s first experience with sports to be positive and engaging. We focus on not only teaching basic developmental soccer skills, but also social skills, gross motor skills, and listening skills. We want to focus on teaching the whole child, rather than just soccer skills. Here’s an overview of our program structure:

1. Classes Grouped by Age: We organize our classes by age to ensure that children are grouped with peers at similar developmental and social levels, allowing us to better address their specific needs. Our program starts with the Mini Movers, children 18-24 months old. Our next age group is our 2-year-old classes, followed by our 3 and 4-year-old classes. Class sizes are kept small with our younger classes having around 10 players max and our older classes 12.
2. Weekly Classes: Tiny Troops Soccer offers classes three Saturdays a month, designed to fit the attention spans of young children. Classes for children aged two years and under last 25 minutes, while classes for three and four-year-olds last 45 minutes. This structure ensures that sessions are engaging without being too lengthy. Additionally, we include break weeks during the month to give our coaches time to reset and provide your family with a chance to enjoy quality time together.
3. Warm-ups: Our warm-up activities help your child prepare their body to move during class. These activities feature different ways to move their bodies, and usually incorporate some kind of listening skill in them as well. Our warm-ups include activities such as a warm-up parade to move in different ways around Soccer Island, freeze tag, Coach Says, or a relay race. Each activity helps to get your child energized and ready for the session ahead.
4. Basic Skills: At Tiny Troops Soccer, two fundamental skills remain consistent throughout our program: dribbling and trapping the ball. These essential skills start with our Mini Movers classes and form the foundation of every child’s soccer development. As children progress through the age groups, we build on these basics with additional techniques such as penguin walks, toe taps, pullbacks, and more. All of these activities are designed to improve foot-eye coordination and help your child become more aware of their body’s abilities, fostering both physical confidence and skill development.
5. Skill Building Games and Activities: We believe in making learning enjoyable, not just repeating drills. Our program incorporates a variety of games to practice essential soccer skills in a playful, engaging way. For instance, to practice dribbling, your little one might dodge “Sharks” on Shark Island or play Foxes and Chickens to dribble toward a target. To improve toe taps, our Tiny Troopers pretend to climb different parts of a mountain, enhancing both their coordination and speed. These creative games not only make skill-building fun but also help children develop important motor skills
6. Scrimmages: While Tiny Troops Soccer doesn’t play against other teams like in a traditional recreational league, we do play scrimmages in our 3 and 4-year-old classes. These scrimmages take place at the end of the second and third classes each month and are designed to be short and engaging. They provide children with the opportunity to play against opponents, giving them a taste of real-game situations. This allows players to practice and apply the skills they’ve been working on in class, helping them build confidence and teamwork in a low-pressure, fun environment.

In conclusion, Tiny Troops Soccer is carefully structured to provide your child with a positive, engaging, and well-rounded introduction to the world of soccer. From age-appropriate classes and skill-building games to our unique warm-ups and scrimmages, every aspect of our program is designed to nurture your child’s physical, social, and emotional development. By focusing on foundational soccer skills alongside essential life skills like communication, coordination, and teamwork, we set the stage for your child’s future success in sports and beyond. Thank you for trusting us with your child’s soccer journey – we’re excited to see them grow, learn, and have fun on the field!