Planning Your First Practice

Your first practice sets the tone for the whole season. You don't need a complicated plan — you need a repeatable structure you can lean on every single week.

Start with a simple block structure

Break practice into a few clear blocks instead of a long list of drills:

1. Warm-up (10 minutes) — get moving, get loose, get focused.
2. Skill stations (20–25 minutes) — small groups, short rotations.
3. Team period (15–20 minutes) — situational work, scrimmage-style.
4. Wrap-up (5 minutes) — quick recap, water, next practice reminder.

Write it down, even if it's short

A one-page plan — even just bullet points on your phone — keeps you from standing around trying to remember what's next while 12 kids lose focus.

Bring an assistant into the loop early

Share your plan with your parent assistant coaches before practice starts, not during it. Even a quick text with the block structure lets them jump in and run a station without you having to explain everything on the fly.

More on that in the next post on partnering with parent assistant coaches.