The characteristics of the activity of the Little Friends (5-8 years)

Curated by Claudio Ferri

ASD Technical Director Italian Football Academy, Fonte Nuova Football School (RM) reserved for the categories of Little Friends, Chicks and Women's Under-15s. The article was published with the collaboration of Valentino Cristofalo, ASD Accademia Italiana Calcio Communication Manager. For any curiosity and information: accademiaitalianacalcio.it

The ultimate goal for this category is to promote the harmonious development of all aspects of the child's personality, considered in its unity, and to provide a broad and generalized motor education, so as to build a broad base of non-specialized motor movements.

It is in fact from the quantity of motor experiences, which constitute the individual's motor baggage, which will depend on the subsequent ability to be masters of complex coordination movements and the ability to quickly learn and perfect motor skills, managing to adapt them to various situations.

Fundamental objectives are the structuring, development and improvement of basic motor patterns and postural patterns, in order to allow them the most economical execution of movements, and of course the development of coordination skills.

Therefore the football activity must be a general motor activity (soccer game-sport) avoiding early specializations that the child is not yet able to bear psychologically.

The activity will have to include the game to a large extent , not necessarily the football one.

Mixed routes, traditional games and joint mobility exercises will always be present in the session.

Another fundamental characteristic to pursue is the socialization with the other children as there are difficulties related to the typical infantile egocentrism (we are in the "I and the ball" phase and I am not interested in other children). It will be the task of the instructor, without rigid impositions but with authority, to guide the child slowly to make him understand the rules of living together.

Accustoming him gradually to take a shower alone, to tie his shoes, to behave correctly and in general to make him responsible for his actions represent the main objectives for this delicate and very important age group, a true moment of initiation into sport in the sense side.

Educational objectives in the Little Friends category 5-8 years

Motor objectives

Body schema (knowledge and perception of one's body)
Basic engine diagrams (with particular regard to running, jumping, rolling, kicking and grabbing)
Dominance and lateralization (development of the dominant lower limb and use of the non-dominant one)
Sensorimotor skills (with particular regard to the reactivity for the development of which mainly optical rather than acoustic stimuli will be used)
General coordination skills (motor control and adaptation - transformation) and special ones (with particular regard to balance, orientation and rhythm)
Conditional skills (with particular regard to joint mobility and speed)