Coaching Young Athletes

Scatter ribbons on the ground around the playing area, enough so there that is one for each athlete. The athletes begin standing with one foot on a ribbon. To start the game, the athletes move about, performing an action of your choice e.g. walking, skipping, hopping, etc. When you give the signal (e.g. blowing a whistle) the kids have to quickly find a another ribbon and place their foot on it. You can add to the difficulty of the game by asking the kids have to find a different coloured ribbon each time. One thing that I like to do is to blow the whistle and then call out a part of the body. e.g. elbow, knee, etc. The kids then have to place that part of their body on the ribbon.

• Step forwards and backwards over the ribbon
• Jump or hop forwards and backwards over the ribbon
• Jump or hop side-to-side over the ribbon
• Swap feet forwards and backwards over the ribbon.
• Run around the ribbons

2. Instruct the athletes to hold the ribbon and:

• Make big circles with the ribbon
• Perform a helicopter action above their heads
• Sweep the ground
• Flap their arms (like a bird)
• Touch it to their nose and mimic and elephant or make a “tail” and mimic a dog. (Very young kids love this – try it!)
• With the ribbon held at each of its ends, step forwards and backwards over the ribbon without letting it go.

3. Make it “rain” ribbons

Instruct the kids to continuously throw their ribbons up into the air for a given time so that it “rains” ribbons.

If you work with very young athletes, I encourage you to make or buy a bag of ribbons and include them as part of your coaching kit.

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I would love to hear how these activities work for you or if you can suggest any other ribbon-based games or activities. You let me know by leaving a comment/reply or by using the contact details below.