The session plan is your insurance policy. It means you arrive at training knowing exactly what you're doing, you can adapt it on the fly because you understand the structure, and at the end you have a record of what you've covered. Here's the template I use and why each section exists.
The Session Plan Template
Date and group: Obvious but important. You're building a record over a season.
Session theme: One phrase. "Wide play and crossing." "Pressing triggers." "First touch under pressure." Not three things — one. If you can't write the theme in five words or fewer, it's too broad.
Learning outcomes: What do you want players to be able to do better at the end of this session than at the start? Two is enough. "Players can identify the pressing trigger." "Players execute a half-turn first touch when receiving under light pressure."
Equipment needed: Write this first and check it before you leave the house. Nothing disrupts a session faster than arriving without bibs or discovering the bag of balls is in someone else's car.
Session blocks:
- Warm-up (10 mins): What game or activity? Specific setup.
- Technical block (15–20 mins): The drill. Setup, instructions, progressions.
- Conditioned game (20 mins): SSG with a rule that forces the session theme into play.
- Free game (10 mins): No rules. Just play.
Key coaching points: Three maximum. Write these before the session, not during it. These are what you're looking for and what you'll coach when you see them go wrong.
Post-session notes: What worked? What didn't? Any individual player notes? Five minutes after training, written while it's fresh.
How to Use the Template in Practice
A session plan for a 60-minute session should take 20 minutes to write. If it's taking longer, you're over-planning. The plan is a framework, not a script. If you arrive and 3 players are missing, the session changes. If the conditioned game is going brilliantly and players are locked in, you extend it and cut the free game. The plan gives you confidence to adapt because you understand the structure.
A Complete Example
Theme: First touch out of pressure — U12, 14 players
Outcomes: Players identify the space to take the first touch before the ball arrives. Players take a directional first touch rather than stopping the ball dead.
Equipment: 10 size-4 balls, 16 cones, 10 bibs
Warm-up: 4v2 rondo × 3 groups, 8 mins
Technical: Half-turn first touch in 4-player line pattern, 15 mins, progression to passive defender
Conditioned game: 7v7, bonus point for goal scored within 2 passes of a clean half-turn receive, 22 mins
Free game: 7v7 no rules, 10 mins
Key coaching points: Scan before the ball arrives. First touch away from pressure. One movement — not control then turn.