Pre-Season Individual Assessment
Most coaches judge pre-season progress subjectively.
◆Why this drill works
Most coaches judge pre-season progress subjectively. This structured assessment gives you four measurable benchmarks per player at the start and end of pre-season: a 20m sprint time, a ball mastery score (sole rolls in 30 seconds), a passing accuracy score (hit a 1m gate from 15 yards, 10 attempts), and a simple win-rate from a 1v1 channel. Numbers replace impressions, which matters because coach memory of "who looked sharp" is unreliable and biased toward whichever players are naturally confident or vocal, not necessarily whichever players have actually developed the most. Running the exact same four tests again in week five gives every player, not just the obviously talented ones, a visible record of their own progress, which is a powerful motivational tool at U13 when some players are dealing with the uncertainty of early adolescent growth spurts affecting their coordination and confidence. The real value of the data isn't the numbers themselves but what they're used for afterwards — setting an individual focus area for each player going into the season, rather than treating every player identically regardless of their specific starting point.
◇Variations and progressions
- Add a technical station — for squads with time, add a simple juggling or weak-foot control test as a fifth benchmark.
- Player self-prediction — before testing, ask each player to predict their own score, comparing self-perception to actual outcome as a useful conversation starter.
- Mid-season retest — repeat the exact same four stations again mid-season to check whether the individual focus areas set in week five have actually improved.
- Peer-supported testing — pair players to record each other's results, building a small sense of shared ownership over the process rather than it feeling purely top-down.
▦The drill in three phases
▶How to run it
- Set up four stations: 20m sprint lane, ball mastery area, passing gate (two cones 1m apart at 15 yards), 1v1 channel (12×4m).
- Each player completes all four stations while others continue free warm-up activity.
- Record results on a grid: name | sprint | mastery | passing | 1v1.
- Repeat in week 5 of pre-season. Compare data. Show players their own results.
- Use data to set individual focus areas for the season's first block.
✦Coaching points
Praise when you see
- Building intensity progressively, not going flat out too early
- Good habits and standards set from day one
- Quality maintained as the workload builds
- Genuine effort on the test stations rather than treating them casually
Correct when you see
- Letting standards slip — set the tone now
- Neglecting recovery between sessions
- Going too hard too early — pre-season builds progressively
- A player discouraged by a low score — frame every result as a starting point, not a judgment
★Kit for this drill — top picks compared
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