Down to Fourteen

Matches turn on the ten minutes a card costs you — so instead of panicking on the day, tonight the U16s rehearse holding firm a player down and hunting hard a player up, until being a number short feels like a job, not a disaster.

Ladies football
U16
70 min
16–26 girls
2 coaches
Effort 4/5
Two-thirds pitch
u16
ladies-football
game-management
sin-bin
defending
game-sense

The PitchPlans coaching teamGAA Award 1 & 2 coaches

Kit: 8 footballs (size 4), 30 cones, 20 bibs (3 colours if you can), a whistle you're not shy using

Warm-up10 min

Numbers Up, Numbers Down

Setup: A 30×25m grid, teams split into two colours of bibs. Start even, a ball in with the group. A ball supply on the side for quick changes.

How it works: Warm keep-ball to begin, hand-pass only, moving to stay warm and loose. Then the coach starts calling numbers: on UP one player from the blue team steps out for thirty seconds, so it becomes seven-v-six and both sides feel the swing; on DOWN a player steps back in. The girls just play through it, keeping the ball if they are up, working harder to hold it if they are down. Sprinkle the mobility jobs between calls — hips, calves, a few strides — so bodies are ready for a busy night. The habit forming here is calmness: numbers change, we adjust, we do not lose the head.

What to say

“Tell them: 'numbers change all game — heads stay the same.'”
“Tell them: 'a player up, use the free girl; a player down, make them work for it.'”
“Tell them: 'talk through the change — count yourselves out loud.'”

Easier

Only ever one player difference; longer settled spells between changes so they adjust calmly.

Harder

STEPR: shrink the grid and allow a two-player swing so the overload and underload are sharper and faster to read.

Activity14 min

Fourteen Holds

Setup: Mark a defending third with a scoring arc and gate goals. Six defenders against seven attackers who build from the middle. A coach feeding fresh balls in fast from the side to keep waves coming.

How it works: This is the underload half of the night: the defence is a player short and its only job is to hold and delay, protect the middle in front of goal, and make the extra attacker beat them the hard way, out wide and slow. No diving in — one presses the ball, the rest cover the dangerous space and shepherd play away from goal, buying the seconds a real team needs while the sin-binned player is off. Every time the attack scores or the defence wins it, reset and send the next wave. The girls learn that a player down is survived with shape and patience, not heroics.

What to say

“Tell them: 'protect the middle first — force them wide and slow.'”
“Tell them: 'one presses, the rest cover — never two diving in.'”
“Tell them: 'delay is a win — every second the card ticks down helps us.'”

Easier

Give the defence an even six-v-six for a settled spell first, then remove one so the shape is set before the underload.

Harder

STEPR: five defenders against seven so the underload bites harder; attackers get a point for switching the play twice before shooting, forcing the defence to shuffle.

Activity14 min

Fifteen Hunts

Setup: Flip the same zone around. Now seven attackers work against six defenders, patiently trying to use the extra player. Keep feeding balls so the reps stack up and both sides get many goes.

How it works: The overload half: when you are the team a player up, the win comes from patience and width, not from forcing it. The extra player has to be found — move the ball side to side, make the short defence shuffle, and the free girl will appear on the far side. No hero solos into the crowd; the picture is keep it, shift it, wait for the overlap, then strike. Attackers score a point for a clean score and a bonus for one made by an obvious overload, so they hunt the extra player on purpose. Reset on every score or turnover and rotate who is the spare.

What to say

“Tell them: 'a player up is patience, not panic — move it and wait.'”
“Tell them: 'switch the play — the free girl is on the far side.'”
“Tell them: 'no solos into the crowd — use the overlap.'”

Easier

Seven against five so the extra player is easy to find; a walk-through first showing where the spare appears.

Harder

STEPR: cap possessions at a short time limit so the overload must be used quickly and decisively; the defence may push one up to press, testing whether the attack still finds the free player.

The rest of this session is free — along with 3 more this week.

PitchPlans coaching team

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