Instilling a combinative style with Chargers Soccer Club’s U-12

Mike Keeney, the Executive Director of Chargers, oversees the club’s development structure, ensuring alignment between coaches across all campuses and age groups. “Each coach is working on the same things during the same weeks,” said Keeney. “For us, it’s more about teaching the skills and the objectives rather than trying to get a result at the weekend.”

Chargers achieve this through three core development principles: emphasising skill acquisition, making use of small-sided games, and implementing progressive training. In this article, Keeney explains why these principles are important to the overall methodology of Chargers, which is followed by a session led by U-12 head coach Adel Alchamat showcasing the club's fundamentals in action through three different exercises.

Principle 1: Emphasising skill acquisition
At Chargers, developing strong fundamentals with and without the ball from a young age is a top priority. The club focuses on helping players become confident and decisive with the ball, which lays the groundwork for introducing more complex tactical concepts later on.

“Our biggest focus is skill acquisition,” says Keeney. “Being comfortable with the ball and having a decision-making process in place that they can recognise and can implement right away.” To support this, Chargers SC use what Keeney describes as “technique on demand” – the ability to play the ball how and when a player chooses, under pressure or without it, and with either foot. “If we can do it with both feet, then we’re able to build the tactical traits after that,” he added.

Principle 2: Using small-sided games
Furthermore, rather than replicating full-sized matches too early, the club emphasises the continued use of small-sided games, even when the players compete in larger formats during competitive matches. “From ages 12 and younger, we tend to focus [on small-sided games] up to 5v5,” Keeney explains. “Even though they play bigger in the leagues and the competitions, we want the players to recognise these situations.”

The use of small-sided games, as discussed by Keeney, can be seen in the session videos in the second half of this article, including 1v1, 2v1 and 5v5 scenarios. The focus is primarily on skill development and ensuring that players have the correct technique while still practising their decision-making in congested areas.

Principle 3: Implementing progressive training
Chargers SC ensure that training is always progressive and that sessions are capped at no longer than 75 minutes to maintain the attention spans of players in this age group. “We lay the foundation and steadily build upon it,” Keeney noted. “We might start with individual ball work, then introduce an opponent, then add more pressure, and finish with a game scenario.”

“In addition, short, sharp actions keep their focus,” he said. “We don’t want players drifting off, so we prioritise small groups and lots of touches. The more we can do individually or in small groups, the more focused and engaged they stay. We try to keep it short and to the point while still building on the previous activity.”

Keeney’s emphasis on technique, decision-making, and small-sided games shapes every layer of Chargers’ developmental framework. At the Florida-based club, coaches such as Alchamat bring this approach to life through dynamic and structured training.

The following session, led by Alchamat and filmed by the FIFA Training Centre, reflects the club’s commitment to combining foundational skill development with real-match application through small-sided games. In the session, Alchamat leads exercises on combination play, with an emphasis on the weight of pass and timed off-the-ball movement. It begins with a passing circuit, moves into a 3v1 rondo geared towards creating passing lanes, and finishes with a 5v5 game to reinforce the core ideas.

This warm-up passing drill focuses on the players’ development of passing and ball control skills. The aim is to time and weight the pass so that the ball can be progressed and create a shooting opportunity.

This second exercise focuses on the importance of creating passing lanes to facilitate the ball-carrier’s decision-making skills. This rondo provides players with the chance to hone their movement to create an angle for a pass.

This final exercise presents the opportunity for players to use a numerical advantage and combination play to progress the ball in a 5v5 small-sided game.