Autumn Academy Info | Lebanon Youth Soccer Association

Autumn Academy – The Academy will focus on basic core skills for each age group, with each group practicing as one. This Autumn (2025) we will be trying to set teams with at least one coach per team, but this will be reliant on coaches getting signed up early to prove we have enough coaches. Please reach out ASAP if you are interested in helping.

Age groups will be U5, U7, U9, and U11+ for the Academy
Players work on the basics of soccer and focus on education of the game to improve on a personal level
This will be a six week program, Monday-Thursday practices, with Fridays as make-ups, and games on Saturdays
- U5 – Mondays – 6:00 – 7:00 (all 6 weeks)
- U7 – Tuesdays – 6:00 – 7:30 in Sept & 5:30 – 7:00 in Oct
- U9 – Wednesdays – 6:00 – 7:30 in Sept & 5:30 – 7:00 in Oct
- U11+ – Thursdays – 6:00 – 7:30 in Sept & 5:30 – 7:00 in Oct
Please plan to stay for the duration of practice should weather or other issues arise and we need to call practice a little early.

Important Autumn Dates/Info

Registration to OPEN by July 1st (link coming soon) and CLOSE August 3rd
August 2nd – 11a-3p – Serve Day (come see our booth!)
August 9th (??) – Team Selection Day – We need ALL player and coaches to be in attendance
- Times and info tbd – all players will have a quick evaluation by your potential coaches to select balanced teams for the season
- If we do not get good turnout of players AND coaches, we will revert back to a group academy with changing teams/coaches each week
- Coaches will select their teams one at a time
More info TBD

AUTUMN PRACTICE PLANS

At the beginning of every practice (except U5) there will be a 10-minute session of repetitive touches. All players will have a cone and will do the exact same thing as a warm up. Then they will break into their groups (based on that weekend's game schedule) and get started with the rotation.
Every week will have a juggling area and a passing area to focus on those touches specifically.

PDFs for each practice will be uploaded here

Day 6 for all ages and PLAY!

4v4 GAME RULES (Academy ONLY)

U7 - U11+

FIFA Rules will be followed where not specifically deviated from below

Games will be played 4v4

Substitutions are allowed at any stoppage of play by either team

There will be no keepers and goal box tending will be discouraged leading up to penalty.

Contact will be incidental only.

Incidental contact is described as contact that is made by someone attempting to achieve the space around the ball and makes contact with another player in that space

Examples of incidental contact

- Tackles on the ball

- Shielding the ball from an opponent

- Small bumping when two players are running after the same ball

Kick offs

- A kick off will start each segment of play, and after each goal scored.

- Players on the opposing team must be outside the center circle on their side of the field

- Opposing team cannot cross the half-line or enter the circle until the ball has been touched after the whistle

- Kick offs are indirect

Goal arc (2yd arc)

Players will not be able to touch the ball inside of the goal arc.

- Players can go into the area, just not make contact with the ball

- If an offensive player touches the ball the result is a goal kick

- If a defensive player touches the ball the result is PK from 10 yds away.

Players will be discouraged from tending the goal arc

- Tending the goal box is when a player does not actively defend the other team out on the field but stays next to the goal arc.

- It is not considered goal tending if the play is near enough to box that the player is active in defending while near the arc.

- First offense will be a warning

- Second offense will result in a reset of possession

- Third offense will result in a PK

Ball out of bounds resets

- All balls out of bounds will be reset with a kick-in

- All resets are indirect

- Balls over the sideline will be kicked in by the team that did not touch the ball last from the point it leaves the field

- Balls over the end line last touched by an offensive player will be played in from the top of the Goal Arc

- Balls over the end line last touched by a defensive player will be played from the corner on that side of the goal

- Opposing players must be 3 yards away from the ball being played in

Infractions

- All Infractions deemed worthy of a free kick will be indirect, other than those described above resulting in a PK.

GAME SETUP

U5 - 10 minute warm up, 2 min break, and THREE 10-minute periods of play with 2 minute breaks

U7 - 5 minute warm up, FOUR 10-minute quarters with 2 minute breaks

U9 - 5 minute warm up, THREE 15-minute periods with 2 minute breaks

U11 - TWO 25-minute halves with 5 minute break (players are expected to warm themselves up BEFORE kick-off)

Autumn Games

Academy Game Field Layout (tbd)

Saturday Game Times/SCHEDULES –
Games and times TBD

As the season begins, a few more items of interest:

Oct 18 – Kick or Treat end of season event from 1-3pm. Come back out in your best costumes for some goodies and candy from local sponsors and businesses! If you want to help with this event, please reach out.