How a Bibs On session is built
Every session starts from what goes wrong on Saturday. One aim runs through the night, the way players score is the thing they're practising, and it ends in a real game you watch.
Last updated: 26 October 2026
What goes into a plan, and why
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It starts from the problem, not a drill
The plan names what goes wrong, where on the pitch and when, then builds the night on it.
How coaches are assessed for their licences: one problem, defined as what, where, when, who and why, with every practice recreating that moment (Football Australia's assessment guide, US Soccer's C licence criteria).
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One aim runs through the whole night
Each practice says what it adds to the one before.
The FA's advice: "a couple [of practices] that are engaging, competitive and link to your focus", not seven in an hour.
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Players score by doing the thing they're practising
A player who never does it can't easily win.
FIFA Training Centre: the way players score is often the action they practise. A target player pulls out forward passing, gates pull out dribbling, and four goals pull out switching play.
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The practices climb
Technique first, then an opponent, then the game. A harder version keeps the same practice.
The FA's practice spectrum (unopposed, interference, overloaded, matched) and its STEP tool (space, task, equipment, players).
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The last block is a real game
It's played under the rules for the age, with no extra conditions. You watch for the aim instead of refereeing another rule.
The FA, Football Australia and US Soccer all end with a game where the coach says as little as possible and sees whether the work carried over.
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Coaching points say what you'll see happen
They name what happens to the ball or the space, with the body part as the means, and praise the decision as well as the outcome.
Two meta-analyses on cues (Chua 2021, McKay 2024). The FA's own coaching points are verb, behaviour, reason.
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Every drill is checked against the FA's rules in England for the age
A drill that breaks the match format or the heading guidance is redesigned before you see it. A touch limit or pass count set below the age the FA backs is sent back. Ball size and restarts go into the plan's instructions. An adult team is held to 11v11 and the FA's adult heading limit, and gets none of the lines written for children.
The FA's FutureFit formats and youth heading guidance. The FA's 2021 heading guidance for adult grassroots football: one session a week with heading in it, 10 headers at most. And the FA's warning that many players always held to two touches won't learn to dribble.
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The ball rolls for at least 70% of the night
That's the aim. A draft where children play for less, or wait in long queues, is sent back to be rewritten. Nobody is knocked out.
The FA's ball-rolling aim, and its Play Phase guidance on keeping every child moving.
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Under-12s build from a skill every child practises
Often with a ball each, and lots of 1v1s and 2v2s. From U12, the team's match problem can drive the session.
The FA's age-phase priorities: me and the ball at 6 to 8, combinations at 9 to 11, units and decisions at 12 to 16.
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It fits who turned up
The plan fits your numbers, adults, space, kit and time, and says what to do with one player more or fewer.
What expert coaches do that novices don't: fit the practice to tonight's group rather than copy a good drill (Nash and Sproule, 2011).
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In a 1-to-1, the adult serves and shadows
They don't tackle, unless a parent in their own garden chooses a real contest. A handicap the player can see beats faked effort. A paid coach with a child ticks that a parent or second adult stays in sight, which isn't asked when every player is an adult.
The FA's advice that adults don't play against under-16s, and published 1-to-1 coaching methods. With an adult player, not tackling is our choice rather than an FA rule.
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Changes are tested before they ship
An automated judge scores sessions on the same rubric every month. A change to how sessions are written ships only when it wins on most briefs and loses on none.
Our own evaluation, with the October 2026 baseline on record.
What "Checked" means on a drill
A drill says Checked when the drill you get passed every hard check. It keeps to the FA's rules in England for the age: the heading guidance, the match format, no matches for under-6s and no goalkeepers where the format has none. Every player has a place, it uses only the kit you said you have, and each area fits your space.
A drill that breaks an FA or safety rule is redesigned. If it still breaks one, a plain drill takes its place. A drill that doesn't fit your players, kit or space is redesigned too, and if it still doesn't fit, it reaches you without the word. The top of the plan says Checked only when every drill does.
Checked says a drill can be run as written. Whether it's a good drill is what the judge below scores.
How we test it
Before a change to how sessions are written goes out, an automated judge, briefed as a head of coaching, scores old and new sessions blind on the same coach briefs. The judge is software, not a coach. The change ships only if it wins on most briefs and loses on none.
In October 2026 the new version was judged better on 20 of 21 briefs and worse on none. That followed thirteen research passes over the FA, UEFA, FIFA, US Soccer, Football Australia, the KNVB, the DFB, the Premier League's academy rules and coaching research.
What we don't claim
- We're not affiliated with The FA or UEFA. The rules are checks, not a qualification.
- Nobody reviews a session before you see it. Read it before training and change what doesn't fit.
- The picture shows one go of the drill, not a match.
- You stay responsible for supervision and safeguarding on the night.
What to check before you run a plan
Check the age group, count the players and adults who came, and compare the set-up with the space and kit you actually have. Read every activity before training so you can explain it and adapt it for your group.
If the words or the picture don't fit your group, change or swap that activity first. A plan can't judge the pitch, or what each of your players needs, for you.
See one built for your group
Also in Bibs On: Safeguarding and players' data · Youth football rules by age · Bibs On for clubs