U4 – Group Red (4 years)

Learning Basic Skills
Age: 4-5 years
Phase: Learning to handle the ball and move
Goal: Developing basic football skills and laying the foundation for progression

In Group Red, children take their first real steps in football technique. The training sessions remain playful and accessible, but are slightly more structured than in U3. Here, children are introduced to the basic principles of the game and learn to combine their movements with ball control.

Just like in U3, the focus is on fun and growth without performance pressure. We don't yet work with positions or complex techniques, but we do use exercises that are appropriate for their age and development.

Explanation U4 - Group Red

  • Motor development: Improve balance, speed, coordination
  • Skills: The children learn their first real football skills, appropriate for their age
  • Cooperation & insight: We train spatial insight and react in a team, learn to move with and without the ball
  • Fun & game experience: Every training session is about enthusiasm, fun and discovering game forms
Each training consists of four fixed components, tailored to the age and experience of the child.


Example training day
  • Motor skills: Running, jumping, turning, walking on toes
  • Ball feeling: Dribbling with the inside and outside of the foot (exercise of the month)
  • Technique: Stopping, accelerating, learning cutting movements
  • Fun: Concluding with a small competition or game element with teamwork
  • Technique: Paying attention to passing and kicking forms, coordination and insight
  • Recognizing game situations: Learning to choose between dribbling, passing or accelerating
  • Collaboration: Insight into team play, space and reaction to others
  • Self-reflection: Becoming aware of what went well and what could be improved
In this phase, children learn primarily through experience. They discover that trial and error are part of the learning process. This is an essential step in their athletic and personal growth!
  • Training: Moving, experimenting, and getting used to the ball.
  • Failure: Learning through play that making mistakes is normal.
  • Growing: Measuring success by progress, not by performance.

Every month, children learn a new skill and earn a sticker in their personal sticker book. This provides visual and playful motivation.

Complete sticker book? Time for the treasure chest!
Children who complete their sticker book receive a special…

Progression & evaluation towards Group Yellow (U5)
At the end of the season, the coaches evaluate each child’s development. They then progress to an appropriate subgroup in U5:
  • Explorers– Working on the basics
  • Challengers– Ready for an extra challenge
  • Champions– Excel and train at a higher pace

✔Initial mastery of basic skills
✔Cooperation and game insight
✔Building self-confidence without parents on the field
✔Positive learning experience and fun
✔Be ready for the next step in their football development

Don't wait any longer and join in!