How to start association football with a partner

What you need to know

A borrowed football

Use an intact ordinary ball inflated according to its markings; no goal, cones or specialist ball are needed.

Shoes and clothes

Wear closed sports shoes with grip and clothes you can move in. If the ground is slippery, choose another spot or postpone.

A partner and clear grass

Agree on gentle passes in a permitted, dry, level space away from traffic, holes, obstacles and other users.

Association football, also called soccer, uses passes to teammates and controlled returns. In 15–20 minutes, make ten ground-pass attempts each and count controlled receptions. This is unopposed practice.

Pass to a ready partner

Walk and move your legs comfortably. Face each other about five metres apart, closer if needed. Keep the route clear and wait for the receiver’s ready signal.

Place your non-kicking foot beside the stationary ball, pointed toward your partner, knee soft. Turn the kicking foot outward so its broad inside faces the ball; keep the ankle firm. Swing through the ball’s middle and follow toward your partner. Keep your head and kicking knee over the ball to keep it low. Use enough pace to reach the receiver without making them brace. The Special Olympics Football Coaching Guide gives these passing cues on printed pages 74–75; it is not a current match rulebook.

Control, reset and count

Move into the rolling ball’s path with soft knees. Show the inside of one foot and let it give back slightly on contact. Leave the ball within an easy step, look up, check your partner is ready and make a separate return pass. Take another settling touch if needed. FIFA’s Part 1 pair exercise stresses a controllable pass pace; its later team exercises can wait.

Alternate until each person has made ten passes, twenty in total. A miss still counts. Pause, retrieve safely and give the ball to its intended receiver for the next turn. Each partner records how many of their ten incoming passes stayed within an easy step after the first touch. If passes lift, meet the middle rather than underneath and avoid leaning back. If first touches run away, pass more gently and let the receiving foot give. Move closer if chasing dominates. Stop for pain or uncertain balance; never chase into traffic.

Next time, try the other foot or ask a beginner group about sessions, fees, footwear and shin pads. In England, Just Play lists Learn to Play and Kickabout; elsewhere, ask a local club or association.