Skills Pyramid

The Skills Challenge Pyramid™

The Skills Challenge Pyramid™ was designed by SCYSC Director of Coaching (David Newbery) in 2010 as a tool to support the technical development of players. The pyramid framework and 50 training activities provide players with demanding skill activities that can be attempted at home or with the coach at practice.

All you need is 'One Player - One Ball!'

The Skills Challenge Pyramid provides the following:

A series of progressively challenging skills for players.
A simple model for coaches to encourage players to develop fundamental soccer skills.
Direction for parents and players when practicing outside regular practices.
Easy to implement assessment model for coaches with varying experiences.
A fun and challenging activity for players and coaches.

Features of the Skills Challenge Pyramid include:

There are 5 Pyramids. Each pyramid has a series of 10 skills.
A Pyramid consists of 4 ‘Tiers’

Tier D - Master
Tier C – Advanced
Tier B – Intermediate
Tier A – Fundamentals

Activities are numbered 1-10. 1 is the easiest skill. 10 is the most difficult.
The top 3 activities of the Pyramid (Tiers C & D) form the first 3 activities of the next Pyramid (Tier A).
A simple evaluation system is incorporated for each activity:
- Below expectation – awkward and uneven movements, little consistency between 2 or more attempts, skill performed below game speed.
- At expectation – At least 50% or more of the attempts are completed in one smooth movement, are at game speed and appear to be natural (second nature and free flowing).
- Above expectation – At least 90% or more of the attempts are completed in one smooth movement, are at game speed and appear second nature, free flowing.

Click on the stages below to learn more about the skill activities and watch the videos.

STAGE ONE
AGE 3 - 5

STAGE TWO
AGE 6 - 8

STAGE THREE
AGE 9 - 11

STAGE FOUR
AGE 12 - 14

STAGE FIVE
AGE 15 - 18+