Kids Football Classes For 9 Year Olds
At 9 years old, children train in our 8-11 year old football classes which are 60-120 minutes long. They will train 1-3 times per week and classes can be found across the UK and the Channel Islands. This is where the ICFDS Skills Badge Scheme takes on real structure with the children working through Levels 1-5, each split into 7 assessment modules , all while building resilience and learning to recognise their own weaknesses and work through them.
What Will My 9 Year Old Learn At BSS?
Sessions in the 8-11 age group follow a clear arc: warm-up, then body and ball manipulation to music, then focused skill work, finishing with a conditioned small-sided game and a cool down. What changes as the year progresses is the skill content itself:
| Stage of the Year | Skill Focus |
| Early sessions | Passing, juggling, moves to beat, shooting, turning |
| Later sessions | Group passing, volleying, floor-to-air control |
What Is the ICFDS Skills Badge Scheme at This Age?
For 9 year olds, the Skills Badge Scheme moves well beyond the soft introduction given in BSS Minis. Children work through Levels 1-5, and each level is broken into 7 assessment modules:
- Core skills
- Juggling
- Moves to beat
- Turning
- Passing
- Ground to air moves
- Balances and traps
Each movement is slowly taught, then reinforced, then mastered – so a Skills Badge reflects genuine, demonstrated progress rather than participation alone. The aim is to show players what they’re capable of achieving through consistent, structured hard work.
What Makes BSS Different?
BSS training is built on Futebol de Salão, the original Brazilian version of futsal but at 9, the classes are just as much about character as technique. Alongside ball mastery, children are taught respect for teammates and coaches, the value of friendship and teamwork, and, distinctly at this age, how to recognise their own faults and weaknesses and work through them rather than avoid them. Pushing through things they find hard can hold many benefits for your child as it teaches them resilience and bolsters their confidence:
“I think that pushing our kids is a matter of getting them out of their comfort zone, and then pushing the zone to be further and further out. We know that being able to tolerate discomfort is a wonderful life trait, and in addition to that, it makes them grittier and more resilient.”
– Harold S. Koplewicz, MD, Child Mind Institute
Why Does BSS Use Futebol de Salão?
Futsal was invented in Uruguay in the 1930s by Juan Carlos Ceriani, who borrowed rules from several sports: five-a-side teams and 40-minute matches from basketball, pitch and goal dimensions from handball, and goalkeeper rules from water polo. Playing futsal has proven to be highly beneficial to many world renowned players, such as Axel Witsel:
“My dad played football – not at a high level like the first division, a smaller division in Belgium – so I was always at his game, every weekend. And he played futsal also in the first division in Belgium for 12 years. At the beginning, I was more interested in playing futsal than football. It helps you because it’s more about technique at the beginning than football. I was always watching my dad and then playing on the futsal pitch indoors. And also the street, because I was always playing outside with my friends. I think futsal and the street help you a lot technically.”
– Axel Witsel, www.uefa.com
Futebol de Salão is the Brazilian version played on a basketball court-sized pitch with a smaller, heavier, low-bounce ball. This results in a faster, more tightly compressed, higher pressure game that gives players roughly 600% more touches of the ball than standard football. This is a core reason BSS training has produced graduates such as Micah Richards and Abby Towers.
The Benefits of Kids Football Classes for 9 Year Olds
At nine, the biggest benefit is a genuine step up in technical sophistication – children move on from the basics to combination skills like volleying, floor-to-air control and group passing, all measured against a clear, structured framework of levels. It’s the age where ability becomes noticeably more refined.
| Benefit | What it develops at age 9 |
| Advanced, combination skills | Volleying, floor-to-air control and group passing extend a child’s technical range well beyond the early basics. |
| Coordination and timing | Controlling a moving ball out of the air and linking touches together sharpens fine coordination and timing. |
| Precision and reliability | Working each movement to a defined standard builds accuracy and consistency, rather than occasional flair. |
| Concentration and staying power | A longer session and a year-long structured arc develop the sustained focus to see complex work through. |
| A clear picture of progress | Moving through defined levels and modules gives children an honest, visible measure of how far they’ve come. |
| A springboard for the years ahead | The technical range built at nine becomes the platform for the more advanced play of the older age groups. |
What Football Skills 9 Year Old Should be Learning
By nine, children are ready to move beyond core basics into more demanding, combined skills – volleying, floor-to-air control and group passing sit alongside the passing, juggling, turning and moves-to-beat built earlier.
At BSS, this is structured through the ICFDS Skills Badge Scheme’s levels and modules, so each new skill is taught, reinforced and mastered in turn. The result is that a nine year old isn’t just adding tricks, but building genuine, reliable techniques they can depend on as the game gets faster.
FAQs for football classes for 9 year olds
Get answers to some frequently asked questions for 9 year olds
How long are the football classes for 9 year olds?
Your 9 year old will be in our 8-11 year old class. These classes are 60-120 minutes long. The exact time will be dependent on the class they attend.
Which football class is best for my 9 year old?
Your 9 year old will be in our 8-11 year old class.
Are parents involved in the classes?
No, parents are not involved in our BSS classes. Our coaches will solely be the ones training and helping the kids.
What kind of equipment is used in the classes?
We use smaller, heavier Size 2 footballs. All other equipment will be age appropriate to help your child develop their football skills. Everything will be provided in class so you do not need to purchase anything. However, if your kid wants to practice at home, Size 2 footballs can be purchased from our online store
Do I have to buy the BSS kit?
Yes, you do have to buy the BSS kit. This can be purchased from our online store.
Where is my nearest class?
We have classes across the UK and on the Channel Islands. Click here to find your local class.