Keeping young players hydrated during training

Why hydration deserves a place in your session plan

Ask most grassroots coaches what they plan before a session and you will hear about passing drills, small-sided games and who is playing where. Water rarely gets a mention. Yet on a warm Saturday morning in July, a child can lose a surprising amount of fluid in forty minutes of running, and the effects show up long before anything dramatic happens. Concentration drops, first touches get sloppy, and the child who was buzzing in the warm-up starts drifting to the back of the queue.

Children are not simply small adults when it comes to heat. They produce more heat relative to their body size, they sweat less efficiently, and they often need reminding to drink because they are far more interested in the game. For coaches working with under-nines to under-sixteens, that means hydration is not an extra. It is part of good coaching, and it costs you almost nothing to get right.

Build water breaks into the plan, not the improvisation

The single most effective thing you can do is schedule breaks rather than waiting for a child to ask. Once a player asks, they are already playing catch-up.

• Every 15 to 20 minutes, stop for a proper one to two minute break — not a shout of "quick drink" while the ball is still moving.
• On warm days, shorten the blocks to 10 to 15 minutes and extend the breaks to two or three minutes.
• Use the break for coaching, too. A short demo or a question about positioning keeps players engaged while they sip, rather than treating the break as dead time.
• Plan the break points into your session before you arrive, so the structure survives the moment when the game is going well and nobody wants to stop.

If you run a session in the middle of the day in summer, consider shifting it earlier or later, and look for shade. A tree-lined edge of the pitch is worth more than any gadget.

Teach them to drink before they feel thirsty

Thirst is a late signal. By the time a child feels properly thirsty, they have usually already lost enough fluid to affect how they feel and perform. The habit you want to build is simple: drink little and often, starting before the session.

• Before training: encourage a decent drink with breakfast or in the hour before arriving, roughly 150 to 200ml for younger children and a bit more for teenagers.
• During: small sips at every break rather than a huge gulp that sits heavily in the stomach.
• After: keep drinking in the car on the way home. Recovery for the next session starts immediately.

Make it a rule that everyone brings a named bottle and takes it to the pitch. A bottle left in a bag at the side of the pitch may as well be at home. If a player turns up without one, have a spare and give it back at the end — a quiet word with a parent usually sorts it for the following week.

Recognising the warning signs early

Part of your job is spotting the child who is struggling before they realise it themselves. Teach the players these signs as well, so they can name what they are feeling.

• Headaches, especially one that comes on during the session.
• Dizziness or light-headedness when standing up or after sprinting.
• Dark yellow urine — pale straw is the target, and it is a useful thing to explain at home as well as at training.
• Cramp, particularly in the legs or stomach.
• Going quiet, irritable or unusually clumsy, with mistakes piling up.
• Flushed, hot skin and a lack of sweat when everyone else is sweating freely.

If you see these, get the child into shade, sitting down, with water and an adult nearby. If they seem confused, vomit, or become drowsy, that is a medical emergency — call for help and do not try to manage it with water alone.

What goes in the bottle

Water is the best default for almost every grassroots session. It is free, familiar and effective. Keep it simple:

• Water for sessions under an hour in normal British weather.
• Diluted squash for children who genuinely will not drink plain water — better a little sugar than nothing.
• A sports drink or electrolyte mix only for long, hot sessions or tournaments with multiple matches in a day.
• Avoid fizzy drinks, energy drinks and anything with caffeine. They are unsuitable for children, full stop.

Encourage parents to send cool water in a clean bottle, and to wash bottles properly — a bottle that has been sitting in a hot car since last week is not appealing to anyone.

Making hydration part of the club culture

Small habits stick when they belong to the group rather than the coach. Appoint a couple of players each week as water monitors to remind their teammates. Praise good hydration the same way you praise a good pass. Mention it in your message to parents at the start of a warm spell, alongside sun cream and a spare shirt.

None of this requires a sports scientist. It requires a coach who plans the breaks, brings a spare bottle, and tells a ten-year-old that feeling wobbly at the end of a session is not something to push through. Those lessons travel with them far beyond your pitch.