From the beginning of their soccer endeavors, the kids who hit puberty first in the age group, will get the most attention. Those players will feel like things come easy for them, and their parents will act like their child is “the chosen one”. Then, when everyone catches up to them in size, and the soccer world stops revolving around them, they will quit.
Every great athlete needs confidence. Without confidence, there is no risk, and without risk, there…
The spring in New York is wet and when it rains, the fields are quickly washed out. Grass doesn’t grow without a fight, and when the soil is eroded, all that’s left is rock and packed soil.
Playing soccer in this environment is a challenge.
A well trained athlete has been rehearsing on-field scenarios to the point that almost nothing surprises them. The highest caliber military personnel mentioned above are, too. Many military personnel were athletes growing up. The best athletes are usually the ones who…
If you look at the core of most ACL injuries, the underlying problems start around puberty. That’s why it’s suggested by many competitive soccer trainers and respected youth soccer directors to enroll your child in Taekwondo, and encourage them to take an entire year off from soccer as they enter puberty.
Major League Soccer is now starting to follow the same pattern as the NFL, drafting college players and promoting their colleges & universities, thereby feeding the educational machine, strengthening the evil NCAA and creating a professional soccer athlete clearing house to draw cheap labor from.
They have both spent thousands of dollars on gas to drive carpools to practice, the best equipment that we could afford, uniforms, as well as countless afternoons on the sidelines of u-12 games roasting away in the heat and not once have I ever heard either of them complain. Once my parents realized that soccer was my passion, they dedicated themselves wholeheartedly to ensuring that I could be as successful as I wanted to be.
Professional coaches will tell you that the average athlete needs to train about twenty hours a week to become professional and to remain competitive. When you break it down, that means that to get all of the training you need to become “professional”, it’ll take 8,ooo to 10,000 hours. And there lies OUR problem.