Striker clinic at The St. James

[Anonymous]

Does anyone have any experience doing the striker and goalkeeper clinic at The St. James? Trying to gauge if it's worth the 30 minute drive for my 7-year-old who has been playing in rec leagues but would like a little extra training this year (we'd be looking at the striker-focused training).

[Anonymous]

I don’t know if age makes a difference but both of our teen daughters did it - the 16 year old wasn’t interested in doing it again but the 13 year old liked it. And my husband watched all the sessions and reported back that it was good. He liked a lot of the drills they did that he often complains he doesn’t see team coaches doing.

[Anonymous]

We have done it twice for our 9 year old daughter. The class is 6-10 coed lumped together. Keepers and strikers train separately, then they bring them together for scrimmage games at the end. It is very well run, and the drills are well thought out. But its almost too expensive. $300 for 6 sessions. You might have 4 kids in the group or 12 kids in the group. It is striker focused and finishing focused with proper technique/ left foot and right foot. The goal keeper training is among the best I have seen for young kids. The pros are the facility (no rain-outs as its indoors) and instruction.... they have some very good coaches. The con is the 5pm time slot and price. I will look for some private instruction which would be money better spent. Also, striker training is niche training. We have had 3 travel coaches in 3 years and rarely do travel coaches devote significant time working on individual skills like striker specific skills. So if your DS wants to be a striker, they will need extra dribbling and shooting training outside of travel team practices.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Also, striker training is niche training. We have had 3 travel coaches in 3 years and rarely do travel coaches devote significant time working on individual skills like striker specific skills. So if your DS wants to be a striker, they will need extra dribbling and shooting training outside of travel team practices.

I agree with this. I grew up in Europe, and we spent so much time practicing finishing. For my kids’ teams, they seem to rarely practice it. Then everyone wonders why we dominate possession but can’t put the ball in the net…

[Anonymous]

Thanks for the feedback, this is helpful!

[Anonymous]

Also, I'm not sure is if Alexandria is closer, but Alexandria Soccer Association also does almost same exact training for slightly less cost at Simpson Field in Alexandria. Its not well advertised and mainly for their Travel Program, but its very similar. Just a though in case it's closer for you.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Does anyone have any experience doing the striker and goalkeeper clinic at The St. James? Trying to gauge if it's worth the 30 minute drive for my 7-year-old who has been playing in rec leagues but would like a little extra training this year (we'd be looking at the striker-focused training).

Buy a goal (and a dozen cheap balls) and put it in your back yard. That's cheaper, saves you endless thirty minute drives, and will improve his striking far more if he spends an hour a day just shooting at the empty net - aiming for the corners.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Also, striker training is niche training. We have had 3 travel coaches in 3 years and rarely do travel coaches devote significant time working on individual skills like striker specific skills. So if your DS wants to be a striker, they will need extra dribbling and shooting training outside of travel team practices.

I agree with this. I grew up in Europe, and we spent so much time practicing finishing. For my kids’ teams, they seem to rarely practice it. Then everyone wonders why we dominate possession but can’t put the ball in the net…

So true. Imagine if we practiced b-ball without layup, fastbreak, and shooting drills?