Best option for winter?

[Anonymous]

HP Elite and some other training centers do not take rec players.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Our 7 year old son has been playing rec soccer and really enjoys it. He has pretty good dribbling and footwork for his age… not “wow” but solid. We got lucky with coaches this season and they are teaching the kids some good skills. He does well in the drills they come up with. But once it’s time to scrimmage or play a game, he looks kind of lost. He is pretty good at getting open and passing, but doesn’t have that “killer instinct” of trying to win the ball or block the other team from scoring.

He wants to continue some kind of soccer over the winter, I’m thinking once per week. Would it be better to do a skills development clinic, or a game only league situation? We have both nearby but would need to pick one or the other. I can’t tell if will get more comfortable in games if he gets more experience with them, if this is something that comes with time anyway, or maybe it will never come because it’s personality.

Personal training to teach him 1v1 offensive and defensive, head checking, etc.

lol head checking at age 7

You're an idiot. All a 7yo should be doing is 1v1 outside of games. What a stupid comment.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Our 7 year old son has been playing rec soccer and really enjoys it. He has pretty good dribbling and footwork for his age… not “wow” but solid. We got lucky with coaches this season and they are teaching the kids some good skills. He does well in the drills they come up with. But once it’s time to scrimmage or play a game, he looks kind of lost. He is pretty good at getting open and passing, but doesn’t have that “killer instinct” of trying to win the ball or block the other team from scoring.

He wants to continue some kind of soccer over the winter, I’m thinking once per week. Would it be better to do a skills development clinic, or a game only league situation? We have both nearby but would need to pick one or the other. I can’t tell if will get more comfortable in games if he gets more experience with them, if this is something that comes with time anyway, or maybe it will never come because it’s personality.

Personal training to teach him 1v1 offensive and defensive, head checking, etc.

lol head checking at age 7

You're an idiot. All a 7yo should be doing is 1v1 outside of games. What a stupid comment.

1v1? No, the best way to get better is doing wall work and juggling. Both don't require shoes or sweat. 15 minutes a day (more the better) and the results are powerful.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Disagree on the playing basketball stupid comment

Playing a winter sport is not a dumb suggestion. This is just the kind of asinine comment that got this thread devolved. Offer your suggestions without crapping on someone else’s.

[Anonymous]

Every girl on our team that does basketball comes back in the spring stronger and more assertive. The ones that do not and do more soccer or rather futsal come back with more ball control and better passing. However, the basketball girls usually catch up within a couple weeks of practice but the futsal girls still lack the assertiveness that the others gain. Take it for what it’s worth.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Our 7 year old son has been playing rec soccer and really enjoys it. He has pretty good dribbling and footwork for his age… not “wow” but solid. We got lucky with coaches this season and they are teaching the kids some good skills. He does well in the drills they come up with. But once it’s time to scrimmage or play a game, he looks kind of lost. He is pretty good at getting open and passing, but doesn’t have that “killer instinct” of trying to win the ball or block the other team from scoring.

He wants to continue some kind of soccer over the winter, I’m thinking once per week. Would it be better to do a skills development clinic, or a game only league situation? We have both nearby but would need to pick one or the other. I can’t tell if will get more comfortable in games if he gets more experience with them, if this is something that comes with time anyway, or maybe it will never come because it’s personality.

If a kid has some decent skills but doesn't have the instinct to win the ball or stop the other team from scoring, you have to ask yourself why not?
Are more footwork drills going to help with that? Is being on the field for a game a week of winter ball going to change that?
Are you okay with that?
Is he going to have more fun with one or the other?

[Anonymous]

Not sure where OP is from, but I will give a quick plug for Arlington's "Friday Night Futbol" program. It was once a week on Fridays. I will admit when I saw her play these small sided games with little instruction I wondered why on earth we were spending money to be there. But now that I know more about soccer, I realize the small sides means lots of touches, lots of learning. She came back in the spring a significantly better player. Probably learned more there than in any of the clinics she has done since.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Our 7 year old son has been playing rec soccer and really enjoys it. He has pretty good dribbling and footwork for his age… not “wow” but solid. We got lucky with coaches this season and they are teaching the kids some good skills. He does well in the drills they come up with. But once it’s time to scrimmage or play a game, he looks kind of lost. He is pretty good at getting open and passing, but doesn’t have that “killer instinct” of trying to win the ball or block the other team from scoring.

He wants to continue some kind of soccer over the winter, I’m thinking once per week. Would it be better to do a skills development clinic, or a game only league situation? We have both nearby but would need to pick one or the other. I can’t tell if will get more comfortable in games if he gets more experience with them, if this is something that comes with time anyway, or maybe it will never come because it’s personality.

If a kid has some decent skills but doesn't have the instinct to win the ball or stop the other team from scoring, you have to ask yourself why not?
Are more footwork drills going to help with that? Is being on the field for a game a week of winter ball going to change that?
Are you okay with that?
Is he going to have more fun with one or the other?

OP here. These are good questions. I would like to know the answers myself! I’ve been scratching my head because he says he loves soccer but then doesn’t really want to get too involved during the games, which makes me think maybe he doesn’t quite understand how? Believe me I am the opposite of pushing him into this. For the past couple fall/spring seasons I have asked if he wants to do soccer again or try something else and he always says soccer. This age is tough because the games are really dominated by the kids who are hungry for the ball. Really not sure whether he will grow into being one of those kids or eventually start enjoying soccer less as he becomes more aware of success or lack thereof. For now I’m just trying to think about how to accommodate his current interest in a way that might help him for spring.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Our 7 year old son has been playing rec soccer and really enjoys it. He has pretty good dribbling and footwork for his age… not “wow” but solid. We got lucky with coaches this season and they are teaching the kids some good skills. He does well in the drills they come up with. But once it’s time to scrimmage or play a game, he looks kind of lost. He is pretty good at getting open and passing, but doesn’t have that “killer instinct” of trying to win the ball or block the other team from scoring.

He wants to continue some kind of soccer over the winter, I’m thinking once per week. Would it be better to do a skills development clinic, or a game only league situation? We have both nearby but would need to pick one or the other. I can’t tell if will get more comfortable in games if he gets more experience with them, if this is something that comes with time anyway, or maybe it will never come because it’s personality.

Personal training to teach him 1v1 offensive and defensive, head checking, etc.

Please tell me how personal training will teach 1v1 offensive and defensive skill and scanning skills to anyone, much less a 7 year old.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Every girl on our team that does basketball comes back in the spring stronger and more assertive. The ones that do not and do more soccer or rather futsal come back with more ball control and better passing. However, the basketball girls usually catch up within a couple weeks of practice but the futsal girls still lack the assertiveness that the others gain. Take it for what it’s worth.

Must be playing flag futsal…

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:HP Elite and some other training centers do not take rec players.

Then the coaches suck.

Any coach that “only coaches elite athletes” is advertising that they have zero skills or ability to develop, and can only “fine tune.”

Fine tuning youth athletes is a joke. The coaches must be absolute trash.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Disagree on the playing basketball stupid comment

Specializing kids that early is stupid. All the best young athletes do multiple sports.

It’s clear you specialized in nagging and Karening on this blog. Why don’t you do everyone a favor (especially your poor husband) and nag your stupid comments on the box wine blogs.

This is a 100% American point of view. And the literature on “early specialization” doesn’t suggest what we think it does in America.

Look globally at football, everywhere else early specializes in footie (in the American sense of the term).

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Put him in wrestling for the winter.

This. Wrestling is great for soccer. Will get strong mentally, develop a really strong base, and will develop that "killer instinct".

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Disagree on the playing basketball stupid comment

Specializing kids that early is stupid. All the best young athletes do multiple sports.

It’s clear you specialized in nagging and Karening on this blog. Why don’t you do everyone a favor (especially your poor husband) and nag your stupid comments on the box wine blogs.

This is a 100% American point of view. And the literature on “early specialization” doesn’t suggest what we think it does in America.

Look globally at football, everywhere else early specializes in footie (in the American sense of the term).

Yeah I’m sure you know the literature so well. 🙄

At 7, kids around the world are playing soccer among friends in their neighborhoods, not in specialized programs.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:HP Elite and some other training centers do not take rec players.

Then the coaches suck.

Any coach that “only coaches elite athletes” is advertising that they have zero skills or ability to develop, and can only “fine tune.”

Fine tuning youth athletes is a joke. The coaches must be absolute trash.

The HP Elite coaches suck because they don’t have time and space for your rec player?

You’re an absolute idiot!