Reflection: Advice to the Girls Ulittles

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Be realistic about how athletic your daughter is - not how technical or good at soccer - but how athletic. Deciding factor in speed of play on girls side at older ages is dominated by athleticism and aggression.

This advice is dead wrong. Girls ages 9-12 are still growing and most have not hit puberty. You’d be a fool to judge factors such as aggression and size over technical ability at this age. Usually, kids with great technical ability also have speed and athleticism anyways.

Kids without the technical skills by age 12 should reconsider what sports to invest their time in. Muscle memory has already kicked in; whereas, athleticism, aggression and speed can always be taught. Technical abilities have a range before it’s just not happening. typically because if a kid has not practiced these skills in the past 3 years, they won’t automatically get disciplined enough to do it. I’ve never seen a 12 year old suddenly execute amazing technical skills if they didn’t already have a baseline.

You can't teach speed or athleticism. It's either there or not. You can make a kid marginally faster, but you can not make a slow kid fast

It’s clear you have never coached girls (maybe rec) or ever had good coaches. These are the most basic skills you can teach younger kids. Even older kids can get in shape and develop speed and athleticism. This is nothing more than getting in shape. Aggression is just a state of mind. However, skills get harder and harder to develop with age. That is why every country outside of America teaches fundamentals and skills repetitively. Over and over again then they work on size and aggression in the older years.

You're a natural athlete or you aren't. By U12, the travel kids are all already running and in shape, you still can't make a slow kid fast or quick.

Cant you also strengthen and build athleticism by exposing your kid to other sports? This seems like a vital aspect in development. It looks like a lot of kids use basketball to compliment soccer. Curious if folks agree and other sports that are nice crossovers.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Be realistic about how athletic your daughter is - not how technical or good at soccer - but how athletic. Deciding factor in speed of play on girls side at older ages is dominated by athleticism and aggression.

This advice is dead wrong. Girls ages 9-12 are still growing and most have not hit puberty. You’d be a fool to judge factors such as aggression and size over technical ability at this age. Usually, kids with great technical ability also have speed and athleticism anyways.

Kids without the technical skills by age 12 should reconsider what sports to invest their time in. Muscle memory has already kicked in; whereas, athleticism, aggression and speed can always be taught. Technical abilities have a range before it’s just not happening. typically because if a kid has not practiced these skills in the past 3 years, they won’t automatically get disciplined enough to do it. I’ve never seen a 12 year old suddenly execute amazing technical skills if they didn’t already have a baseline.

You can't teach speed or athleticism. It's either there or not. You can make a kid marginally faster, but you can not make a slow kid fast

It’s clear you have never coached girls (maybe rec) or ever had good coaches. These are the most basic skills you can teach younger kids. Even older kids can get in shape and develop speed and athleticism. This is nothing more than getting in shape. Aggression is just a state of mind. However, skills get harder and harder to develop with age. That is why every country outside of America teaches fundamentals and skills repetitively. Over and over again then they work on size and aggression in the older years.

You're a natural athlete or you aren't. By U12, the travel kids are all already running and in shape, you still can't make a slow kid fast or quick.

Cant you also strengthen and build athleticism by exposing your kid to other sports? This seems like a vital aspect in development. It looks like a lot of kids use basketball to compliment soccer. Curious if folks agree and other sports that are nice crossovers.

I've had two kids go through ulittle to high school. The fastest and most athletic kids when the teams formed at U9 were the ones playing ECNL or other sports at that level by high school. No amount of training can overcome genetics especially when all of the kids they're competing against are also training

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Be realistic about how athletic your daughter is - not how technical or good at soccer - but how athletic. Deciding factor in speed of play on girls side at older ages is dominated by athleticism and aggression.

This advice is dead wrong. Girls ages 9-12 are still growing and most have not hit puberty. You’d be a fool to judge factors such as aggression and size over technical ability at this age. Usually, kids with great technical ability also have speed and athleticism anyways.

Kids without the technical skills by age 12 should reconsider what sports to invest their time in. Muscle memory has already kicked in; whereas, athleticism, aggression and speed can always be taught. Technical abilities have a range before it’s just not happening. typically because if a kid has not practiced these skills in the past 3 years, they won’t automatically get disciplined enough to do it. I’ve never seen a 12 year old suddenly execute amazing technical skills if they didn’t already have a baseline.

You can't teach speed or athleticism. It's either there or not. You can make a kid marginally faster, but you can not make a slow kid fast

It’s clear you have never coached girls (maybe rec) or ever had good coaches. These are the most basic skills you can teach younger kids. Even older kids can get in shape and develop speed and athleticism. This is nothing more than getting in shape. Aggression is just a state of mind. However, skills get harder and harder to develop with age. That is why every country outside of America teaches fundamentals and skills repetitively. Over and over again then they work on size and aggression in the older years.

Why is there this focus on what other countries do? Who cares? We do what we do. If we wanted to produce the best soccer players we would. We don’t want that. It is at best a second tier sport in the US. Maybe third tier. Higher on girls side. Kids already quit as they get older. You would increase that by focusing on skills only. You would move the sport to fourth tier.

You win the award for the stupidest comment of the day, congratulations! Why focus on what other successful countries do? Because that is how you model success. Why do kids quit as they get older? Because they have no skills and get left behind. Stop trying to justify your fat kid league that probably can't even pass or receive a ball to save their lives.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Be realistic about how athletic your daughter is - not how technical or good at soccer - but how athletic. Deciding factor in speed of play on girls side at older ages is dominated by athleticism and aggression.

This advice is dead wrong. Girls ages 9-12 are still growing and most have not hit puberty. You’d be a fool to judge factors such as aggression and size over technical ability at this age. Usually, kids with great technical ability also have speed and athleticism anyways.

Kids without the technical skills by age 12 should reconsider what sports to invest their time in. Muscle memory has already kicked in; whereas, athleticism, aggression and speed can always be taught. Technical abilities have a range before it’s just not happening. typically because if a kid has not practiced these skills in the past 3 years, they won’t automatically get disciplined enough to do it. I’ve never seen a 12 year old suddenly execute amazing technical skills if they didn’t already have a baseline.

You can't teach speed or athleticism. It's either there or not. You can make a kid marginally faster, but you can not make a slow kid fast

It’s clear you have never coached girls (maybe rec) or ever had good coaches. These are the most basic skills you can teach younger kids. Even older kids can get in shape and develop speed and athleticism. This is nothing more than getting in shape. Aggression is just a state of mind. However, skills get harder and harder to develop with age. That is why every country outside of America teaches fundamentals and skills repetitively. Over and over again then they work on size and aggression in the older years.

Why is there this focus on what other countries do? Who cares? We do what we do. If we wanted to produce the best soccer players we would. We don’t want that. It is at best a second tier sport in the US. Maybe third tier. Higher on girls side. Kids already quit as they get older. You would increase that by focusing on skills only. You would move the sport to fourth tier.

You win the award for the stupidest comment of the day, congratulations! Why focus on what other successful countries do? Because that is how you model success. Why do kids quit as they get older? Because they have no skills and get left behind. Stop trying to justify your fat kid league that probably can't even pass or receive a ball to save their lives.

What you wrote is try if the end goal is winning a world cup. I'm guessing a very small fraction of the families with kids playing youth soccer care about that. Kids want to play a game and they enjoy winning games. If they enjoyed training more than playing, the offerings would reflect that.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Be realistic about how athletic your daughter is - not how technical or good at soccer - but how athletic. Deciding factor in speed of play on girls side at older ages is dominated by athleticism and aggression.

This advice is dead wrong. Girls ages 9-12 are still growing and most have not hit puberty. You’d be a fool to judge factors such as aggression and size over technical ability at this age. Usually, kids with great technical ability also have speed and athleticism anyways.

Kids without the technical skills by age 12 should reconsider what sports to invest their time in. Muscle memory has already kicked in; whereas, athleticism, aggression and speed can always be taught. Technical abilities have a range before it’s just not happening. typically because if a kid has not practiced these skills in the past 3 years, they won’t automatically get disciplined enough to do it. I’ve never seen a 12 year old suddenly execute amazing technical skills if they didn’t already have a baseline.

You can't teach speed or athleticism. It's either there or not. You can make a kid marginally faster, but you can not make a slow kid fast

It’s clear you have never coached girls (maybe rec) or ever had good coaches. These are the most basic skills you can teach younger kids. Even older kids can get in shape and develop speed and athleticism. This is nothing more than getting in shape. Aggression is just a state of mind. However, skills get harder and harder to develop with age. That is why every country outside of America teaches fundamentals and skills repetitively. Over and over again then they work on size and aggression in the older years.

Why is there this focus on what other countries do? Who cares? We do what we do. If we wanted to produce the best soccer players we would. We don’t want that. It is at best a second tier sport in the US. Maybe third tier. Higher on girls side. Kids already quit as they get older. You would increase that by focusing on skills only. You would move the sport to fourth tier.

You win the award for the stupidest comment of the day, congratulations! Why focus on what other successful countries do? Because that is how you model success. Why do kids quit as they get older? Because they have no skills and get left behind. Stop trying to justify your fat kid league that probably can't even pass or receive a ball to save their lives.

What you wrote is try if the end goal is winning a world cup. I'm guessing a very small fraction of the families with kids playing youth soccer care about that. Kids want to play a game and they enjoy winning games. If they enjoyed training more than playing, the offerings would reflect that.

I stand corrected. THIS is the stupidest comment of the day! I'm a big enough person to admit when I am wrong.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Be realistic about how athletic your daughter is - not how technical or good at soccer - but how athletic. Deciding factor in speed of play on girls side at older ages is dominated by athleticism and aggression.

This advice is dead wrong. Girls ages 9-12 are still growing and most have not hit puberty. You’d be a fool to judge factors such as aggression and size over technical ability at this age. Usually, kids with great technical ability also have speed and athleticism anyways.

Kids without the technical skills by age 12 should reconsider what sports to invest their time in. Muscle memory has already kicked in; whereas, athleticism, aggression and speed can always be taught. Technical abilities have a range before it’s just not happening. typically because if a kid has not practiced these skills in the past 3 years, they won’t automatically get disciplined enough to do it. I’ve never seen a 12 year old suddenly execute amazing technical skills if they didn’t already have a baseline.

You can't teach speed or athleticism. It's either there or not. You can make a kid marginally faster, but you can not make a slow kid fast

It’s clear you have never coached girls (maybe rec) or ever had good coaches. These are the most basic skills you can teach younger kids. Even older kids can get in shape and develop speed and athleticism. This is nothing more than getting in shape. Aggression is just a state of mind. However, skills get harder and harder to develop with age. That is why every country outside of America teaches fundamentals and skills repetitively. Over and over again then they work on size and aggression in the older years.

Why is there this focus on what other countries do? Who cares? We do what we do. If we wanted to produce the best soccer players we would. We don’t want that. It is at best a second tier sport in the US. Maybe third tier. Higher on girls side. Kids already quit as they get older. You would increase that by focusing on skills only. You would move the sport to fourth tier.

You win the award for the stupidest comment of the day, congratulations! Why focus on what other successful countries do? Because that is how you model success. Why do kids quit as they get older? Because they have no skills and get left behind. Stop trying to justify your fat kid league that probably can't even pass or receive a ball to save their lives.

What you wrote is try if the end goal is winning a world cup. I'm guessing a very small fraction of the families with kids playing youth soccer care about that. Kids want to play a game and they enjoy winning games. If they enjoyed training more than playing, the offerings would reflect that.

I stand corrected. THIS is the stupidest comment of the day! I'm a big enough person to admit when I am wrong.

I'm sorry no one cares about your sport past the youth level. Maybe you can try following a sport that matters in America

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Be realistic about how athletic your daughter is - not how technical or good at soccer - but how athletic. Deciding factor in speed of play on girls side at older ages is dominated by athleticism and aggression.

This advice is dead wrong. Girls ages 9-12 are still growing and most have not hit puberty. You’d be a fool to judge factors such as aggression and size over technical ability at this age. Usually, kids with great technical ability also have speed and athleticism anyways.

Kids without the technical skills by age 12 should reconsider what sports to invest their time in. Muscle memory has already kicked in; whereas, athleticism, aggression and speed can always be taught. Technical abilities have a range before it’s just not happening. typically because if a kid has not practiced these skills in the past 3 years, they won’t automatically get disciplined enough to do it. I’ve never seen a 12 year old suddenly execute amazing technical skills if they didn’t already have a baseline.

You can't teach speed or athleticism. It's either there or not. You can make a kid marginally faster, but you can not make a slow kid fast

It’s clear you have never coached girls (maybe rec) or ever had good coaches. These are the most basic skills you can teach younger kids. Even older kids can get in shape and develop speed and athleticism. This is nothing more than getting in shape. Aggression is just a state of mind. However, skills get harder and harder to develop with age. That is why every country outside of America teaches fundamentals and skills repetitively. Over and over again then they work on size and aggression in the older years.

Why is there this focus on what other countries do? Who cares? We do what we do. If we wanted to produce the best soccer players we would. We don’t want that. It is at best a second tier sport in the US. Maybe third tier. Higher on girls side. Kids already quit as they get older. You would increase that by focusing on skills only. You would move the sport to fourth tier.

You win the award for the stupidest comment of the day, congratulations! Why focus on what other successful countries do? Because that is how you model success. Why do kids quit as they get older? Because they have no skills and get left behind. Stop trying to justify your fat kid league that probably can't even pass or receive a ball to save their lives.

What you wrote is try if the end goal is winning a world cup. I'm guessing a very small fraction of the families with kids playing youth soccer care about that. Kids want to play a game and they enjoy winning games. If they enjoyed training more than playing, the offerings would reflect that.

I stand corrected. THIS is the stupidest comment of the day! I'm a big enough person to admit when I am wrong.

I'm sorry no one cares about your sport past the youth level. Maybe you can try following a sport that matters in America

Why are you posting so passionately on a blog about the sport you could care less about? You might just be the dumbest person in the world.

[Anonymous]

Soccer isn’t a top-tier sport. Baseball, basketball, football….that where our top athletes are.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Be realistic about how athletic your daughter is - not how technical or good at soccer - but how athletic. Deciding factor in speed of play on girls side at older ages is dominated by athleticism and aggression.

This advice is dead wrong. Girls ages 9-12 are still growing and most have not hit puberty. You’d be a fool to judge factors such as aggression and size over technical ability at this age. Usually, kids with great technical ability also have speed and athleticism anyways.

Kids without the technical skills by age 12 should reconsider what sports to invest their time in. Muscle memory has already kicked in; whereas, athleticism, aggression and speed can always be taught. Technical abilities have a range before it’s just not happening. typically because if a kid has not practiced these skills in the past 3 years, they won’t automatically get disciplined enough to do it. I’ve never seen a 12 year old suddenly execute amazing technical skills if they didn’t already have a baseline.

You can't teach speed or athleticism. It's either there or not. You can make a kid marginally faster, but you can not make a slow kid fast

It’s clear you have never coached girls (maybe rec) or ever had good coaches. These are the most basic skills you can teach younger kids. Even older kids can get in shape and develop speed and athleticism. This is nothing more than getting in shape. Aggression is just a state of mind. However, skills get harder and harder to develop with age. That is why every country outside of America teaches fundamentals and skills repetitively. Over and over again then they work on size and aggression in the older years.

You're a natural athlete or you aren't. By U12, the travel kids are all already running and in shape, you still can't make a slow kid fast or quick.

Cant you also strengthen and build athleticism by exposing your kid to other sports? This seems like a vital aspect in development. It looks like a lot of kids use basketball to compliment soccer. Curious if folks agree and other sports that are nice crossovers.

I've had two kids go through ulittle to high school. The fastest and most athletic kids when the teams formed at U9 were the ones playing ECNL or other sports at that level by high school. No amount of training can overcome genetics especially when all of the kids they're competing against are also training

+1

[Anonymous]

And here I thought this could be an interesting and helpful thread. Leave it to DCUM Anonybros to ruin everything.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:And here I thought this could be an interesting and helpful thread. Leave it to DCUM Anonybros to ruin everything.

Surprised it took them so long to ruin another thread.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:And here I thought this could be an interesting and helpful thread. Leave it to DCUM Anonybros to ruin everything.

Surprised it took them so long to ruin another thread.

Especially the dumb guy with an IQ of 25.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:And here I thought this could be an interesting and helpful thread. Leave it to DCUM Anonybros to ruin everything.

Surprised it took them so long to ruin another thread.

"Them" - not exactly the most helpful response. If you have been here for a little while and decide to post, it's pretty obvious how this goes. Get 10 troll responses, but there could be some valuable ones mixed in. Focus on the good ones.

Personally, I wouldn't change much from my 2013 daughter's path. Started out at a local club from U8-U11 that played at a mid-high level and got lots of minutes/experience/development. Moved to Pre-ECNL league at U12 and have been very happy with the jump in intensity/competition/coaching. We started working a high school kid for light private training during the U11 year on a 1-2x per month schedule when available and it really helped her confidence/technical skills. My daughter is a strong athlete, but we didn't want to push her too hard into only soccer, so she played softball/baseball/basketball as a second sport with some additional conditioning during down periods.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Be realistic about how athletic your daughter is - not how technical or good at soccer - but how athletic. Deciding factor in speed of play on girls side at older ages is dominated by athleticism and aggression.

This advice is dead wrong. Girls ages 9-12 are still growing and most have not hit puberty. You’d be a fool to judge factors such as aggression and size over technical ability at this age. Usually, kids with great technical ability also have speed and athleticism anyways.

Kids without the technical skills by age 12 should reconsider what sports to invest their time in. Muscle memory has already kicked in; whereas, athleticism, aggression and speed can always be taught. Technical abilities have a range before it’s just not happening. typically because if a kid has not practiced these skills in the past 3 years, they won’t automatically get disciplined enough to do it. I’ve never seen a 12 year old suddenly execute amazing technical skills if they didn’t already have a baseline.

You can't teach speed or athleticism. It's either there or not. You can make a kid marginally faster, but you can not make a slow kid fast

It’s clear you have never coached girls (maybe rec) or ever had good coaches. These are the most basic skills you can teach younger kids. Even older kids can get in shape and develop speed and athleticism. This is nothing more than getting in shape. Aggression is just a state of mind. However, skills get harder and harder to develop with age. That is why every country outside of America teaches fundamentals and skills repetitively. Over and over again then they work on size and aggression in the older years.

You're a natural athlete or you aren't. By U12, the travel kids are all already running and in shape, you still can't make a slow kid fast or quick.

Cant you also strengthen and build athleticism by exposing your kid to other sports? This seems like a vital aspect in development. It looks like a lot of kids use basketball to compliment soccer. Curious if folks agree and other sports that are nice crossovers.

I've had two kids go through ulittle to high school. The fastest and most athletic kids when the teams formed at U9 were the ones playing ECNL or other sports at that level by high school. No amount of training can overcome genetics especially when all of the kids they're competing against are also training

+1

What genetics are you talking about with respect to girls who may not have hit puberty yet as opposed to other teammates? You do realize some girls stop growing at age 12 while others grow til they are 18, right? You’re judging their size on what exactly? The parents? Their current height and weight? Do you understand the basics of how kids grow?

Also, you do realize speed, aggression and athleticism are not mutually exclusive of technical ability? They typically go hand and hand. Lacking any basic technical ability, some girls can consider flag football or rugby which are growing in popularity. Loudoun just added flag football for high school girls right?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Be realistic about how athletic your daughter is - not how technical or good at soccer - but how athletic. Deciding factor in speed of play on girls side at older ages is dominated by athleticism and aggression.

This. Also don't be the parent who yells (positive or otherwise) from the sideline, don't watch practice past U6 or 7, and don't put pressure on them. If it's not about them, they will resent it eventually. I saw a few very talented girls quit and over involved parents were a commonality with both of them. Also accept that soccer is a starter sport- your kid may end up playing something else all together. The same hold for they teammates. Kids also leave clubs and join clubs. Don't let your friend circle become the parents you see every weekend and don't let your kid's friend circle get reduced to their team. Both pressure them to stay longer than they otherwise would or leave them to resent families who choose to move on

Don’t watch your kids practice after they are 6 years old? Don’t cheer loudly for your kid from the sidelines during a game? Are you for real?