can you teach a kid to hustle more in travel soccer?

[Anonymous]

My child is 10 and playing U11 in a CCL club. She/he is one of the fall birthdays and has made the transition well. The majority of the team is year older in school and 6-12 months older by age.
My child has excellent ball skills and is a "smart" player. Passes are well placed in anticipation of where the next player will be. However, my child isn't a fast kid and it's becoming increasingly apparent
as the speed of the game has increased between u9 and u11. Basically all the great kids are now running at top speed the entire game. My kid (who plays defense) tackles well and puts down these
beautiful passes (the crowd of parents often says, "wow, amazing pass!") but this kid doesn't charge the ball aggressively. It's becoming apparent in recent games that he/she needs to step up the speed in which he/she attacks the ball and then passes on the ball.
However, this is a kid who is more slow and deliberate in everything in life. It's just who he/she is. I haven't said anything and I'm not sure I can about needing to step it up in soccer. Or can I? The coach seems to like him/her very much but I hear him/her calling out
in the game, "XX, run faster!, faster!".
My child loves, loves soccer and I want him/her to have the option to keep playing if he/she so desires. Has anyone had a similar kid and/or do you have any thoughts?

[Anonymous]

Birth month counts for a LOT.

Birth month and athletic success have been studied extensively and it has been shown that the older the player in the pool, the more successful he is. Small differences at first are magnified later, as more attention is given to the best early players.

So your child might end up being the exception, but know that the data is stacked against her.

[Anonymous]

As soon as I figure out how to hurry my kids at home I will let you know how to hurry them in the field.

Good luck!

And

Following.

[Anonymous]

No way to play defender without speed an aggression. Any chance he/she could transition to striker? Might be a good fit with ball skills and passing talent. Or, any chance you could get your child in some good cross training to increase speed? My kid is OK fast, but his cardiovascular endurance is very strong because of cross training in various sports and has turned him into one of the fastest runners, even though he's not the fastest naturally.

Unless you are looking for a college scholarship or professional play, I wouldn't worry about birth month. My kid has a crappy birth month but plays up two years, will never play in college or as a professional, and still manages to get it done. Playing for fun and fitness. Yeah, there are advantages/disadvantages to birth month but a talented kid will still shine through.

[Anonymous]

OP, so do you view it as more of an issue of speed and stamina, or one of aggression? My son is one of the younger players on his travel team, and is strong in the former 2, but has less of the latter. I'm not sure what to do. You can gain more speed and stamina by cross training but I don't know of any way to change a child's inherent aggression level.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:No way to play defender without speed an aggression. Any chance he/she could transition to striker? Might be a good fit with ball skills and passing talent. Or, any chance you could get your child in some good cross training to increase speed? My kid is OK fast, but his cardiovascular endurance is very strong because of cross training in various sports and has turned him into one of the fastest runners, even though he's not the fastest naturally.

Unless you are looking for a college scholarship or professional play, I wouldn't worry about birth month. My kid has a crappy birth month but plays up two years, will never play in college or as a professional, and still manages to get it done. Playing for fun and fitness. Yeah, there are advantages/disadvantages to birth month but a talented kid will still shine through.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:No way to play defender without speed an aggression. Any chance he/she could transition to striker? Might be a good fit with ball skills and passing talent. Or, any chance you could get your child in some good cross training to increase speed? My kid is OK fast, but his cardiovascular endurance is very strong because of cross training in various sports and has turned him into one of the fastest runners, even though he's not the fastest naturally.

Unless you are looking for a college scholarship or professional play, I wouldn't worry about birth month. My kid has a crappy birth month but plays up two years, will never play in college or as a professional, and still manages to get it done. Playing for fun and fitness. Yeah, there are advantages/disadvantages to birth month but a talented kid will still shine through.

OP here:
No, no--not looking for college or professional play at all. I'm just looking ahead to the next year of youth soccer. I just want my kid to be able to keep playing at this level (CCL) if he/she wants to. He/she loves it and it's been a great experience for him/her. In comparison to another child of mine who did PPA and MSI the training and growth has been far better. I want this kid to be good enough to play for a good club because (in my experience) it's been a much better experience.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Birth month counts for a LOT.

Birth month and athletic success have been studied extensively and it has been shown that the older the player in the pool, the more successful he is. Small differences at first are magnified later, as more attention is given to the best early players.

So your child might end up being the exception, but know that the data is stacked against her.

Well, except that for the first 6 years of playing, assuming he/she started playing soccer at about age 4, the OP's child, with a fall birthday, was one of the older kids, in both rec and travel. This is the child's first year of being one of the younger players.

I don't think there's any point at all in getting hung up on the age group thing, and there is DEFINITELY no point in teaching your kid to obsess about it, as I have heard many other parents doing. First, there's nothing you can do about it, and second, other than having half-year teams, which isn't going to happen, up to 50% of the kidson ANY given team will be playing with kids "6-12 months older." Mine was always on the young end for travel and now is on the older end, and she is still the same player, with the same strengths and weaknesses.

OP: you can take your kid out for some sprint training. Plenty of tips online. She has to be up for it, though, and you need to make it fun and keep the environment really positive. This has helped a little with my kid. You can also try (if you think it would work) really pushing the effort angle...trying your best 100% of the time. Some kids just look like workhouses out there, and they're taken more seriously than the casual-looking players by other players and by the coach. Just the way it is.

[Anonymous]

Speed may be important but positional awareness even more. If you are well positioned and technically sound defending, aggression is over rated. You don't need to barge everyone over like some of the "big" clubs try to do versus actually playing the game. If your kid is "smart" he'll figure out the best way to stop the opposition. Slide tackling is a factor of bad positioning and desperation.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:No way to play defender without speed an aggression. Any chance he/she could transition to striker? Might be a good fit with ball skills and passing talent. Or, any chance you could get your child in some good cross training to increase speed? My kid is OK fast, but his cardiovascular endurance is very strong because of cross training in various sports and has turned him into one of the fastest runners, even though he's not the fastest naturally.

Unless you are looking for a college scholarship or professional play, I wouldn't worry about birth month. My kid has a crappy birth month but plays up two years, will never play in college or as a professional, and still manages to get it done. Playing for fun and fitness. Yeah, there are advantages/disadvantages to birth month but a talented kid will still shine through.

OP here:
No, no--not looking for college or professional play at all. I'm just looking ahead to the next year of youth soccer. I just want my kid to be able to keep playing at this level (CCL) if he/she wants to. He/she loves it and it's been a great experience for him/her. In comparison to another child of mine who did PPA and MSI the training and growth has been far better. I want this kid to be good enough to play for a good club because (in my experience) it's been a much better experience.

In that case, I would really look to the coach to see if there are other positions your DC could learn that aren't as heavily reliant on speed and aggression and instead more finesse and accuracy. I have a child who plays another sport, and that child plays at a high level but has some deficiencies in the game. The child is incredibly valuable to the team because of the other skills, not the deficient ones.

[Anonymous]

As a PP stated, it is unclear what the actual issue is - physical speed, playing speed, endurance, or aggression. A defender has to be more cautious and not commit until they know they will win the ball - so they delay, contain, and stay between the ball and the goal until the attacker makes a mistake or they get help. Now, if this is in situations like a loose ball then maybe it is a different decision. A defender has to be patient, disciplined, and make good decisions.

If it is a question of hustle or competitiveness - sometimes kids come into this in their own time, no amount of yelling will do it.

Might be worth having a talk with the coach to see what the problem is (if there is one) and then sit down with the player and the coach and talk through it.

[Anonymous]

The next two years are a big transition time for girls - the older girls are most likely going to hit puberty earlier which will make them taller and stronger and able to run on the full-size fields but also prone to injury while the growth is happening. At try-outs they look for size as a deciding factor, but there's no shame in going down to the CCL2 team. You can get private lessons - a lot of girls in our club do. U11/U12 is a time when a lot of girls quit travel soccer to focus on middle school academics so there is often space for dedicated girls to move up.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:As a PP stated, it is unclear what the actual issue is - physical speed, playing speed, endurance, or aggression. A defender has to be more cautious and not commit until they know they will win the ball - so they delay, contain, and stay between the ball and the goal until the attacker makes a mistake or they get help. Now, if this is in situations like a loose ball then maybe it is a different decision. A defender has to be patient, disciplined, and make good decisions.

If it is a question of hustle or competitiveness - sometimes kids come into this in their own time, no amount of yelling will do it.

Might be worth having a talk with the coach to see what the problem is (if there is one) and then sit down with the player and the coach and talk through it.

op here.
I'm not sure i know what the problem is. I have to think about this a bit and will watch the coming games in this light.
We have about 8 games coming up over the next 3 weeks (due to rescheduled rain-outs, a tournament, etc). I'm going to see how these go and then maybe talk to the coach. however, i don't want to put a "problem" on his/her radar if there isn't one. I'm going to tread very lightly and carefully.
But i appreciate all of the above thoughts. There are excellent and interesting points raised.
Pls, keep them coming!

[Anonymous]

Totally agree. My DS is an elite defender on an older CCL club. When he was U10, he was not "Mr. Hustle" either (though he was always plenty fast) and he relied on his smarts (knowing where to be) and his exceptional passing/first touch. Our (wonderful) coach was very mellow about it and told us "all in good time." At U10, kids are just really learning how to train. There are ages developmentally where speed can be taught or developed (certain windows) and that you can actually do damage by working on this earlier. Relax-- it he's happy and the coach likes him (and you like the coach) then you are in a good spot.

PS- Do not say anything to him-- it will only discourage him. Leave the coaching to the pros (and I wish I had taken this advice myself when my son was at that age...)

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Birth month counts for a LOT.

Birth month and athletic success have been studied extensively and it has been shown that the older the player in the pool, the more successful he is. Small differences at first are magnified later, as more attention is given to the best early players.

So your child might end up being the exception, but know that the data is stacked against her.

We all read Malcolm Gladwell, some of us can recognize that he is a writer, picking and choosing the data he wants in order to make a point, not a scientist. I know people who have made life-changing decisions on their children's behalf because of this one book. Rather than try to engineer their outcome, I tell my two young-for-their-sports bracket kids to bloom where they are planted.