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[quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous]Consider the source and the stream of revenue.
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The source is a guy who specializes in fitness training and injury prevention at top clubs in Europe and who has a lot of coaching experience as well. His income stream depends on whether his training methods result in well-conditioning, successful athletes who avoid injury.  Seems like a good person to weigh in on the matter. What about him do you find suspect?[/quote]

1. He's not a doctor
2. He makes his living feeding soccer clubs players --- these clubs want their players focused on soccer. [/quote]

I don't think most doctors have any kind of background that would help them in determining whether single-sport specialization vs multi-sport participation is more likely to enhance soccer talent.  Orthopedists and certain other specialists would have insights as to which training regimens lead to or reduce injury.  All the teams this guy and others like him work with would be consulting with the team doctors as well.

He seems to have worked primarily with soccer clubs in Europe (plus Australia and Russia).  There is zero need for anyone to provide additional incentives for kids in those countries to focus on soccer.  He is clearly right that the arguments for multi-sport participation in the U.S. and elsewhere tend to gloss over the fact that the vast majority of the world's top soccer players only ever played soccer growing up.

I personally think playing multiple sports is a fun way to spend your time as a kid, and I'd guess it can be helpful for developing talent for some sports.  But I'm glad OP posted this, because I've always wondered why the multi-sport enthusiasts (who often seem to just quote American college coaches) overlook the reality of how soccer talent is developed in countries that have always produced large numbers of world-class soccer players. [/quote]

Thank you for your post and that is exactly why I posted it.[/quote]

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