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[quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous]Question from a happy parent. My 11yo kid has been playing for the same club for years. He is not a superstar but he easily made A team every year. His team is doing very well, winning a lot of games in league and tournaments. He’s happy and committed. I can’t think of any reason to move him, but can’t help wondering if I missed something in the big picture. I am not looking at scholarships or pro probabilities, even though my kid aspires to be one. I just thought it’d be nice to have a hobby and some friends and maybe a boost to college admissions. Any advice?[/quote]

Things will change a lot in the next few years.  If he’s happy I don’t even understand why you are posting, humble brags aside.

If he’s not doing a lot of work in his own in coming years, he may not stay on the A team and if that hurts his ego then he might lose the love.  It’s often harder for kids that have everything go their way early in their sports career to handle failure down the road.[/quote]

Thanks for your advice. What would you recommend he does on his own time? Running? Clinics? [/quote]

Footskills, footskills, footskills.

Running is not a skill. [/quote]

Running is not a skill?  Funny. Spoken like a lazy player whose teammates complain about never getting back to play defense.  Yes - foot skills AND conditioning. Soccer is an athletic sport, it is not a video game or golf.  You need to be fast, quick, and have stamina - better than the other person to have the best chance at the greatest success. Running is a skill.  The more efficient you become at it, the less energy it takes and the quicker you can move.  This also includes flexibility, agility, and explosive power  Let the PPs kid not train physically and just do foot skills, while your kid does both.  I know whose kid will be selected 9 times out of 10 … yours.[/quote]

In the end the kid who worked on soccer in playing soccer and the kid who worked on running isn't:

http://www.espn.com/soccer/club/central-coast-mariners/5325/blog/post/3618449/usain-bolts-professional-soccer-debut-delivered-on-the-hype-but-not-technique
[/quote]

If you want to see this in person, go to any HS soccer game.  Around here, each team might have 6 - 8 really good club soccer players, and the balance will be the best athlete's the coach could find that were not playing another sport.   You can see the difference immediately on the field between the players with good technical skills and the kids that are fast and strong but have no real skills.  [/quote]

Well, it is apparent that the responders to my post don’t have very good [i]reading[/i] skills. I did not say to not work on foot skills. I said that running (I.e. form and stamina) is a skill too and that those that forget soccer is a sport and not just a dribbling and juggling and trapping and shooting exercise are naive. Let me repeat so that the simpletons get it: work on BOTH foot skills AND physical training. Dummies. [/quote]

The context was for an 11 year old. Your advice within that context is stupid.

If fitness is a problem then certainly running can help a player get fit. Beyond general fitness elementary and middle school kids should focus their efforts on soccer specific skills if they wish to improve in soccer.

High School age kids may wish to do some strength and conditioning during the off season or down time. But to otherwise work on "running" even in concert with soccer training when overall fitness is not an issue is a waste of time. Well run, high intense soccer practices should be enough to keep a player fit. If your player is fit the focus should primarily be on soccer skills. [/quote]

Fitness really has nothing to do with speed.  A fit player can run the 6 - 7 miles he needs in a 90 minute game without needing to come out to rest.  A fast player will run the exact same 6 - 7 miles, but will do it faster.  They will both be equally fit.  A speedy, fit player with no touch or soccer IQ may have some use on a middle level team, but will be of no use on a high level team.[/quote]

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