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[quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous]This is a silly question without more details about Kid A and Kid B.

Am I looking at a fast 11 year old who has never played soccer before or one with OK skills that have not been fully developed because he relies on speed to get around people? The window for technical skill development is closing fast at that age, but it’s not closed yet, and if this kid has speed and other athletic fundamentals like great balance, a good coach can probably catch him up on his technical skills in a couple years. If the kid has never played soccer, I’m very unlikely to want to invest the time unless the kid seems unusually dedicated to getting better.

And this slow but highly technical kid. Is he athletic in other ways? Because no one is going to excel in soccer who is slow and unathletic no matter how dazzling their skills. Speed can improve (or decrease, unfortunately) after puberty, but not typically by a lot.  It’s fine to say that all the best players in the world have dazzling technical abilities, but every single one of them is an outstanding athlete.  You don’t need to have NFL-combine star level speed and balance, but you absolutely need a baseline level of speed and athleticism.

But most likely a coach will not be confronted with someone whose only attribute is speed or technical ability. A good one will also be able to tell if a kid sees the field, which a lot of skilled kids don’t, contrary to popular opinion—plenty of kids dribbling around people with their heads down and no clue where their teammates are. And kids’ attitudes and attention spans make a big difference too, as do the parents you may be saddled with for a year. So the short answer is: It depends on a whole lot of factors besides those mentioned by OP.[/quote]

Never seen a slow unathletic kid with technical skills [/quote]

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