I have one kid who has played/trained soccer probably 5 days a week every week year round since he was 5 or 6 for the past 10 years. Sure there was a week off here or there but there were also times of 3 weeks straight without a break. He's done team training, one on one training, pick up, just himself with a ball and a wall, you name it. At the beach. Futsal. 3v3. etc etc. Travelled all over. Never had a growth plate injury. I have another kid who didn't take to soccer and does the rotational sports thing. Basketball in summer and winter. Rec soccer in Fall. Track and flag football in spring. Then as he got older did tackle and 7v7 in the spring. Rarely does anything more than 3 days a week. He has had three growth plate injuries. Each hip once and one ankle. Just saying.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:First week of pre-season our ECNL club does beep test to measure endurance and a shuttle run to test quickness/explosiveness. Then after a lot of strenuous fitness activities throughout the next a couple a of weeks they will retest to measure progress.

can you share which club does this? seems like a pretty organized club and takes this seriously.

You know it's about you and your kid taking this seriously?
Not a club

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Give me 20 minutes with a team, and I can tell you who worked over the summer and who didn't. And I'm not a coach. Those who stand out in a negative way have alot to prove. No elite soccer player sits for weeks on end.

My kid has been playing in the pool and on the couch for 7 weeks
No burnout happening here

If your kid needs 7 weeks of not touching a ball to avoid burnout, you are wasting tens of thousands of dollars. Because there is zero need to be playing competitive sports. Going through "the grind" is also about more than sports. It's about having goals, achieving them, and appreciating the work that went into it. Not everyone is going to be a professional athlete. But, they are hopefully going to be a professional at something. And having a work ethic that requires seven weeks of total rest - doesn't seem like someone ready to succeed in life.

Work smart, not hard

Anonymous wrote:First week of pre-season our ECNL club does beep test to measure endurance and a shuttle run to test quickness/explosiveness. Then after a lot of strenuous fitness activities throughout the next a couple a of weeks they will retest to measure progress.

can you share which club does this? seems like a pretty organized club and takes this seriously.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Give me 20 minutes with a team, and I can tell you who worked over the summer and who didn't. And I'm not a coach. Those who stand out in a negative way have alot to prove. No elite soccer player sits for weeks on end.

My kid has been playing in the pool and on the couch for 7 weeks
No burnout happening here

If your kid needs 7 weeks of not touching a ball to avoid burnout, you are wasting tens of thousands of dollars. Because there is zero need to be playing competitive sports. Going through "the grind" is also about more than sports. It's about having goals, achieving them, and appreciating the work that went into it. Not everyone is going to be a professional athlete. But, they are hopefully going to be a professional at something. And having a work ethic that requires seven weeks of total rest - doesn't seem like someone ready to succeed in life.

wow this is the dumbest thing I've seen on DCUM for a long time, and I don't say that lightly. enjoying your parents' basement much? go back to your keyboard, you have so much more life to succeed in!

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Give me 20 minutes with a team, and I can tell you who worked over the summer and who didn't. And I'm not a coach. Those who stand out in a negative way have alot to prove. No elite soccer player sits for weeks on end.

My kid has been playing in the pool and on the couch for 7 weeks
No burnout happening here

If your kid needs 7 weeks of not touching a ball to avoid burnout, you are wasting tens of thousands of dollars. Because there is zero need to be playing competitive sports. Going through "the grind" is also about more than sports. It's about having goals, achieving them, and appreciating the work that went into it. Not everyone is going to be a professional athlete. But, they are hopefully going to be a professional at something. And having a work ethic that requires seven weeks of total rest - doesn't seem like someone ready to succeed in life.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Give me 20 minutes with a team, and I can tell you who worked over the summer and who didn't. And I'm not a coach. Those who stand out in a negative way have alot to prove. No elite soccer player sits for weeks on end.

My kid has been playing in the pool and on the couch for 7 weeks
No burnout happening here

I agree with letting your kids have some rest over summer break, particularly to prevent burnout and allow growth plates some time to progress naturally.

If you have a Coach or parent who criticizes a player's back to training fitness levels, please be wary of those idiots. If judgement must be cast at fitness levels, only consider how much a player improves over baseline and save the initial judgments for professional athletes, college athletes and military recruits.

Ideally, you want a program that uses fitness testing to motivate players, not disparage them.

Explain the growth plates growing naturally in details please, versus unnaturally?

You got me there, but overworking the growth plates leads to injuries and setbacks all the time. I'd say it would be unnatural to stress out the growth plates on a near year round basis vs how they are designed to function naturally. If you're serious, and not a troll, take a look at just 2 of the sites that references risks associated with over training young athletes:
https://www.childrenscolorado.org/conditions-and-advice/sports-articles/sports-injuries/growth-plate-injuries/
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC4055241/ (Go to the section on Growth Plate Vulnerability.)

These articles, admittedly, do not support my position very well, but I'd still argue kids and teenagers should have a summer break and skip the pre-pre-season training. It's a marathon and not a sprint.

Growth Plates are damaged by Impact Injuries versus Overuse Injuries which damages muscles and ligaments.

The longer you take a full break from training, the higher the risks of injury when you restart and go from 0 to 60 in 10 seconds versus going from 30 to 60 in the same length of time.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Give me 20 minutes with a team, and I can tell you who worked over the summer and who didn't. And I'm not a coach. Those who stand out in a negative way have alot to prove. No elite soccer player sits for weeks on end.

My kid has been playing in the pool and on the couch for 7 weeks
No burnout happening here

I agree with letting your kids have some rest over summer break, particularly to prevent burnout and allow growth plates some time to progress naturally.

If you have a Coach or parent who criticizes a player's back to training fitness levels, please be wary of those idiots. If judgement must be cast at fitness levels, only consider how much a player improves over baseline and save the initial judgments for professional athletes, college athletes and military recruits.

Ideally, you want a program that uses fitness testing to motivate players, not disparage them.

Explain the growth plates growing naturally in details please, versus unnaturally?

You got me there, but overworking the growth plates leads to injuries and setbacks all the time. I'd say it would be unnatural to stress out the growth plates on a near year round basis vs how they are designed to function naturally. If you're serious, and not a troll, take a look at just 2 of the sites that references risks associated with over training young athletes:
https://www.childrenscolorado.org/conditions-and-advice/sports-articles/sports-injuries/growth-plate-injuries/
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC4055241/ (Go to the section on Growth Plate Vulnerability.)

These articles, admittedly, do not support my position very well, but I'd still argue kids and teenagers should have a summer break and skip the pre-pre-season training. It's a marathon and not a sprint.

Anonymous wrote:Arlington ECNL has fitness preseason (likely what others described, beep taste, shuttle run etc) and suppose to take the test again after some weeks to measure progress.

Included in the club/ team fee which is around the same amount as last year.

Hmmm. Interesting. My kid has been with Arlington ECNL for 4 years now and I've never heard of anyone on the team doing a beep test or even a shuttle run.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Give me 20 minutes with a team, and I can tell you who worked over the summer and who didn't. And I'm not a coach. Those who stand out in a negative way have alot to prove. No elite soccer player sits for weeks on end.

My kid has been playing in the pool and on the couch for 7 weeks
No burnout happening here

Aren't you worried that he'll get burnt out from playing in the pool or sitting on the couch and never want to do those things again?

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Give me 20 minutes with a team, and I can tell you who worked over the summer and who didn't. And I'm not a coach. Those who stand out in a negative way have alot to prove. No elite soccer player sits for weeks on end.

My kid has been playing in the pool and on the couch for 7 weeks
No burnout happening here

I agree with letting your kids have some rest over summer break, particularly to prevent burnout and allow growth plates some time to progress naturally.

If you have a Coach or parent who criticizes a player's back to training fitness levels, please be wary of those idiots. If judgement must be cast at fitness levels, only consider how much a player improves over baseline and save the initial judgments for professional athletes, college athletes and military recruits.

Ideally, you want a program that uses fitness testing to motivate players, not disparage them.

If you're U14 or older and show up the first day of training winded after warm-ups and are struggling way behind your teammates in drills, you're a slacker!

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Give me 20 minutes with a team, and I can tell you who worked over the summer and who didn't. And I'm not a coach. Those who stand out in a negative way have alot to prove. No elite soccer player sits for weeks on end.

My kid has been playing in the pool and on the couch for 7 weeks
No burnout happening here

I agree with letting your kids have some rest over summer break, particularly to prevent burnout and allow growth plates some time to progress naturally.

If you have a Coach or parent who criticizes a player's back to training fitness levels, please be wary of those idiots. If judgement must be cast at fitness levels, only consider how much a player improves over baseline and save the initial judgments for professional athletes, college athletes and military recruits.

Ideally, you want a program that uses fitness testing to motivate players, not disparage them.

Explain the growth plates growing naturally in details please, versus unnaturally?

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Give me 20 minutes with a team, and I can tell you who worked over the summer and who didn't. And I'm not a coach. Those who stand out in a negative way have alot to prove. No elite soccer player sits for weeks on end.

My kid has been playing in the pool and on the couch for 7 weeks
No burnout happening here

I agree with letting your kids have some rest over summer break, particularly to prevent burnout and allow growth plates some time to progress naturally.

If you have a Coach or parent who criticizes a player's back to training fitness levels, please be wary of those idiots. If judgement must be cast at fitness levels, only consider how much a player improves over baseline and save the initial judgments for professional athletes, college athletes and military recruits.

Ideally, you want a program that uses fitness testing to motivate players, not disparage them.

Anonymous wrote:Give me 20 minutes with a team, and I can tell you who worked over the summer and who didn't. And I'm not a coach. Those who stand out in a negative way have alot to prove. No elite soccer player sits for weeks on end.

My kid has been playing in the pool and on the couch for 7 weeks
No burnout happening here

Give me 20 minutes with a team, and I can tell you who worked over the summer and who didn't. And I'm not a coach. Those who stand out in a negative way have alot to prove. No elite soccer player sits for weeks on end.