Hey everyone, Neil Crawford here, founder of Anytime Soccer Training. This episode gets personal. I’m responding to a message from a fellow soccer parent about their child getting anxious and “forgetting their training” during games. That hit home for me—because I’ve been there with my own kids, and I know how helpless it can feel.

In this episode, I open up about how I’ve approached those tough moments. I share how I break the game down into simple, specific actions—not just vague goals like “be confident.” I talk about how I used principles of play like penetration, switching the point of attack, and creativity in the final third as anchors to help my sons focus on just one or two key things each year.

We also dive into the emotional side of all this: how we as parents have to acknowledge our biases, manage our impulses, and give our kids the space and time to grow—technically, mentally, and emotionally.

I talk about the role of visualization, mindfulness, and using small physical cues as reminders to help our kids stay present and intentional on the field.

This episode is for the parents who are trying to figure out how to support their kids without overstepping. For those wondering if what they’re doing is too much—or not enough. And for those who, like me, are trying to get better every day.

Here is a link to the website referenced in the show:  https://www.competitivedge.com/ Let’s get better together.