It’s very common occurrence in youth sports where a player will come up to a coach after a training session or a game or a tournament and ask a question of the coach, “what should I be working on” It is a great question and kudos to those who seek feedback. This episode reviews at least what almost all players can work on but also the approach and timing to get the most thoughtful and prepared response vs an “on the fly” response.

Too many clubs, leagues and events and the sheer size of the US make talent identification difficult. The fact that there does not seem to be enough people contributes to the problem

With all of the finger pointing that is going on, have we considered that it is not the parents or the coaches and the pressure that they put on athletes, but that the lack of recognition and ability to support athletes through puberty, may be a bigger problem than we may have realized. Some random observations to consider.

It only takes 10 minutes a day. Listen to how players can improve their foot skills and get the equivalent of an extra training session per week in 10 minutes per day. Coaches should encourage home based skill acquisition aka “Homework” to encourage Individual training. Ball Mastery, moves, juggling and basic dribbling 10-20 minutes per day several days per week will improve first touch, balance, coordination, agility and confidence on the ball. Players, if you are not doing it start! Parents and Coaches, encourage your players to start and keep track of these sessions. This is ideal for multi-Sport athletes who are constantly juggling conflicting schedules and can make up the equivalent time of a missed session. Over a 5-10 year playing career, players can literally get the equivalent of seasons of extra touches by creating this habit.

As coaches and parents we need to model behavior that we want to see displayed by our kids on the soccer field. It seems these days that more and more players are critical of one another, their coaches and the referees which does not honor the game.

There are more than one way to develop soccer players and we should be careful to adopt the next shiny object

It’s Takes a Village - the Problem with the Problem with Youth Soccer is that kids can’t access the whole village because the corners are guarded by the bullies.

It is the time of year for indoor leagues...futsal, dasher boards, etc. What is good, what are concerns and how to ensure that these supplemental programs add to vs take away from player development.

How and why to create goal setting, journaling, and other habits to help realize potential and develop life skills in the process.

What separates players at the next level? Speed of Play and Decision Making