This is my first time with someone playing "select"/competitive soccer. She is also doing her rec team as well. At the U12 level is all soccer one gets in whether alone, with friends, in practice, scrimmages, games of all variety, good and beneficial? Provided one doesn't get hurt or worn out (physically or mentally), could some be bad? I guess can a rec coach "ruin" development the select coach started? That sort of thing.
I think any one coach would have to go a long way to actually “ruin” the development of a player… She is probably/hopefully getting better training with her select team (that’s part of the deal, right) , but that doesn’t necessarily mean she is getting totally worthless or harmful training with her rec team…at that age, anytime spend with the ball at their feet, is time well spent imo…as long as they are enjoying themselves and having fun…. Like I say, I think it would take a very overbearing coach that demanded their players do very specific and completely wrong techniques to “ruin” any “proper” training they might get somewhere else…odds are, hopefully, you aren’t going to run into anything like that…
Thanks! Our rec coach is fine. He doesn't practice a lot, but they work hard when they do. He benefitted from the coach before him and the girls have usually been good. I have heard that you want to get as many touches and all touches are good. I like how you worded it. We have been doing drills and then her and her younger sisters get some 1 v 1 action. (Hasn't worked as well putting her against her oder siblings though).
I'd say on average it's the parents who ruin it more often. At the worst a coach may stall out a player but that usually comes with other issues that parents see - which may lead to finding somewhere else to play. My kid plays in rec with her friends when she can - she loves it - even though she has to play light. I agree to letting her play when they are low on numbers and promise to put her in the middle where she can just distribute to her rec friends. It's a position she doesn't play in travel so it gives her experience. Distribution allows her also to practice manageing the game ball on our side of the field. It also helps to hide her because no one seems to know if her playing rec is ok Really any soccer is good unless it's too much soccer. One thing to remember is that younger players need recovery time - they need days off to settle their bodies. Without they'll end up with 16 year old injuries when they are 12/13.
Thanks! Regarding recovery time. He much is too much? We have one day where she will play a select game followed by a rec game. It only happens once. The other thing is she could be going from a rec game to 45 minutes of select soccer a few times.
6 or 7 days of organized soccer IMO is to much... Id be interested in hearing the thoughts of others but if I had to put a number on it I think that's what I would choose
So a day with lots of soccer wouldn't necessarily be too bad if there was time off another. She practices a couple times a week right now, but neither her rec league or games have started up.
I'm going to disagree. I'm not saying this is what's happening in your case, but yes, it's possible for soccer to be "bad". If you have a coach that is more interested in winning than development, THAT'S bad. If the coach's strategy is "get the ball to Jill (James, whoever)", that's bad. If you have a coach who is not willing to pull his starters in a blowout, that's bad. IMO, especially when you get to the U12 level, while any touches on the ball are good, training and games should be more team specific (passes, building out of the back, etc). Coaches that encourage individuals to "take control" are bad.
My 2005 just got done with 2 weeks of doubles. I coached a rec team that had about half travel players. Practiced 2 x a week The travel players got better because more touches.
Intensity is also a factor…most U-littles aren’t training or playing with enough intensity to warrant the need for very much physical recovery time…(very unscientific personal opinion) However, I would be more concerned with burnout or the “Too much of a good thing” effect…. As long as she is having fun and excited about “having a lot soccer” on day or two, I wouldn’t worry about it…
Thanks! So far so good. She has always been excited about it. Her next youngest sister is more aggressive and probably better at this age in many respects, but she is tough to motivate. Last night we took our younger four kids to a field. The oldest was all about soccer and the youngest girl was @ 75% of the time. The middle girl...lights up when we played so 1v1 or 2v2, but really hated the short drills we did.
Touches ARE good. Training can be overdone. If you can find a way to get her more of the former while not overdoing the latter, that's ideal. Easier said than done!
The great thing about this is that the rec players start to understand the game way more with travel players on the field - quite cool to watch that happen! I wish Rec allowed more of this - I know some leagues out by me do for both reasons. Their rec is 100% in house so it's not a huge issue.
What is a double? Two practices? Is it like two-a-days? (Which American football teams around here can't do anymore.)
Yep, she had morning practice followed by an evening, Each session was 90 min. Skills training for one and conditioning for the other. It is nothing like the old FB two a days. Lots of breaks and water.
Thanks. Here it seems like you have a primary club (presumably the select team or the one you have to pay more for). Primary take precedence in the event of like-for-like conflict (games at the same time or practice at the same time), but I believe a rec game takes precedence over select practice unless the latter has an issue. We only have rec game /select practice conflicts.
Our middle school and HS do the same in the weeks leading up to school. Conditioning is 90 minutes in the morning (three days a week), technical training is 90 minutes in the evening (HS 5 days a week, MS 3 days). One day, DS did morning HS conditioning, evening HS technical training, then evening MS technical training. He said his legs were "dead" at the end, but he enjoyed it. He only did that once though.