First, make sure she's not losing pace due to injury or compensation for an injury. Has she had a physical recently? Any complaints of joint pain? Assuming she's fine, I would say she's now in an IDEAL position to learn. The girls she used to be able to keep up with or stay ahead of now have the ability to physically beat her. NOW, your daughter has to learn how to outsmart, outflank, and outmaneuver bigger, stronger, faster players. I would suggest working with the coach in this area to ensure she continues to learn and not get frustrated. There will come a day when your daughter's age won't matter, whether it be high school or college or beyond. But, opportunities like this will help her prepare for that day. Good luck!
I wouldnt say how much time she trained, but more importantly is that how much SHE WANTED to train and play. But for all those that think negative about this, she did take time off, and she was bored to death after the 1st week, let lone 3 weeks. Here is another thought for some of you...Instead of training yr round, take time off and see if she wants to go to a certified trainer, its not soccer, but they do have trainers for soccer only players now. Work on explosion drills, balance drills, etc. stay away from the soccer ball and field, but do this for a 6 or 8 week stint. breaks it up a bit. And, it helps her on the soccer field as well. If she is a competitive person, she should love this. Not recommended for Under 12 yrs old thou.
Great post as usual. Regarding rest and overtraining, I have a question which you seem to partly address. Is it OK to mention a U12 boy in this thread? I think it might also be pertinent to girls of the same age. My son is a U12 goalkeeper and the team coach recently told me he trains too much which leaves him susceptible to injuries. He strained his shoulder in PE class which left him unable to throw for 2 weeks. It was a minor injury and he played his best game of the season 4 days later, including saving a PK to preserve a clean sheet. I think he is susceptible to minor injuries because he will challenge for the ball and make saves in situations most goalkeepers his age will avoid. I am not sure where his coach is coming from as he has never missed a league game due to injury. He has had to curtail his practice activity from time to time due to minor sprains, contusions, etc. He regularly trains with older GKs, both boys and girls, who have much more serious injuries. Regarding his training schedule, his goal during the season is to attend 2 GK specific training sessions per week in addition to the 2 team practices. The extra GK sessions seldom work out every week due to conflicts with his schedule and his GK coach’s schedule. A couple of times during the season he will add an extra GK session which leaves him with one off day in the week. I let him set his own training schedule, so his extra training is voluntary. During the off-season his goal is to have one GK specific training session per week as well as basketball and one regular soccer practice. We are coming on a potential rest week and I am not sure whether he should continue training this week or rest. ODP practice starts in a month. He carries too much weight on him, so I don’t like to see him inactive. What do you all think? When should he put his rest weeks in? Thanks for your opinion.
Every player is different. Their outside activities differ. Their bodies differ. This makes it difficult to suggest rules for a specific player that you have not seen and has a regime that is not fully described. I will give you some general rules and I will suggest some things you should learn and your son should learn to make him less prone to injury. For example, you need to keep track of what he does in PE class on a regular basis - I know it varies, which also makes matters more difficult for his trainers in other sports. A strenuous day in PE followed by a day that involves a rigorous soccer practice could overload particular muscles. Training with older keepers can also be a problem. If the training is purely technical - how to position yourself, how to make a smother save, etc. it is not a problem. If the training involves conditioning, especially heavy plyometrics, he is probably too young. Heavy plyos, such as bounding drills, jumping from a raised platform and back up to it, can strain growth plates and damage players who have not finished growing. There is research, not conclusive, that plyometrics unless very light, is not wise for pre puberty children. A good rule of thumb in many sports is to take one week off in every nine. This means eight weeks of training and then a week off. That is a training regime that Jeff Galloway recommends in his Book on Running and that Drabik suggests. It is common in many sports. Going beyond this for a particular individual is very difficult. When you reference the training in terms of days, but do not describe what is involved in the training you only tell a part of the story. You what to examine both the load volume (frequency of activity) and the load intensity (how strenuous his activity is). The activities should have a segment devoted to developing range of movement and flexibility. When you look at the load volume you want to examine the muscle groups involved. This is why cross training can be so beneficial. Training for soccer will focus training on a select group of muscles, primarily the quads, hams, and calves and then to a lesser extent the central core muscle groups of the stomach, back and shoulders. Another sport, such as swimming will work these muscles, but not as hard, but will focus much more on the forearms (which determine hand strength), biceps and triceps. This spreads the load volume, yet keeps the cardio rate up. Drabik, at page 53, summarizes this issue: The benefits of cross training and the nature of these injuries were explained in an article in the Providence Journal, June 20, 2006 A good trainer will ask what other activities are involved. Will look at the player's current development and can make a much more informed decision. As such I would place a lot of confidence in your goal keeper coach. With what you have described, I would not be surprised if you son was not on the edge of a potential over use injury. That brings us to the second point - how these injuries develop and how to catch them early. Rick Meana, the Director of Coaching for the New Jersey Soccer Association in an article entitled, Youth Soccer’s Dilemma: Is more actually better? echoed described the injuries and how to diagnosis them as follows: Beyond what Meana suggests learn to probe muscles looking for small tears. These will be soft and usually sore areas in a muscle group. If not allowed to heal a small bruise, especially in the quad, can become a major tear. Another sign is a muscle that is having tremors or spasms that continue for more than a day after the exercise. I hope this helped.
Wow, thanks for taking the time. Your check is in the mail. : -) When my kid works with the club GK director, they work at a high intensity level, which is why I prefer him. They don’t use heavy plyometric training, most of it is technique/functional training, conditioning, and agility work. I will watch out for the type of plyometric jump training you mention. That is a good point about load intensity as well as load volume. I will keep on eye on it and during a particularly intense week, we will focus extra training session on more technical areas or different areas such as distribution, flexibility and range of motion, balance etc. Thanks for reminding me about the PE class. He is in the so-called advanced group where the school segregates all the hypercompetitive, athletic boys and girls. It can get a little tiring since they run at least a half mile to warm up. One day he seemed a little sluggish at team soccer practice. I found out later they ran a mile and a half during PE class. Sounds like a week off won’t hurt that much and could help quite a bit. Thanks again.
This is a valid point, and one I am a little torn about myself. I am certain that #23 should take some time off this summer when home, but I know from past history that she will be looking for guest play opportunities after only a couple of weeks off. I am trying to determine the best way to handle this....the biggest questions I have are 1) how long is sufficient in her particular case (as Perf suggested each child is different) and 2) where do we look for potential guest play opportunities. I have heard that she may have two different opportunities (one in a lighter shade of Maroon with Coach D and one in a Blue uniform). Not sure if either is the right situation, maybe she will just do as in the past and play some "pick-up games" with the local men's jr college talent. Off topic, and apologize for this....but what are the opinions of everyone on trying to get her into an age appropriate Super-Y boys team if possible? I am concerned about putting her with U15 boys, not sure she can keep up. I can think of one outstanding female player that began to see big disadvantages to playing with high level boys at this age. Thoughts? Suggestions on where a girl can find some games/training if she needed to?
No, we are not talking about two different kinds of players. We are talking about the correct amount of training. The assumption of many is that only the most competitive players, those on premier, select or elite teams need to train year round. The casual player can train once a week for ten weeks every year and will be fine. That is utterly wrong. Any player given so little attention will never learn soccer and will be gone from the game before they ever reach high school, even if they liked the game at one point in their life. I agree there is nothing wrong with playing year round, and there is nothing wrong with a kid playing soccer here and there. There is nothing wrong with not playing soccer at all. That is not the issue. The issue is what is the best amount of training, the best load volume. Why would someone not want to give the proper amount of training? Let’s look at the over use complaints first. Stryker writes first of the effects of puberty on ability, but then poses this: Neither plantar fascitis nor Osgood Schlatters are over use injuries. Osgood Schlatters can be aggravated in severe cases by extended use, but it is a condition that results from the bone growing faster than the Patella Tendon. The player will have Osgood Schlatters until they stop growing no matter how much they use their legs. (In extreme cases a person can tear the tendon through over use, but the pain that preceeds such an injury is so great most stop long before a tear appears.) In the vast majority of cases the level of participation common with a premier level player will not cause any lastin effect. They can lessen the pain through compression, stretching, ice and anti inflammatories. Plantar Fascitis can be caused by many factors, but it is often more associated with poor mechanics and too small shoes. It can be caused by over use, but that is rare in soccer players; it is common in distance runners. You really have to be running a lot for over use to be the cause. I hope she will heal up and catch up with her peers. The odds are she will. Soccermom444 poses a similar fear; her daughter loves soccer and will not quit playing or training. She fears over use injuries. It is something to be aware of, but it is not a reason to avoid training. As I wrote above over use is a factor of not only load volume, but load intensity. A good coach balances training over the week so that the intensity is light on Monday after a weekend game. The most rigorous days will be Wednesday or Thursday, with a light practice to end the week. This allows rest. You might give an entire week off every two months or so. Playing free games is rarely an issue. The child will play as long as they desire, they will stop if it hurts or if they are fatigued, only to join again as they feel rested. Each child is different. Some can play at a high intensity for years and never suffer any injury. Others are not so blessed with incredible bodies. Learn to ask how they are doing. My youngest is 13. I ask her every day how she is feeling, and on days she has gym at school I ask for a detailed description of what she did. I have an advantage when it comes to her training as I am one of the Directors of Coaching. I tell her coach; he also asks the same of the other players on her team. If need be practice is adjusted. All of our coaches know the outside activities of our players. We know their practice schedules and ask them during warm ups how they feel, what they did, did they get knock around or have any injuries. We have some girls who run on their schools cross-country teams. Their club soccer practices, which follow cross-country practice, are light, other more technical. They do not do the full gambit that the non cross-country runners do or reduce activity. For example, in training games they are often the "neutral player. They practice four days a week, 46 weeks a year. Over use injuries are rare and usually the result of parents not heeding our advice or the advice of the doctor we have associated with us. (This is something I recommend to everybody – have you club associate with a specialist in pediatric sports medicine – see: http://www.wellbodykc.com/wellbodyFrontpage.html) Other injuries are a consequence of just playing soccer, rarely over use injuries. We do have parents that force their children into too many activities. They demand the child do competitive dance five days a week and soccer four with basketball in season. When we have a rest weekend, they are pushing to go guest play at some tournament. Their children suffer and often get cut because their injuries prevent them from performing. Over use injuries, however, are not a major concern of the "here and there" player. What matters for them, especially at the younger ages is that they be trained in the techniques of the game. This takes time, lots of time. The major reason children quit soccer is they do not do well at it. This is why it is often "not fun." Train the child one day a week, have them spend more time in a line than touching the ball and of course they will quit. You would quit, too. You would quit any other activity you were give a brief taste of but never the time to develop any proficiency. Children who practice once a week for three months a year have an over 90% likelihood of quitting soccer by age 14. They do not play in high school. They do not play in college. They quit. Children who train twice a week are much more likely to stay in the sport for years and to continue playing as adults. It does not have to be travel or premier. It does not have to be with a paid trainer. What matters is that they learn to play the game with a minimum level of skill. Learning that skill takes some time each week. If they had one practice a week and a hour a day of free play, that would be better, providing that the free play included players who had a higher skill level that could serve as an example. A qualified coach can speed the learning, but it is still thousands of hours of time to acquire the basic skills to play the game. The sad fact of life is that for most in the US there is no free play. There is no street soccer. What there is, is a tightly regulated age grouped game where the players are all at the same level of knowledge. This means they will not learn from each other. Unless the child has an older sibling or parent who played, their only hope is learning in practice from a coach. Take the child away from soccer because a parent fears "Burn out", or an "injury" or for any reason other than the child not liking soccer is a mistake. Take the child away and they will not learn. These are critical years, these years between 8 and 12. If a child does not master basic skills now it is highly unlikely they ever will. Without those basic skills they will not stay in the game. Think for a moment about basketball. Would you play basketball, even if you were on a team that won all the time, if you could not make a simple lay up? If virtually every time you tried to dribble you lost the ball to a steal or a lack of coordination? What if every pass was wide? What if your team mates rarely gave you the ball because they knew you would lose it? You would surely quit. This is why children quit soccer. They do not have the skills. Why do they lack the basic skills? Because, they were not given the time to develop them in those critical years. Parents would take them from sport to sport allowing only three months for soccer. People assumed that all sports were the same, never knowing that soccer is far more technical and requires a much higher sense of balance and coordination. This is not about training a child at age 10 for college. This is about teaching a sport so a child has the tools to play the game for life if they desire. If they do not like soccer, do not force them to play. If they do like the game, do not ruin it for them by depriving them of the game for months at a time. In the end, the difference between the training of the elite and the “I am here for fun only” player should be in the intensity of the practice and the rate of skill acquisition. The basic training time from age 8 to 12 should be essentially the same.
Menace, you may recall one of the best girl players I'd ever seen tried out for the local club and was snubbed. She chose to play in the local Park Rec Co-ed league. She beat one boy on a nifty move for a goal. The boy viciously slide tackled her in retailiation, blowing out her knee. Regardless of what you and I like to think about the quality of the girl's game, the practical reality is that boys tend to be faster and bigger, and the physics of a collision usually don't work in favor of a girl, regardless of intent on the part of the boy...
PERFDBDAN you've got some well thought out opinions about all this. You really know your stuff and I understand your point of view. I feel ultimately each child/parents situation is different. In our case with our ten year old girl she is in her first year of travel soccer -- practices twice a week with her team and plays games twice a weekend. This year she does not wish to play in the optional winter indoor league and is happy to work out once a week with her team and play the occasional tournament until the outdoor season resumes in March (we're live in northeast). She won't be giving up soccer totally over the winter..but it will scale down considerably for about 3 months. She is just as happy to pursue her ice skating and socializing with her friends in the winter as play an indoor soccer game every weekend. She's not a kid with a huge passion for the sport. She doesn't watch it on TV or practice all the time at home with a ball. But she does like being on the travel team this year and looks forward to the practices and games. FUN is the key word here regarding her soccer experience. I want to keep it fun for her if I can. I'm not going to push her to play indoors this winter unless she's dying to (and she's not). I'm hoping she'll enjoy this season of travel soccer enought to want to continue with it in future years. That and that she has a good time doing it.
icepick, I understand and in large measure agree with you. Every child is different and there will be those children who want to do other activities. There is only so much time in each day and each family's schedule. There are going to be many situations where players do not have enough time for all they want and choices have to be made. Further, the wants and desires of players change. We need, however, to let people know the consequences of those choices. It is sort of like learning a language. A one or two month "introductory" course in Spanish, French or German that has children memorize how to count from one to twenty, learn to say their name, good day, good bye and where is the bathroom is NOT learning a lanaguage - it is not even close. Many schools offer such programs; they are a waste. Such courses are often misleading and all too often the kid does not remember a smidge of the foreign langauage six months later. When we have limited resources why spend them on something that has no value and does not even aid a child in making a decision as to whether they want to learn the langauage at a later time. Learning soccer is much the same. Too many are not learning soccer. As a consequence they do not stay and do not enjoy fully the brief exposure they have. Many clubs squander their limited resources to no advantage "exposing" children to a game, but do not offer enough to allow the children to learn if they might truly enjoy the game. I want the game to be FUN. Too often the choices of limited practices (I know of recreational leagues that have rules restricitng the number of practices to no more than one a week - imagine a sports organization with rules that you cannot play the sport), lack of guidance on how practices should be run, and similar flaws are making the choices, not the players or parents. A choice is only meaningful when you know the consquences of the choice. Too many do not know the consequences. As I wrote in the first post - "It seems there is more wishful thinking than analysis based on solid research in what people believe is the correct training regime for young players."
"A choice is only meaningful when you know the consquences of the choice. Too many do not know the consequences. As I wrote in the first post - "It seems there is more wishful thinking than analysis based on solid research in what people believe is the correct training regime for young players." I see what you're saying. I can't help but think that because soccer is a relatively new youth sport in the US that most parents don't know much about training, etc. On my daughter's travel team there are a handful of parents (almost all ex-rec league coaches) that sit in on practices and pay attention to what the girls are doing. Then there are the rest (most) of the parents who seem to barely know the rules of the game. Not much in between... Most rec league parents just want to deal with the games. They don't even care if the team practices. However, that's where my kid was first exposed to soccer. I feel that's the case with most girls who go on to a higher level in the sport.
ipphil-- keep in mind that there are really three/four levels of youth soccer. They very simplistically are: 1) rec- example is local town rec league or even traveling recreational league) 2) State level competitive (typically a Club setting with selected players via try-outs) 3) Regional level competitive teams (Club setting where the team regularly plays other "upper level" teams within the Region and 4) National level competitive teams (typically the "super club" teams which travel around the US-- examples: Dallas Texans, Eclipse, Magic, Surf, PDA, etc.). At 10, it is maybe a bit early to think about much beyond possibly #2. But, in order to make it on to a level 3 or 4 team....the training begins at age 10. In Iowa we cannot fom Select teams until age 11 while other surrounding States begin two years earlier at U9. If you take a look at how competitive Iowa teams are with those surrounding States with 2 years head-start all one has to do is look at Region 2 rankings. It is very obvious that training is very important, and the earlier you can begin the better for your little Mia or Landon. The thread which made light of the U6 team while funny and obviously ridiculous, I know that there are indeed players who are 7-8 years old here in Iowa that are currently playing on U11 Select teams. This didn't happen by accident, there is no way that based upon physical attributes these kids could compete for a position on a Select team....let alone be some of the best players on the field on any given day. These kids have had training exposure beyond the norms for the other children....not saying right or wrong because I can only make decisions for/with my own children. But, I can tell you that my current U16 player wishes she would have been started much earlier than she was......hindsight it is a beach isn't it?
Again, dont do it!! we stopped at U15 1/2, and it was the right time. Why play boys?? Sure, they are bigger, faster blah blah blah, (but who ever said they were smarter thou?? I had to ask that??) Your last sentence said, "if she needed to?" what is the need? To get stronger, faster?? working out on your own in the back yard can fix some of it, you will get a preseason email telling her what she needs to do prior to going back for next yr, if you do it 100%, it will be challenging enough. Is Coach M talking to u bout this?? Is it cuz they might be short on players, and all they need is a body?? I have the most respect for CM, dont get me wrong. when 10 is home for long periods, she goes and works out with her old team (boys), but remember, that was her team for almost 5 yrs. They have taken her in there inner circle. And its just working out, kinda different than playing. Perf, I love reading your post's. Its getting close to decision time. Not easy!!
I haven't spoken to Coach M at all about this, I have talked to Coach B (21) in the past about it...just another thought. But, I think you are right...and man I hate that!
She started local rec soccer at U10. Played there for about a year and a half before we moved her to a select team with "real trainers". My middle daughter began local rec at 5 and moved to Select at age 8. My middle one is now 11, and is much more advanced (for obvious reasons). IF she chooses to continue with select soccer, she will go beyond what my oldest (who is now 15) has accomplished. She looks at her teammates (most of which started at age 8 or 9 in select) and wonders what kind of difference another four years with a "qualified trainer" would have made. Maybe none, but I suspect that she would be a much more technically and tactically sound player.
I still remember see'ing her for her 1st time at a real session...mine started early as well, playing rec at U5, FCSpeed at U7 with United, and the rest is history. What some may be missing thou, it doesnt matter how much training they GO to, its the work done in the back yard, basements, stuff they do on there own after they were taught new things. Kids are like sponges. They go home and work on it. I cant even count how much I played catch in the back yard one touching that ball back and forth, just like my dad played catch with me when I was young but with a baseball and mit. Priceless times for sure!!
And at that first session, I recieved some very prophetic words from R2. I have shared them many times over the past couple years. Those words? "Hang on, this is only the beginning". They were very accurate, because honestly I can tell you that I thought my daughter was the "next coming" early on. It wasn't until she actually reached the next level that I was able to see what was really out there for talent. You can't even comprehend what is out there for your child to compete with until you see them. And, when they reach that "next level" you realize that there are many more levels to go and even better players than you ever thought. Key here is to understand that your "little Mia or Landon" has a counterpart out there who is bigger, faster, stronger, smarter, and more technical/tactical to compete with. It is a difficult realization to get, until you see them. These kids are out there.....how does your child get to thier level and/or surpass them if he/she isn't training as often or with the same level trainers they are? Answer is.....they won't.
Amen R2, it is the work at home that takes them to the next level. You know how my daughter progressed and she did it all with HARD WORK at home. Not something forced but something she wanted. That and the additional training that she got outside of soccer has made the entire difference. I, like you, spent countless hours in the backyard punting balls for traps and playing the on-touch passback. Can't wait to see her progression this weekend in St. Louis. She was really upset that her sickness caused her to miss out on a chance with U18's last weekend.
Thanks everyone for providing your two cents, it is informing and interesting to read. Since I started the thread, I thought I'd give an update on my u-13. It seems her short growth spurt has ended, as has her osgood-schlotters symptoms(although I have a feeling she'll be dealing with it everytime she has a spurt) She no longer limps at all, and we have stopped using Advil before games and practices and she reports her knee is fine. Her speed and quicikness is "adequate" although she understands that given her injury and given that fact that she is one of only two or three kids on the team not to start puberty, she should'nt expect to be the fastest or strongest until her body catches up. She's already asking to go back to her speed and agility instructor to maintain(I have'nt decided on that however). Anyway, she still loves the game and maybe her time is coming(mom was a late-bloomer as well).