On Conditioning for Youth Soccer Players

Hello Coaches:

It is very exciting to see all of our teams training at the fields.  The expectation is in the air, you can smell it a mile away and the kid’s anticipation shines in their eyes.  Our kids are working and learning and inspired.  I am certain the whole club will do well this season in terms of seeing a tremendous leap forward in the way the children are playing and enjoying the game.

I would like to let all of you know that Uwe Balzis, Gary Zinc, a couple staff coaches and I will be at the fields during practice and games.  Please feel free to stop us and ask questions, give us your comments, we are there to help.

In regards to the questions I have been getting on training methods I would like to clarify some statements made in our Mission Statement and in the first article in our Coaches’ Column found on our web page.

To begin with, I want to stress that coaching is a personal experience, it must come from within us, and it must be an authentic expression of our personal philosophy.  It is you who is going to inspire your players to pour their souls on the field and become life-long soccer players.  The voice of the coaches that taught us must morph into our own.

That being said, there are approaches to training club soccer players that vary in style.  For example, the European style that dominates the scene in New Mexico is based on a model that demands structured activities that focus on teaching advanced tactical and technical skills.  This approach is based on models taken directly from professional formats.  The problem with this model is that, when transferred to youth club soccer it hampers the player’s performance development because of the lack of physical exertion during practices.  Here at New Mexico Clash Soccer Club we are developing a system that will transcend this problem.

            First of all, we must realize that the must important skill in soccer is sprinting.  The technical aspects of this skill have been neglected or confused with those of track and field sprinting; which by the way are different.  In addition to its importance, sprinting at all stages of the practice helps with muscle-memory building; that is, if other skills are taught after sprinting, the muscles involved will have an easier time remembering how to perform during the game. 

Creating this context will also help with strengthening our players psychologically.  If we increase the level of intensity of our practices to the point where they are like a game, our kids will not have to spend energy trying to deal with the stress of the physical demands on their bodies; thus allowing them to focus on managing the psychological stress of the game and the crowd watching them. 

One way of introducing this concept to your sessions is by practicing the must enjoyable skill in soccer, sprinting with the ball.  To this day I haven’t met a player that didn’t enjoy dribbling.  Imagine your whole team able to dribble and initiate attack from any point on the field as a result of this.  Frankly, the day I realized I could not dribble past people like early in my professional career is the day I decided to retire.  I guarantee that your kids will love the experience.

Please feel free to contact me with any questions or comments.

Enrique Serrano