Next Level U16

You will always here from time to time coaches and trainers saying in order to take players game to the next level you must or I want to take you to xyz. There are so many factors and avenues for players to reach their true potential. However, you will always here me talk about "foundation" that needs to be set.

Come to think about it....I should blog on this topic of foundation in the next few weeks. The foundation I'm talking about is early youth development (grass roots soccer). You see, between the age 7 - 12 is thee most critical years for developing an soccer athletes true potential. How high a soccer player can go depends on a  great deal on how much quality time was invested in their technical development. what I'm saying isn't written in stone, you can take a year on or off the development but a good concrete, bottom level, grass roots soccer development plan should last 5 years.

I'm going to jump to the next level in soccer for girls heading into U16. What I'm talking about doesn't only apply to girls guys to can listen in and take something away from this blog post. The reason I'm jumping to U16 is one, my daughter is turning 16 in 2013 and two, there are allot of parents asking questions and not sure where their daughter supposed to be at this age or should be focusing on. Then again I've spoken to a lot of parents and they are very content with their daughter kicking the ball out of bounds every time they feel pressure.

So, what should a U16 girl soccer player in Canada be focusing on? "Collage and University exposure, showcase tournaments and marketing their soccer profile".

I know not all girls are interested in taking their soccer skills to the next level but, they might be considering a career in the sport industry. Exposure, exposure and exposure to colleges and their recruiters is what clubs and teams should be planning around their U16 girl players. U17 and U18 is not as mindful as U16 since the girls at those ages will not develop any substantial technical core competency skills. They will always develop more skills as they move on to post secondary education however, those skills will be more in line with  complimentary skills. What most collage recruiters will be considering at great length when issuing scholarships is core soccer skill, athletic potential and academic standard. 

Is your Club, Coach and Team (CCT) focusing on showcasing or winning division and tournaments?