My daughter is gifted at soccer. She also loves the game. Are you saying she is too young and should not receive training?

Passion for the game is a key ingredient to success on the field. Also, the variations in child personality and temperament are just as prevalent in the game of soccer, aptitude for play and learning, and development of athleticism versus natural athletic gifts. Taking facts such as these into consideration, we try to get your daughter as many touches and as much good training as we can. We know kids her age want to play some fun games but we try not to go that route in individual skills training sessions as we know if she can get through the hour doing proper training she will get better faster.

Development of each player is very important to us – and often we see that in favor of well-rounded development focus can become shifted to comparison development. Comparison development is very dangerous for the players’ mental and emotional as well as physical development. Comparison will never be an accurate form of assessment as kids develop at different rates and stages, in different environments, and with varying degrees of passion displayed. Kids can receive pressure too young and therefore experience burnout, stress, and problems in relationships with parents and coaches and peers. We highly recommend that in the early ages all kids’ focus be on fun. If the emphasis is on the number of goals scored, the number of wins accumulated, or the parents discuss the other team in derogatory terms then the kids begin to associate a fun game with negative feelings.