Today the Recreation Program Play begins.
The following article from fourfourtwo is a great insight to why our program works. It is outside of traditional and conventional thinking of soccer in the US, but is hugely popular with players. Players get to think for themselves, supporting problem solving and creative thinking.
Play is important, and it works.
Our Competitive curriculum also incorporates weekly free play tournament, and plenty of small sided games.
Youth Sports are a fantastic way to give kids a chance to learn valuable life skills, provide an outlet of stress and anxiety from educational and social stressors, and provide a sense of belonging to a collective group.
There are so many valuable benefits and positives to participation in youth sports. We must though be aware of the demands being placed on the player. These are still kids, in bodies still developing and growing.
Stress, whether it be emotional, psychological or physical, can be detrimental to the body and can lead to weaknesses throughout the boy which can then lead to an increase in the incidence and severity of injuries. Such injuries even at a youth age can end the participation in certain sports for kids, and prevent them from going on to play at higher levels or later in life.
Great Video on Overuse Injuries – https://youtu.be/L9Hg201U26g
Poor Practice
When playing a sport, you need to be fit for that discipline, fitness work should be specific to the activity and demands being placed on the body. Soccer is not played on an incline, nor with weights around ankles, and I’m still yet to see a player run around in circles around the outside of the field. The fitness work needs to be specific to the distances, speeds, and duration of work within the game, and appropriate to the movements and skills set performed. There is also a need for coaches to differentiate between low fitness levels and fatigue. Extensive training to a fatigued player puts them at a risk of higher incidence of injury, often it’s rest that is needed not more sprints.
Tournaments
The main reason for injuries is overuse. Overuse weakens the active muscles which protect and support the body, and once weakened the incidence is increased. We now have tournaments (Invitationals and Showcases) that offer 6 games in 3 days, that’s half a season in one weekend. The highest level of professional players who play and train for a living will at most play 6 games in 4 weeks in major tournaments, so why do we put young amateur athletes in this environment? Recently a club had to pull a team from league play due to a number of players sustaining ACL injuries from tournament play during the summer months. Ligament injuries are not the only injuries sustained from overuse, as the muscles weaken the player is unable to avoid collisions and reckless challenges, both of which can cause additional injuries other than soft tissue.
Injuries can happen in any sport at any time, and even when going about your normal day. The benefits to participation in sport greatly outweighs those for not playing. Proper attention to the players needs is important, accountability on coaches actions needs to be addressed, and keeping youth soccer specific to youth players is paramount. Together we can all enjoy the experiences and lessons learned through youth sports, and ultimately ensure the kids have fun while learning.
This past weekend Fremont YSC was well under way with its preparations for the Fall 2017 season.
We started the weekend with our Parents Welcome Meeting for the 2017 Fall Recreation Program. The meeting was for parents of all players registered to play this season, from players as young as 3 years old and up. The following links are for the presentations that were held this past Friday.
U4 to U8 – Click Here
U10 and Above – Click Here
Coach Education
Saturday was the Recreation Volunteer Coaches turn. In preparation for the season we hosted the volunteers at Irvington High School for an education session on the age appropriate curriculum’s for all the age groups. Sessions gave volunteers the opportunity to see sessions taking place, and to get an understanding of the program and session structure. We are incredibly grateful for volunteers who support the program. We have no expectation of the coaches to bring out the next Messi, we fully support the volunteers, and happy to have such wiling people to help put together a program for kids to play.
We’ve got players, now for the fields
Sunday our coaching staff got together at Central Park Soccer Complex to put together finishing touches on the fields ready for the season. Goals, flags, nets, and our containers were worked on ready for the opening weekend of games this Saturday.
As always Don Hugie was huge for Fremont YSC, and we can’t thank Don enough for his continued support and work with the club and its facilities.
In recent years the landscape of youth soccer, and youth sports, has changed drastically. Youth players are now expected to perform like professionals, following more vigorous schedules than their professional idols. An image of what we see on TV and in the media is being projected on to the youth player.
Appropriate, purposeful practice is a great development in the youth game, where players are involved in game specific practices, and no longer stood around in lines.
It doesn’t however take a ‘super club’, ‘foreign franchise’, nor an ‘Academy’ be it DA or by name, to provide this environment. This is determined by the club structure, and philosophy of the directors of each club, and a club that encourages development over winning and collecting trophies. An easy way to get an insight to the club is by checking their social media and website feeds, full of tournaments and trophies?
The importance and prestige now associated with youth soccer has led to a toxic environment, where clubs compete for players, ultimately working against each other at the grass roots level rather than working together, a biproduct of the influence of money is having on youth sports. The parent’s office talk becomes about the ‘bracket’, and ‘level of play’ in which their child is at with their club, or how far they travelled for a tournament. The conversation should focus more on the relationships built and the life lessons being learned, while specifically for soccer demonstrating individual skill and playing on the weekend with a smile with their friends. Ultimately this creates a fear of missing out. If someone is driving an hour to practice and traveling to different states for a tournament, then they must be getting a better experience! The travel is taking time away from a child’s education, social interaction, and time that could be used for physical activity. A tournament places a child in to a situation where they are now playing half a season over 3 days, that is insane. Clubs though will sell these as positives, will sell that they are a developmental club because they win and go to tournaments, and it’s easier to collect dollars than it is to educate.
Importance needs to be placed on the individual. Looking further ahead a recruiter for college will not be concerned about the team you come from, but the individual personal characteristics you demonstrate, and the individual ability you possess as a player. College ID camps will give players exposure to the right people, and limit the incredible stress placed on players through chasing down Showcases and playing up to 6 games in 3 days.
Please take the time to read through the following articles, incredibly important in understanding the current youth soccer/sports climate, and from a parent’s perspective.
http://changingthegameproject.com/fomo-ruining-youth-sports/
https://kateleavell.com/…/…/13/dear-daughter-the-letter/amp/
We will continue to provide an environment that is best for the players welfare and long-term development.
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