⚽️𝗛𝗢𝗪 𝗧𝗢 𝗣𝗟𝗔𝗬 𝗔𝗦 𝗔 𝗖𝗔𝗠!!⚽️

This one was requested a lot, so here we go! How can you make an impact as a central attacking midfielder?

⚽️𝗦𝗞𝗜𝗟𝗟𝗙𝗨𝗟 𝗗𝗥𝗜𝗕𝗕𝗟𝗘𝗥

A class CAM is dangerous with the ball at their feet and always looked at as a threat. You’re the player that the other team shivers when you get the ball! You should be able to destroy players in the 1v1, change speed and change direction at will… And of course, exploit pockets of space. 

⚽️𝗦𝗞𝗜𝗟𝗟𝗙𝗨𝗟 𝗗𝗥𝗜𝗕𝗕𝗟𝗘𝗥

A class CAM is dangerous with the ball at their feet and always looked at as a threat. You’re the player that the other team shivers when you get the ball! You should be able to destroy players in the 1v1, change speed and change direction at will… And of course, exploit pockets of space. 

⚽️𝗨𝗡𝗣𝗥𝗘𝗗𝗜𝗖𝗧𝗔𝗕𝗟𝗘

One of the great things about  a world class CAM is that they are unpredictable. You are so good at at being deceptive when you get the ball, the opposition does not know whether you are going to drive, dribble, pass (or who you will pass to), shoot etc.

⚽️𝗧𝗘𝗫𝗧𝗨𝗥𝗘𝗗 𝗣𝗔𝗦𝗦𝗜𝗡𝗚 

As a CAM you’ll also need great range of passing. I’m not talking about usual passing either, I am talking about being able to texture the ball so that you can manipulate the spin on it so that bounces perfectly for your target. To master killer passes you better practice the texture techniques! 

⚽️𝗩𝗜𝗦𝗜𝗢𝗡 𝗔𝗡𝗗 𝗔𝗪𝗔𝗥𝗘𝗡𝗘𝗦𝗦

As CAM your vision of the field is immense. You know where your players are, you know their movements, you know where your opponents are, you know what space they leave and how to exploit it. This is what allows you to get those assists and score goals.

⚽️𝗙𝗜𝗡𝗜𝗦𝗛𝗜𝗡𝗚

A great CAM has an amazing range of shooting and finishing. You actually wouldn't look out of place playing as a forward. This comes back to your unpredictability! You have the ability to pop shots in from outside the box, inside the box etc.

Tag a CAM you know below! 👇👇👇 

Todays featured player is the IMMENSE Kristie Mewis. She assists, she scores, she defends, she’s creative, how do you stop her? You don’t.

💪𝗛𝗢𝗪 𝗧𝗢 𝗕𝗘 𝗠𝗢𝗥𝗘 𝗖𝗢𝗡𝗙𝗜𝗗𝗘𝗡𝗧 𝗪𝗜𝗧𝗛 𝗔𝗘𝗥𝗜𝗔𝗟 𝗖𝗢𝗡𝗧𝗥𝗢𝗟💪

First thing to do… Download my FREE technical training guide ‘2500 Touch Explosion’ by clicking the link in my bio 😃

Todays post is a much requested one… AERIAL CONTROL! Straight from my email inbox, it seems that 1000’s of players struggle with this, so hopefully this post helps you out! Let’s get into it:

1️⃣ 𝘼𝙒𝘼𝙍𝙀𝙉𝙀𝙎𝙎

In any game, you have to be aware of what is going on around you. This will enable you to predict players movements, and take the appropriate action. With aerial control you have to be aware of where the space is, where your opponents are (are they behind? in front? to the side? are you going to get smashed if you don’t immediately take the ball into space from the air?). Being aware will you give the confidence to know exactly what you are going to do with the ball.

4️⃣ 𝙏𝙃𝙀 𝙁𝙇𝙄𝙂𝙃𝙏

The ability to judge the flight of a ball comes with training and practice. Now you are training with a purpose, you will start to learn how to predict the flight of the ball, what type of bounce it will have, what texture the ball has on it, and how you will need to adjust your body shape to deal with that texture etc.

5️⃣ 𝙂𝙀𝙏 𝙐𝙉𝘾𝙊𝙈𝙁𝙊𝙍𝙏𝘼𝘽𝙇𝙀

We have a saying ‘get comfortable being uncomfortable.’ There are a bunch of different ways to take the ball out of the air, and you should be good at all of them. The more you train, the better you will get. In a lot of our exercises, we purposely have players play ‘bad’ passes so that their partner has to deal with it, it’s all about you becoming comfortable with what you currently uncomfortable with!

Today’s featured player is the remarkable, 10 year Beast Mode Soccer player, Alex Morgan. If you watched the USWNT game last week you would have seen ‘righty’ (her supposed ‘weak’ foot) score a great goal against France. Alex is known for being able to rip that ball out of the air and score, whether that is with her right foot, left foot or head, SO confident in her aerial control!

𝙄𝙛 𝙮𝙤𝙪 𝙬𝙤𝙪𝙡𝙙 𝙡𝙞𝙠𝙚 𝙢𝙤𝙧𝙚 𝙦𝙪𝙖𝙡𝙞𝙩𝙮 𝙞𝙣𝙛𝙤𝙧𝙢𝙖𝙩𝙞𝙤𝙣 𝙤𝙣 𝙝𝙤𝙬 𝙔𝙊𝙐  𝙘𝙖𝙣 𝙞𝙢𝙥𝙧𝙤𝙫𝙚 𝙖𝙨 𝙖 𝙨𝙤𝙘𝙘𝙚𝙧 𝙥𝙡𝙖𝙮𝙚𝙧, 𝙟𝙪𝙨𝙩 𝙘𝙡𝙞𝙘𝙠 𝙩𝙝𝙚 𝙡𝙞𝙣𝙠 𝙞𝙣 𝙢𝙮 Instagram 𝙗𝙞𝙤 @beastmodesoccer 𝙩𝙤:⠀⠀⠀

📚 Get my FREE ‘2500 Touches’ training program

⚽️ Train with me directly, or online 

🎯 Find and book 1 on 1 training with the Beast Mode Soccer team⠀

🎥 Check out the Beast Mode Soccer YouTube Channel

📲 Check out my training app @mysoccertrainingapp

𝘿𝙖𝙫𝙞𝙙 𝘾𝙤𝙥𝙚𝙡𝙖𝙣𝙙-𝙎𝙢𝙞𝙩𝙝

The Beast Mode Soccer blog has been created to help soccer players improve their game. In this post, we are going to talk about what is the best individual soccer training program. There are a lot of options out there so it can be difficult to know which one you should use. However, with our guidance and recommendations below, you will have everything that you need in order to make an informed decision!

YouTube & Instagram

YouTube and Instagram videos are a great way to learn new skills, but they lack the structured format of an individual soccer training program. YouTube does not offer specific drills and exercises for you to follow along with like some other apps do (e.g., My Soccer Training). You also need internet access in order to view these online tutorials. There is great content on YouTube, don't get me wrong, however, there is also a HUGE amount of garbage on there from 'trainers' who film a bunch of stuff but don't actually train anyone. Its a very confusing place. Who do you listen to? The marketer? Do they actually train players day in day out? Do the KNOW what works or just what looks good on video? Here's a rule of thumb... If there is about $10k worth of equipment on the field... They are fronting 😂

Online Individual Soccer Training Programs

There are a few online individual soccer training programs out there as well. Lets start with Dylan Tooby and his Progressive Soccer Training programs.

The trainings are good, Dylan seems like a cool guy. My own problem with his training programs are that pretty much all the content is available for free on his YouTube channel, the programs are the same thing just organized better.

Then we have Matt Smith and Epic Soccer Training.

Matt's program is more in depth than Dylan's, they aren't just a series of YouTube videos. The problem with Epic Soccer Training is that it is dated and has not been given a refresh in more than 10 years. Just like everything else, soccer training evolves. Also, it seems that the people behind this program employ some really SPAMMY tactics to get traffic to their website, check out this post I wrote about it: https://beastmodesoccer.com/the-episoketren-system/

Then we have Beast Mode Soccer

If you check out our training program store, we have some fantastic individual soccer training programs, built from the ground up by myself that are geared toward making you the best player that you can be:

The Better Soccer Blueprint: Over 150 training videos, and planner so you can plan out your development

The Challenge: 5 videos, each with 5000 touches on. Follow the program and you will get over half a million touches in 100 days, do it for 200 days... You get ONE MILLION touches, THAT IS INSANE! It's literally impossible to not improve!

The Soccer Vortex: This is the most complete individual soccer training program on the planet. Nothing else comes close. It covers all bases of Technical, Tactical, Physical, Mental and Social development. It's a lot of work, but being the best is never going to be easy.

The SWAG Mindset: This mental training program takes a lot of work, BUT if you invest in it, do it and see it through, you will have a bullet proof mindset. SO many players have completely turned themselves around from being nervous wrecks who are so scared to make mistakes because they do not want to upset their coach/parents/teammates, into absolute confidence rockets who lead on the field, believe in their ability and actually ENJOY the skirmish of competition!

Individual Soccer Training Apps

When I was in the development stages of putting together the My Soccer Training App I researched EVERY SINGLE SOCCER TRAINING APP!

There were HUNDREDS of them, ranging from free to $300 a year.

My plan was to mimic having an individual soccer trainer in your pocket. It took a long long time, but we finally finished, and ill tell you what, you can add up all of the other apps, and they do not come to close to the My Soccer Training App. Our content is absolutely second to none!

If you do go in another direction, what should you look for? 

#1 Who is making the App?

Is it a company or a team who just pushed a bunch of money into the individual soccer training space to make money? If so... Run.

The only training training apps worth investing in are the ones that are created by REAL trainers. Why? Because we know what is working RIGHT NOW and include it in the app. If it's not made by a trainer, then they are just guessing what works!

#2 How much does it cost?

Is it a one off cost? If so, do they ever update the app? In our app we put new content in each month. Usually its with some of the pro players that I train, because I KNOW you want to know their secrets! Because we are always updating the app we charge a small monthly fee of less than $20! That gets you over 50 FULL individual soccer training sessions, a learning portal called BMSU, the whole app is gamified so that you can compete with your teammates on our leaderboard!

So... What is the best individual soccer training program?

The My Soccer Training App

I know I am slightly bias. BUT... This app honestly blows my mind. I wanted to create an app that was akin to having a private soccer trainer in your pocket, and I truly think my team and I succeeded. Over 50 FULL sessions, an education portal, an interactive calendar, and the best part, I put brand new sessions on there every month. The difference between my app and the others out there is that I am training players from all ages and levels day in day out, I flat out KNOW what works and what doesn't work and I pass that on to YOU in these sessions. It was also very important to me to make sure that as an app, it's STILL an individually based experience. We do not tell you what sessions to do every day. Why? Because you are UNIQUE! What you need to work on is not what your teammate needs to work on. Cookie cutter sessions are fine when you are starting out, but when you get better, you have to have an individually based, unique program, and that is EXACTLY what the My Soccer Training app is.

The best part is that I have managed to squeeze all that content, and new content each month, all into a world class training app that costs only $19.99 a month, which is a fraction of the cost of one private training session, it's less than a decent pair of shinguards, or a couple of trips to Starbucks (you can do without that anyway!).

In Conclusion

If you do not have a chance to train directly with the Beast Mode Soccer team, then the best individual soccer training program is 100% the My Soccer Training app is the best way to get world class training at an affordable price. And, you can do it from anywhere in your house or on a soccer field!

So… You’re a fullback, BUT… You want to be a MODERN fullback. Todays featured player is modern day fullback @rileythree. What a journey she has had! Played locally in LA, went to Stanford, played in the WPS before it folded (rookie of the year 2010), played in Sweden at FC Rosengård,(became fluent in Swedish), Chelsea, Bayern Munich and now back Stateside with Orlando Pride. Four World Cups with New Zealand and is on track to appear at her fourth Olympics as well. Not too shabby at all. 

Let’s talk about what you need in your skill set:

THE BASE OF A GREAT FULL BACK MUST BE THAT THEY ARE A SOLID 1V1 DEFENDER, THIS IS THE ESSENTIAL FOUNDATION. THIS MEANS, STANDING PLAYERS UP WHEN THEY ARE DRIBBLING AT YOU, FRONT FOOT TACKLES, STRONG IN DUELS, GOOD BALL WINNER AND CAN TRACK RUNNERS IN BEHIND THEM. SO TO BE CONSIDERED A GOOD OUTSIDE BACK YOU NEED TO BE ROCK SOLID IN THE ABOVE QUALITIES.

YOU HAVE TO HAVE COMPOSURE ON THE BALL. KNOW WHAT YOU WANT TO DO, KNOW WHAT SPACE YOU WANT TO EXPLOIT. TECHNICALLY, YOU HAVE TO HAVE THE ABILITY TO SERVE THE BALL WITH BOTH FEET INTO PLAYERS FEET AND INTO THE BOX, AS ALWAYS, YOU NEED CONFIDENT FOOTWORK, AND A GREAT FIRST TOUCH (BOTH PROGRESSIVE AND STATIC). YOU NEED THE ABILITY TO NOT JUST CLEAR THE BALL, BUT TO BE ABLE TO STRIKE THE BALL WITH TEXTURE, 25+ YARDS. 

COMBINING WITH YOUR OUTSIDE MIDFIELDER, OVERLAPS, EARLY CROSSES AND STRIKES ON GOAL ARE WHAT OUTSIDE BACKS PLAYING AT THE HIGHEST LEVEL PROVIDES FOR A TEAM ON ATTACK. DID YOU SEE KELLEY O’HARA WIN THE PENALTY FOR THE USWNT AGAINST SWEDEN? 

PLAYING ON THE FLANK IS LIKE BEING A 100 METER SPRINTER AT TIMES. UP AND DOWN WITH VARIOUS LINEAR SPRINTS OF ANYWHERE FROM 5 YARDS TO 100 ON ANY GIVEN PLAY. YOU CAN HAVE ALL THE SKILLS AND ATTRIBUTES OF A GREAT FULL BACK BUT IF YOU CAN'T KEEP YOUR CONDITIONING AT THE LEVEL NECESSARY FOR 90MINUTES, YOU WILL NOT MAKE THE IMPACT DESIRED

💪𝗗𝗢𝗠𝗜𝗡𝗔𝗧𝗘 𝗔𝗦 𝗔 𝗗𝗠💪

The modern day Defensive Midfielder is an INTEGRAL part of any team. This is a player who is calm on the ball, orchestrates coming out of the back, their distribution is world class, on and off the ball their movement is exquisite. So… What skills do you need to be a fantastic DM?

1️⃣ PASSING ABILITY

2️⃣ VISION

3️⃣ TACKLING

4️⃣ STAMINA

5️⃣ VERSATILITY

Today’s featured player HAS to be the best DM in the game right now, College Cup Champion with UCLA, multiple NWSL Champion with the Flash and Courage, FA Cup Winner with Manchester City, US Soccer Player of the Year 2020, AND World Cup Winner…the marauding wildebeest from Hanson, MA, Sam Mewis! 

Watch Sam at Manchester City and you will see one of the most complete DM’s to play the game. She bullies midfields, she distributes, she defends, she assists and she scores goals. The most underrated player on that USWNT World Cup Winning team. Her play reminds me of a mix between Gilberto and Busquets (if you know you know)

So that's the skillset you need to become a top Defensive Midfielder! Follow me on Instagram, and you can tell me which other positions you would like me to do!

In today's world of soccer, the game has become more competitive than ever. The days of playing on a team and practicing with your teammates are long gone. With private soccer training, you can develop skills that will set you apart from your competitors and get you to the next level! Private coaching is an investment in yourself- one that pays off big time when it comes to elite player status.

The article discusses how important private soccer training is for players who want to be at the top of their game and achieve elite player status.

Young players who want to improve their skills have an abundance of options for education and training. If you have a youth soccer player in your family that is interested, signing them up for lessons with Beast Mode Soccer comes highly recommended regardless of the experience level.

Individual, QUALITY attention

If your child plays soccer at a club, they’re likely on a team with 10 or 20 other players who all have their own individual needs. Coaches and their staff are typically dedicated and knowledgeable people, but there often isn’t enough time in a standard practice for everyone on the team to get adequate face time with a coach or trainer. In this setting, it can sometimes be a challenge for your child to bring up a question or discuss an issue with their game. If your child has a fixable issue with their game, it can be easy for a coach to unintentionally miss it during a normal practice. With private lessons, your child will receive in-depth feedback from a highly experienced coach throughout every session. Beast Mode Soccers private training gives your child an opportunity to have all their questions answered and all their concerns addressed by a coach is who is fully focused on them throughout the experience.  

No Cookie Cutter Sessions

It’s not a secret that in any youth sport, some players will improve faster than others. Some players also arrive at the first practice with more experience, putting them ahead of the rest of the team. But youth sports are ultimately about having fun, developing discipline, and staying healthy; being a little behind shouldn’t deter any young athlete from engaging in a sport. While it can be helpful to watch other players, having time to simply get to work and focus on fundamentals can help your child immensely.  

Learn From the Experts 

Having more experienced people to learn from is a great way for your child or yourself to improve in their skills. Many professional soccer players who I have trained credit taking private lessons with myself and other BMS trainers as playing a large role in how they became skilled at their craft. With the help of someone who you can regularly draw on for advice, you child gains experience that will be vital

When it comes to soccer training, there are many different options. The most common is private soccer lessons where one person trains with a coach or instructor for an hour at a time. There are many pros and cons to getting private lessons and deciding if they are worth the cost depends on your situation and goals. In this article I will talk about how to find a quality soccer trainer, how much they cost, and the alternatives to private soccer training that may be better suited for you!

1 on 1 and Small Group Training

The first option for private soccer lessons are one hour sessions with an instructor or coach where you train alone, but they also offer group classes that have more than two people per session (usually around four). Obviously I have built a business around individual soccer training (Beast Mode Soccer) so I highly advocate the benefits of this type of training. I also offer small group training as well.

My process when I take on a new player is long. First, a player has to apply to train with myself. I only want players who are willing to put in the hard work and dedication, so this part of the process is extremely important. If you only have a dedication level of 9/10 you can not train with me, I do always however, recommend another trainer for these types of players.

After the player has successfully applied for training, I start to analyze video (usually provided by the parent/club/professional team. I provide the player with a self analysis sheet (they also have to speak to their coaches and teammates). When I have finished my analysis we compare their notes to mine We then set micro, short term and long term goals together, and then start to come up with an individual development plan. It's A LOT of work! From that moment each and every session is catered toward that individual players needs.

I often get inquiries about offering a free trial session. This is something a lot of trainers do, but I do not, and I will tell you why:

We have our initial meeting (either zoom or on the phone) to chat, it is then when we can both decide if it's a good fit or not. The way I look at this is how can I do a session with a player that I know nothing about? The amount of work that I put into on-boarding a player is HUGE, this way I already know that they are a good fit, and from the very first session we hit the ground running!

So that is my process. Why did I detail that so much? Because not all trainers are the same, in fact...

Beware the Trainer!

I get a lot of questions about what to look for in a trainer. I always tell people that it is important not just because you are investing your time and money, but also the safety aspect as well! There have been some horror stories out there where players were injured by their trainers, didn't improve etc so, you have to make sure that your trainer meets these qualifications:

• What is their history?
• What players have they helped develop?
• Do they work with players from all levels? Can they ACTUALLY develop players or do they just cherry pick the best ones in your community and then 'claim' them?
• Social media is a phenomenal tool, however it has made it easy for anybody to start an account, buy some followers and likes, and then claim to be an expert. There is a trainer in the Orange County, about an hour south of Los Angeles, who has literally copied everything from our website (including program names) and cloned himself as a world class trainer. His posts are great, very aesthetically pleasing, however, there is absolutely NO product on show! Where are the players that these so called 'gurus' train? They are nowhere to be seen.

You HAVE to do your research. If you need help finding a trainer, feel free to drop me an email. I have a vast network of QUALITY trainers throughout the world, and no, they are not all Beast Mode Soccer trainers, I like to stay in touch with other great trainers, because we can learn from each other! As I said, beware any trainer who will not show their product (players), or you turn up and they have $10,000 worth of equipment laid out for one player (you DO NOT need a ton of equipment for a quality session) it's just a massive red flag.

The Cost of Private Soccer Training

The cost of private soccer training varies depending on the trainer and their location. The average price for a one-hour session is $60-$80 per hour, but this can be as low at around $30 dollars an hour or more than $200 an hour in some cases (depending where you live, and the experience of the trainer). When it comes to cost, look at the pervious paragraph. Does this trainer tick all the boxes? They can show you players that they have helped, they let you speak to current players that they work with, they have a history of developing? Then would you pick that trainer, who lets say charges $80 an hour, or would you pick one that charges $60 an hour, but is a social media whizz and has everyone fooled? If a trainer is more concerned about getting video of your sessions to put on their social account, thats an issue! I know where my money would be going, put it that way.

You usually get what you pay for, but not always, as I have stated before, it's research research research. A lot of parents will question my pricing and tell me it's too expensive, guess what? They are not the right fit. Once people see the amount of work that goes into each and every session, the onboarding, the long term development player development, the relationships that I have with club, high level college, professional and international teams, the 10+ years I have been training the some of the best players in the world... Then they realize that the value they are getting from our sessions is actually 10x what they invest!

Alternatives to Private Soccer Training

The fact is, a lot of families and people will not be able to make the investment in 1 on 1 training, because it could seem expensive. So what if you cannot, is that it? Are you doomed to mediocrity forever on the field? NO! Here I will go through some alternatives:

Pick Up Games. Playing games of pickup at parks are also good ways for players who want to get extra touches in a competitive environment, AND meet loads of new people who you would never have met before. I live in Los Angeles, and some of my best friends are from all over the world, and I met them playing pick up! I'm learning Spanish because most of my pick up friends are from Spanish speaking countries and I want to educate myself, all because of pick up!

Training on Your Own

This is sometimes the hardest option, because players just DO NOT KNOW what to work on when they go outside to train. I actually see it a lot at our local fields. They just go out to train, but end up doing a mediocre session that they have done time and time again. This is actually one of the reasons that I created our first ever digital training program, The Better Soccer Blueprint back in 2012 (almost 10 years ago!). I was working with a United States Women's National Team (USWNT) and she asked me to write her a bunch of footwork drills because when she trains on her own, she just goes through the motions! I thought 'if one of the best players in the World doesn't know what to do on their own, how on earth do youth players??? So I created that program, it's actually still available on my website for $97!

However, I am aware that not everyone has extra money so I set out to solve that problem as well, and I created the Beast Mode Soccer Individual Development Plan, which is available for FREE if you just click on this link: http://beastmodesoccer.com/idp/

This plan will take you through the steps so that you can truly create an individual plan, that is tailored JUST FOR YOU! And, it's free!

Digital Training Programs

If you check out our training program store, we have some fantastic individual soccer training programs, built from the ground up by myself that are geared toward making you the best player that you can be:

The Better Soccer Blueprint: Over 150 training videos, and planner so you can plan out your development

The Challenge: 5 videos, each with 5000 touches on. Follow the program and you will get over half a million touches in 100 days, do it for 200 days... You get ONE MILLION touches, THAT IS INSANE! It's literally impossible to not improve!

The Soccer Vortex: This is the most complete individual soccer training program on the planet. Nothing else comes close. It covers all bases of Technical, Tactical, Physical, Mental and Social development. It's a lot of work, but being the best is never going to be easy.

The SWAG Mindset: This mental training program takes a lot of work, BUT if you invest in it, do it and see it through, you will have a bullet proof mindset. SO many players have completely turned themselves around from being nervous wrecks who are so scared to make mistakes because they do not want to upset their coach/parents/teammates, into absolute confidence rockets who lead on the field, believe in their ability and actually ENJOY the skirmish of competition!

Yes, all of the above programs do have a cost, but they all cost less than two private sessions, and if you put in the work, you will get 100x back on your investment!

The My Soccer Training App

If digital programs are not your thing, but apps are... then the My Soccer Training App is for you! This app honestly blows my mind. I wanted to create an app that was akin to having a private soccer trainer in your pocket, and I truly think my team and I succeeded. Over 50 FULL sessions, an education portal, an interactive calendar, and the best part, I put brand new sessions on there every month. The difference between my app and the others out there is that I am training players from all ages and levels day in day out, I flat out KNOW what works and what doesn't work and I pass that on to YOU in these sessions. It was also very important to me to make sure that as an app, it's STILL an individually based experience. We do not tell you what sessions to do every day. Why? Because you are UNIQUE! What you need to work on is not what your teammate needs to work on. Cookie cutter sessions are fine when you are starting out, but when you get better, you have to have an individually based, unique program, and that is EXACTLY what the My Soccer Training app is.

The best part is that I have managed to squeeze all that content, and new content each month, all into a world class training app that costs only $19.99 a month, which is a fraction of the cost of one private training session, it's less than a decent pair of shinguards, or a couple of trips to Starbucks (you can do without that anyway!).

In Conclusion

Private soccer training in a one on one setting definitely works IF you pick the right soccer trainer. Do your research, put in the work and yes, the investment is worth it.

The My Soccer Training app is the best way to get world class training at an affordable price. And, you can do it from anywhere in your house or on a soccer field!

Soccer is one of the fastest growing sports in America.

With more and more kids playing, it's important that parents do their part to help their kids have a positive experience with youth soccer.

The most important thing for any parent to remember is that they are not just at games and practices as a spectator - they are there as fans and supporters, of EVERY player on their kids team!

But being supportive doesn't mean telling your kid how good he or she was every time they play. It means being a fantastic soccer parent all around! So here are my tips on how YOU can become a GREAT soccer parent!

Remember... You are NOT the coach. 

You are not there to tell your child how he or she should play. Your child's coach is either volunteering, or are a paid, professional coach. How would you like it if someone came into your place of work and started screaming at you on how to do your job? Wouldn't be great would it? Yes... You have entrusted this coach with your child's development, if you truly have an issue, wait 24 hours, THEN approach the coach, you may view the situation differently.

Know the Rules of the Game!

You have to know the rules of the game that your child is playing! I have lost count of the amount of times I have been at games and hear 'FOULLLLLL' when it was a perfect tackle, this is usually followed by a thorough berating of the ref who has done nothing wrong 😂. Also, and this is very much a David thing here, learn the correct vernacular! Hearing 'offsides' being shouted by a parent who 1) Does not know the offside rule and 2) the word is OFFSIDE, you cannot be off on both sides, just one, therefore 'offside.' I get so much stick for this on social media, but honestly, it shows you care if you use the correct vernacular! I don't mean that you should learn every single rule, but the general, more common rules, so that you know WHY referees call certain fouls etc then you can educate other parents as well!

Do not talk about other players!

Do not talk about other players! Yes, even players from the other team. It's ok to think that a player is bring rough, or they aren't very good, but keep this to yourself or you just end up looking like a crazy soccer parent!

Be Positive in the car on the way home

Trust me, your player KNOWS if they have had a bad game, the last thing they need is their parent berating them about it, telling them what they could have done better etc. Ask your child a simple question: How do you think you played?

Even if you think your child played poorly. It's ok to say that they could have done better and ask them how THEY feel about their game but don't go into detail or tell him/her what they should do differently next time because it will just make things worse for both of you!!! Trust me - I've seen this happen too many times with parents who are frustrated by a bad performance from one player (usually theirs) so please be positive when talking after games!! Your kids need encouragement not criticism !! If anything talk more positively than usual as an extra boost 🙂

Trust Me: Being A Good Soccer Parent Is Hard But Worth The Effort

Tryout anxiety is REAL! How about we take that anxiety and turn into excitement? Remember, try outs are good because the whole point of it is to put you in an environment of growth, so if you're a very very good player, maybe you're not playing at a very very good level, you need to play at a higher level, right, so for your development to grow, you need to be around players that push you to grow. So this is how to succeed at tryouts:

GO AND LOW KEY WATCH THE TEAMS PRACTICE SESSIONS. REMEMBER THE WHOLE TRYOUT PROCESS GIVES THE CLUB A CHANCE TO PORTRAY A PERCEPTION OF WHAT THEY WANT YOU TO SEE THE CLUB AS. IN REALITY, IT COULD BE DIFFERENT, BY OBSERVING SOME PRACTICES YOU WILL BE ABLE TO SEE HOW THE CLUB REALLY IS, GOOD & BAD! WILL THIS COACH DEVELOP YOU AS A PLAYER?

DURING THE ACTUAL TRYOUT, DO NOT GET OVERWHELMED! THE TENDENCY IS TO REALLY WANT TO SHOW HOW GOOD YOU ARE (WHICH IS NATURAL) AND THIS USUALLY COMES THROUGH AS OVER-DRIBBLING, DOING FLICKS & TRICKS YOU WOULDN’T USUALLY DO BECAUSE YOU WANT TO MAKE AN IMPRESSION. THE BEST WAY TO MAKE AN IMPRESSION IS TO PLAY YOUR GAME. SHOW WHO YOU ARE!

YES, IT’S A TRYOUT. THIS IS A TWO WAY STREET. WE HAVE OUR PLAYERS CHANGE THEIR MINDSET IN TRYOUTS. I WANT YOU TO DO THE SAME. THE ONES AT A TRYOUT IS THE CLUB. IS THIS A TEAM YOU WANT TO PLAY FOR? IS THIS A CLUB YOU WANT TO PLAY FOR? IS THIS COACH GOING TO DEVELOP YOU? WILL YOU BE HAPPY HERE? HAS THE CLUB & COACHING STAFF IMPRESSED YOU? YOU ARE TRYING THEM OUT!

LEAVE YOUR EGO AT THE DOOR. IF YOU DO NOT MAKE THE TEAM, IT’S OK! YOU DIDN’T MAKE IT BECAUSE THE COACH THOUGHT YOU WERE NOT A GOOD FIT, OR YOU WERE NOT AT THE LEVEL THEY PERCEIVE THE TEAM TO BE AT. IT’S A LEARNING MOMENT FOR YOU. DO NOT TAKE THIS PERSONALLY, INSTEAD, UNDERSTAND THAT IT WAS JUST NOT MEANT TO BE. TRY TO GET FEEDBACK FROM THE COACH, AND THEN PUT THAT FEEDBACK INTO YOUR IDP (INDIVIDUAL DEVELOPMENT PLAN) SO YOU CAN CONTINUE GETTING BETTER AND BETTER!

Todays featured player is Jordyn Listro who EARNED her way into a pro contract through a tryout process and is now playing for the Canadian National Team. Hard work pays off!

Ok so I had to write this post.

Our YouTube videos get swamped with the same spam comments, I spend hours each month deleting them, the comment is:

“What is Episoketren System and how does it work? I hear many individuals improve their soccer skills using it with this popular training program.”

I can’t stand spam comments, and they are always by obviously fake accounts with names like Aarav Sanford and Boripalk Tsypliativ, and NEVER have a profile picture lol.

In this age of social media, and viral videos, a lot of shady trainers, and companies use other peoples popular accounts like ours to try and scam people into buying outdated training programs.

Soooo I was curious who these scammers were, so I indeed googled the Episoketren System. The results read like a spammers dream, these comments are created by bots, and they are all over the place. When you click on the link for Episoketren System, I found out that it DOES NOT EXIST! 

You get sent to the above page... Then you click on the 'continue...

And... get redirected to the website for an old training program called Epic Soccer Training. This is where the shadiness of Epic Soccer Training is actually smart…. Instead of getting loads of complaints about spam for their company, the spam complaints go against Episoketren System, and Epic Soccer Training looks clean. Genius.

Worse than that, it looks like its run by ClickBank. ClickBank is a place where anybody can promote any digital product and get affiliate money from it, so they promote ebooks and other scams, and they get 50% (from Epic Soccer in this case)

I wrote this blog post hoping that anybody who indeed does search for it ends up here! So now I should spam you with my training programs and app!

The decision to get your child involved in youth soccer is a big one. After all, it requires an investment of both time and money. As you consider the benefits that the sport may have for your child, also think about what it means to be on a team as well as what you can do to help them succeed. This article will provide some insight into the world of youth soccer development so that both parents and players are better prepared for a positive experience.

What to expect at the tryouts
Youth soccer teams are usually broken up into age groups, with younger children playing on the same teams as older children and teens. The age levels determine the order that the children are put on the teams and the combinations of positions that they are grouped with. Tryouts are usually for younger children, so younger siblings of younger children and siblings of older children typically try out for the same team, although many teams have a "scheduled tryout" that allows siblings to play together. Younger children typically try out alone, although it is not unheard of to see a child accompanied by a parent. However, it is best if parents allow younger children to try out alone as to be sure that the child is assessed without distraction.

The benefits of playing soccer
Getting involved with youth soccer can have a huge positive impact on your child's life. Not only will they have the opportunity to work with coaches and learn different skills, but they will also get to be a part of a team. As a soccer mom or dad, it is wonderful to see your child get so much joy out of the sport that they're involved in. This sense of satisfaction that they get from a good game is something that they can carry with them for a long time. There are several reasons why you may want to get involved. Volunteering at the game When you volunteer at a youth soccer game, you are helping to give back to the sport that you love. If your child is at the game as well, they will be learning all of the teamwork skills that are necessary for a successful game.

What does it mean to be on a team?
Before you sign your child up for the first time, you have to decide on the "team" that will be looking after them. Many clubs will use age group terms, which mean that there are a number of teams of various ages. One common suggestion is to use age groups. This is the simplest approach as it will allow your child to understand what they are expected to do. While some clubs may have a set age group, some clubs will not as they are competitive teams, for example Manchester City have over thirty teams of age 5 to 17 year-olds. Some clubs will even have no team of that age group, but if you are in that scenario, it does not mean your child will be left out. Do I need a coach? Without a coach, your child will not get involved.

The importance of teamwork
Some of the things that a parent should consider is that they want to be around their child during practices and games. Teamwork is a big part of youth soccer so, if a parent is working and they have a lot of work to do, it may be difficult to be involved at the same time. However, team members are required to show up at practice and games, so it may be best to make an effort to make sure you have a child available. Help young players improve their skills It's not always easy for children to grow up in a sport where all of the other kids are in the same age group. This can sometimes be discouraging for children who are struggling to stay at the top of the game. However, by working with your children to help them improve their skills, you will see them have more confidence.

Tips for parents
Before you commit to playing on a team, consider the costs and the time involved. Then consider the requirements of a roster, practice schedule, practices and games, equipment, travel, uniforms, food, and fees. These things all add up. If your budget is not ready for this expense, consider some of the other ways that you can help your child develop. Parents should stay with the team for at least a month so that they are part of the culture and can see what is required to become a player. Consider encouraging your child to speak up and ask questions. That will give them an opportunity to learn what is expected from a player. If you do that, they will also see how you have to behave on a team.

Conclusion
You may not always be able to get to every practice, but that is okay. Being part of a soccer team teaches your children valuable skills that will benefit them later in life. While there are a lot of different sports that your child may be involved in, soccer is one of the most popular. If you have your child on a soccer team, you can be part of the process that helps them develop physically, socially, and mentally.