8 year old girls soccer

[Unregistered]

How do I contact the ODP coach? Anyone have the contact information? Thank you.

[TurfEater]

And said girl is not even the best on her team anymore. The game has caught her in terms of speed and strength. Don't get me wrong, she is still good. But she deifnitely does not stand out any longer. My point being, pushing them at 8 and being the best at 8 does not guarantee anything at 11 or 15 years of age, only that you were really good when you were 8.

It's hard for parents to understand this - on both sides. If your kid is a superstar at a young age, it doesn't necessarily mean anything. Also true is that your kid can look like a complete idiot on the field and then blossom into a great player as they grow into their body, develop a love for the game, etc.

[Unregistered]

How do I contact the ODP coach? Anyone have the contact information? Thank you.

THUSC Boys Director of Coaching, Assistant Director
'96 Girls ODP Assistant Coach

Excellent!! This is the one that trains the FC girl.

[Unregistered]

It's hard for parents to understand this - on both sides. If your kid is a superstar at a young age, it doesn't necessarily mean anything. Also true is that your kid can look like a complete idiot on the field and then blossom into a great player as they grow into their body, develop a love for the game, etc.

This is true! The girls that grew really fast often catch up in coordination by around U13!

However, it is also important to note that there is no secret potion to make a soccer player great. A good trainer is awesome, but there are some great kids playing up on the girls side premier teams and scattered on many clubs (U13) (Boys too I am sure).
Mya (THUSC now U12) 2 on Crush #23 and another mid. 1 on LO, and 2 at Rage #5 and the right back. I am sure there are others, but my point is what you see with these players is they are playing all the time! You see them in every tournament playing all age groups with boys and girls, futsal and indoor. Get your daughter playing soccer, worry about the rest later!

[SodiumFan[2]]

And said girl is not even the best on her team anymore. The game has caught her in terms of speed and strength. Don't get me wrong, she is still good. But she deifnitely does not stand out any longer. My point being, pushing them at 8 and being the best at 8 does not guarantee anything at 11 or 15 years of age, only that you were really good when you were 8.

I realize that post might seem negative to some but hear me out. We had players that did the exact same thing. Were superstars and 8, 9 and even 10 years old and as the game progressed the other girls caught up. It is a fact of life, these girls were developmentally far ahead but as time wore on, the others caught up and several passed the girls. One of the coaches addressed this with us at a meeting. Some who are superstars at the early ages will be solid players at older ages. Some who don't seem to have it together at the younger ages, will blossom into exceptional players. And then there are some who struggled at the younger ages but really worked hard, with the coaches, through privates, and just plain hard work who are just now beginning to be stand outs.
Wow youth, what an incredible time in a kids (and parents) life. All the changes. Mind boggling to me.

Best of luck with her and I hope she maintains her passion throughout her soccer days.

Cheers! :)

[Unregistered]

And said girl is not even the best on her team anymore. The game has caught her in terms of speed and strength. Don't get me wrong, she is still good. But she deifnitely does not stand out any longer. My point being, pushing them at 8 and being the best at 8 does not guarantee anything at 11 or 15 years of age, only that you were really good when you were 8.

Completely disagree with you here. My daughter played against her this past weekend and that girl ran the midfield. Our coach even scouted her out in a prior game and had one of our girls mark her tight the entire game. She's a standout player and sees the field beyond her years, as many do on that team. The new forward they have is great as well. She's fast and not afraid to use her body well.

Kids tend to even out more as they get older, it's just part of sports in general. Very rarely will you see real stand out players as they get older. You can see a difference in talent but it won't be as obvious as it was at U9, U10, and U11. It's the same with that Crush girl (#23). Great player but not as dominate as she was at U11 but still always one to watch out for.

Your post sounded a little bit harsh when talking about an 11 year old girl. Please remember you are talking about children here.

[Soca lova]

Bear with me this is a little long.

My professional life, you know the one we all have away from soccer, is as a business coach. In short I help leaders in business get better and accomplish the things that have evaded them.

I share that not as a plug, but to explain why when people start discussing natural talent it makes my ears perk up.

I would like to share an example provided by Malcolm Gladwell, in his book Outliers. In this book he looks at the extreme ends of the talent pools, and tries to determine what makes them different.

"Exhibit A in the talent argument is a study done in the early 1990s by the psychologist K. Anders Ericsson and two colleagues at Berlin’s elite Academy of Music. With the help of the Academy’s professors, they divided the school’s violinists into three groups. In the first group were the stars, the students with the potential to become world class soloists. In the second were those judged to be merely “good.” In the third were students who were unlikely to ever play professionally and who intended to be music teachers in the public school system. All of the violinists were then asked the same question: over the course of your entire career, ever since you first picked up the violin, how many hours have you practiced?

Everyone from all three groups started playing at roughly the same age, around five years old. In those first few years, everyone practiced roughly the same amount, about two or three hours a week. But when the students were around the age of eight, real differences started to emerge. The students who would end up the best in their class began to practice more than everyone else: six hours a week by age nine, eight hours a week by age twelve, sixteen hours a week by age fourteen, and up and up, until by the age of twenty they were practicing — that is, purposefully and single-mindedly playing their instruments with the intent to get better — well over thirty hours a week. In fact, by the age of twenty, the elite performers had each totaled ten thousand hours of practice. By contrast, the merely good students had totaled eight thousand hours, and the future music teachers had totaled just over four thousand hours.

Ericsson and his colleagues then compared amateur pianists with professional pianists. The same pattern emerged. The amateurs never practiced more than about three hours a week over the course of their childhood, and by the age of twenty they had totaled two thousand hours of practice. The professionals, on the other hand, steadily increased their practice time every year, until by the age of twenty they, like the violinists, had reached ten thousand hours.

The striking thing about Ericsson’s study is that he and his colleagues couldn’t find any “naturals,” musicians who floated effortlessly to the top while practicing a fraction of the time their peers did. Nor could they find any “grinds,” people who worked harder than everyone else, yet just didn’t have what it takes to break the top ranks"

Related to the current conversation, is the observation that there were no naturals, or people "who effortlessly floated to the top while practicing a fraction of the time". The research would suggest that the level of success was based on the time committed to practice. Further it would suggest that those top achievers began separating themselves from the pack at around 8 years old. Right where this initial poster finds themselves.

The danger that others have justifiably warned of is burnout. The research is clear, practice and hard work are the only things that make a difference, as parents we must be careful about the human cost this can create.

Again sorry for the long post, but I thought this was particularly relevant.

[Unregistered]

My professional life, you know the one we all have away from soccer, is as a business coach. In short I help leaders in business get better and accomplish the things that have evaded them.

I share that not as a plug, but to explain why when people start discussing natural talent it makes my ears perk up.

I would like to share an example provided by Malcolm Gladwell, in his book Outliers. In this book he looks at the extreme ends of the talent pools, and tries to determine what makes them different.

"Exhibit A in the talent argument is a study done in the early 1990s by the psychologist K. Anders Ericsson and two colleagues at Berlin’s elite Academy of Music. With the help of the Academy’s professors, they divided the school’s violinists into three groups. In the first group were the stars, the students with the potential to become world class soloists. In the second were those judged to be merely “good.” In the third were students who were unlikely to ever play professionally and who intended to be music teachers in the public school system. All of the violinists were then asked the same question: over the course of your entire career, ever since you first picked up the violin, how many hours have you practiced?

Everyone from all three groups started playing at roughly the same age, around five years old. In those first few years, everyone practiced roughly the same amount, about two or three hours a week. But when the students were around the age of eight, real differences started to emerge. The students who would end up the best in their class began to practice more than everyone else: six hours a week by age nine, eight hours a week by age twelve, sixteen hours a week by age fourteen, and up and up, until by the age of twenty they were practicing — that is, purposefully and single-mindedly playing their instruments with the intent to get better — well over thirty hours a week. In fact, by the age of twenty, the elite performers had each totaled ten thousand hours of practice. By contrast, the merely good students had totaled eight thousand hours, and the future music teachers had totaled just over four thousand hours.

Ericsson and his colleagues then compared amateur pianists with professional pianists. The same pattern emerged. The amateurs never practiced more than about three hours a week over the course of their childhood, and by the age of twenty they had totaled two thousand hours of practice. The professionals, on the other hand, steadily increased their practice time every year, until by the age of twenty they, like the violinists, had reached ten thousand hours.

The striking thing about Ericsson’s study is that he and his colleagues couldn’t find any “naturals,” musicians who floated effortlessly to the top while practicing a fraction of the time their peers did. Nor could they find any “grinds,” people who worked harder than everyone else, yet just didn’t have what it takes to break the top ranks"

Related to the current conversation, is the observation that there were no naturals, or people "who effortlessly floated to the top while practicing a fraction of the time". The research would suggest that the level of success was based on the time committed to practice. Further it would suggest that those top achievers began separating themselves from the pack at around 8 years old. Right where this initial poster finds themselves.

The danger that others have justifiably warned of is burnout. The research is clear, practice and hard work are the only things that make a difference, as parents we must be careful about the human cost this can create.

Again sorry for the long post, but I thought this was particularly relevant.

Natasha Kai

[Unregistered]

Thusc player is not doing any private training but if the coach is who I think it is, he's a coach at Thusc!

He coaches the FC girl and last year the THUSC player in question would train every week with the coach and his THUSC boys team. He has a good reputation for developing technically gifted players and making the game fun.

[Unregistered]

THUSC Boys Director of Coaching, Assistant Director
'96 Girls ODP Assistant Coach

Excellent!! This is the one that trains the FC girl.

Correct! I have seen them out at the Rec center fields. He does a lot of footwork and shooting drills with her. I watched for some time one day as my kid dislikes me watching their practice.

[Unregistered]

Completely disagree with you here. My daughter played against her this past weekend and that girl ran the midfield. Our coach even scouted her out in a prior game and had one of our girls mark her tight the entire game. She's a standout player and sees the field beyond her years, as many do on that team. The new forward they have is great as well. She's fast and not afraid to use her body well.

Kids tend to even out more as they get older, it's just part of sports in general. Very rarely will you see real stand out players as they get older. You can see a difference in talent but it won't be as obvious as it was at U9, U10, and U11. It's the same with that Crush girl (#23). Great player but not as dominate as she was at U11 but still always one to watch out for.

Your post sounded a little bit harsh when talking about an 11 year old girl. Please remember you are talking about children here.

ML is a great player and still a stand out.. I watched the LO/Onyx game and there was noone near her skills except the center back for Onyx was very good as well

[Unregistered]

Correct! I have seen them out at the Rec center fields. He does a lot of footwork and shooting drills with her. I watched for some time one day as my kid dislikes me watching their practice.

My daughter trains with the coach in question and as others have said, absolutely loves it! He pushes these play HARD. He told me that she should expect no less than 1000 touches per session and she often comes home drenched. Would she ever miss a training session with him? Not on her life! (According to her, not me!) She loves it!

[Unregistered]

Completely disagree with you here. My daughter played against her this past weekend and that girl ran the midfield. Our coach even scouted her out in a prior game and had one of our girls mark her tight the entire game. She's a standout player and sees the field beyond her years, as many do on that team. The new forward they have is great as well. She's fast and not afraid to use her body well.

Kids tend to even out more as they get older, it's just part of sports in general. Very rarely will you see real stand out players as they get older. You can see a difference in talent but it won't be as obvious as it was at U9, U10, and U11. It's the same with that Crush girl (#23). Great player but not as dominate as she was at U11 but still always one to watch out for.

Your post sounded a little bit harsh when talking about an 11 year old girl. Please remember you are talking about children here.

Having been at those games I still have no idea who this dominant MF who needs advanced coaching is. I have been around CFC for years now and can think of several players at this age who actually were amazing standouts and trust me there wasn't a girl on either side that made you step back and say wow. Not saying that with training some wouldn't develop just saying their was not some amazing raw talent that could be sculpted into a phenom or something. As far as coaches scouting and marking, I've never seen a player who knew how to effectively mark a dominant player til U-11 so I doubt the Keizer coach did mark this mystery superstar.

[Unregistered]

Hi,

I live in the Salem Area and have an 8 year old girl who has a lot of talent in soccer and absolutely has a HUGE love for the game. She has been playing with local clubs but I'm looking to find her a club with excellent training to build her skills to the highest level possible since I know she's capable of it. I'm willing to travel for the best coaching and club around so any suggestions for us? What would you reccomend, I want her to have the best so she can develop in to the best. Thanks so much for your club and training suggestions.

If you want local private training Abbe Doane is great. Her practices are organized no nonsense tough. Your daughter will grow for sure. adsoccerskills@gmail.com

[Unregistered]

My professional life, you know the one we all have away from soccer, is as a business coach. In short I help leaders in business get better and accomplish the things that have evaded them.

I share that not as a plug, but to explain why when people start discussing natural talent it makes my ears perk up.

I would like to share an example provided by Malcolm Gladwell, in his book Outliers. In this book he looks at the extreme ends of the talent pools, and tries to determine what makes them different.

"Exhibit A in the talent argument is a study done in the early 1990s by the psychologist K. Anders Ericsson and two colleagues at Berlin’s elite Academy of Music. With the help of the Academy’s professors, they divided the school’s violinists into three groups. In the first group were the stars, the students with the potential to become world class soloists. In the second were those judged to be merely “good.” In the third were students who were unlikely to ever play professionally and who intended to be music teachers in the public school system. All of the violinists were then asked the same question: over the course of your entire career, ever since you first picked up the violin, how many hours have you practiced?

Everyone from all three groups started playing at roughly the same age, around five years old. In those first few years, everyone practiced roughly the same amount, about two or three hours a week. But when the students were around the age of eight, real differences started to emerge. The students who would end up the best in their class began to practice more than everyone else: six hours a week by age nine, eight hours a week by age twelve, sixteen hours a week by age fourteen, and up and up, until by the age of twenty they were practicing — that is, purposefully and single-mindedly playing their instruments with the intent to get better — well over thirty hours a week. In fact, by the age of twenty, the elite performers had each totaled ten thousand hours of practice. By contrast, the merely good students had totaled eight thousand hours, and the future music teachers had totaled just over four thousand hours.

Ericsson and his colleagues then compared amateur pianists with professional pianists. The same pattern emerged. The amateurs never practiced more than about three hours a week over the course of their childhood, and by the age of twenty they had totaled two thousand hours of practice. The professionals, on the other hand, steadily increased their practice time every year, until by the age of twenty they, like the violinists, had reached ten thousand hours.

The striking thing about Ericsson’s study is that he and his colleagues couldn’t find any “naturals,” musicians who floated effortlessly to the top while practicing a fraction of the time their peers did. Nor could they find any “grinds,” people who worked harder than everyone else, yet just didn’t have what it takes to break the top ranks"

Related to the current conversation, is the observation that there were no naturals, or people "who effortlessly floated to the top while practicing a fraction of the time". The research would suggest that the level of success was based on the time committed to practice. Further it would suggest that those top achievers began separating themselves from the pack at around 8 years old. Right where this initial poster finds themselves.

The danger that others have justifiably warned of is burnout. The research is clear, practice and hard work are the only things that make a difference, as parents we must be careful about the human cost this can create.

Again sorry for the long post, but I thought this was particularly relevant.

That study holds water for musicians but it's a bunch of bunk in relation to soccer. In soccer there are too many other variables- athletic ability, speed, quickness, motivation, aggressivness etc.. I can show you lots of examples of players at our local club who practice alot more but on the field get overshadowed by bigger, faster, stronger players. They might win a juggling contest though.