8 year old girls soccer

[Unregistered]

To the person who mentioned #23 on Crush. Why are you picking on her. She is only 11 and plays up.

[Unregistered]

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.

What games are you talking about? Games at CFC field?

[Soca lova]

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.

This study is based on a long term success rate. Starting at 8 and going through around 20 years old, athletic ability, speed, and quickness are all byproducts of practice. You can look at a given age and argue if this is true or not, but hardwork will carry the day. Remember this is research focused not on music, but on how individuals learn. This process is the same no matter what the endeavour.

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What games are you talking about? Games at CFC field?

The Waterfront Tournament....yes

[Unregistered]

This study is based on a long term success rate. Starting at 8 and going through around 20 years old, athletic ability, speed, and quickness are all byproducts of practice. You can look at a given age and argue if this is true or not, but hardwork will carry the day. Remember this is research focused not on music, but on how individuals learn. This process is the same no matter what the endeavour.

I'm sorry but I respectfully disagree. Usain Bolt is not the fastest man alive because he practiced more than anyone else between the ages of 8 and 20. That guy was born fast. You can enhance your speed, athletic ability and quickness but to some extent you either have it or you dont. When it comes to basic soccer skills, I would agree with you.

[Unregistered]

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

I don't think that she would come close to the ODP coach that trains the young girl from FC Portland. There is a reason that the top players both male and female train with this guy.

[Soca lova]

So help me understand...

I'm sorry but I respectfully disagree. Usain Bolt is not the fastest man alive because he practiced more than anyone else between the ages of 8 and 20. That guy was born fast. You can enhance your speed, athletic ability and quickness but to some extent you either have it or you dont. When it comes to basic soccer skills, I would agree with you.

You mentioned there are some at your club who practice a lot, but they are overshadowed by those who are bigger stronger faster. So how did these bigger stronger faster players become that way? Surely they didn't emerge from the womb like that. Just like I suspect if you found usain bolt's coaches you would learn that yes he had some natural gifts, but he also trains his tail off.

The study looks at extreme elite performers. Individuals who at the age of 12 are training 8 hours per week, and at the age if 20 have grown to practice 30 hours per week.

With all respect to your clubs jugglers, this is discussing a totally different level. It is tempting to look at natural ability and attributes like physical strength as the deciding factor in success. To say you are either born with it or you don't have it. This goes a long way to excuse all those who don't get there. The shame of it is it is nonsense. Hardwork focused over a long time will overcome any natural ability. I would love to see any studies you can show to the contrary. Unfortunately anectdotal evidence is not enough.

[Unregistered]

You mentioned there are some at your club who practice a lot, but they are overshadowed by those who are bigger stronger faster. So how did these bigger stronger faster players become that way? Surely they didn't emerge from the womb like that. Just like I suspect if you found usain bolt's coaches you would learn that yes he had some natural gifts, but he also trains his tail off.

The study looks at extreme elite performers. Individuals who at the age of 12 are training 8 hours per week, and at the age if 20 have grown to practice 30 hours per week.

With all respect to your clubs jugglers, this is discussing a totally different level. It is tempting to look at natural ability and attributes like physical strength as the deciding factor in success. To say you are either born with it or you don't have it. This goes a long way to excuse all those who don't get there. The shame of it is it is nonsense. Hardwork focused over a long time will overcome any natural ability. I would love to see any studies you can show to the contrary. Unfortunately anectdotal evidence is not enough.

RUDY! RUDY!! RUDY!!!
Worked his ass off and still sucked, you got to have a strong athletic foundation (and size for that game). As far as Bolt goes he was born with a freakish level of quick twitch muscle fiber making him amazingly fast even without training. With training he becomes the human cheetah. He could have trained to be a marathoner since he was 6 and would be terrible. Genetic gifts play a HUGE part in sport. A study of musicians has no merit, I have been around extremely high caliber athletes some were the laziest human beings you have ever met. They were just genetic freaks. Now when you get a genetic freak with an amazing work ethic and drive that's when you get your Jordan's or Wambach's.

[Unregistered]

RUDY! RUDY!! RUDY!!!
Worked his ass off and still sucked, you got to have a strong athletic foundation (and size for that game). As far as Bolt goes he was born with a freakish level of quick twitch muscle fiber making him amazingly fast even without training. With training he becomes the human cheetah. He could have trained to be a marathoner since he was 6 and would be terrible. Genetic gifts play a HUGE part in sport. A study of musicians has no merit, I have been around extremely high caliber athletes some were the laziest human beings you have ever met. They were just genetic freaks. Now when you get a genetic freak with an amazing work ethic and drive that's when you get your Jordan's or Wambach's.

Thank you! I couldn't have said it any better myself.

[soccertwinz]

Will someone please post a serious response since that is what I'm looking for. obviously the one who responded has no idea what I'm talking about. My Brother wrestled in the olympics and so I know you have to build a good foundation to succeed, they started wrestling at age 5 with the best. I just want my daughter to build a good foundation and learn from the best not people who have zero history in the sport. So can someone reccomend a good club within an hour distance from salem oregon. We have played with local clubs and it's just parents who get talked in to helping out and know nothing about soccer. Why start them out with the wrong training, it will just be harder to retrain them, want to build a solid foundation. So any help on a good soccer club is appreciated.

You may of already found a home for your daughter since soccer is starting. At U8 I would recommend playing locally and private coaching is a great idea for a foundation for her. Even though it doesn't seem like much, just touching the ball helps, even if each team she is on each season doesn't live up to your expectations, building skills on the side will help her develop individually. My daughters are a little older than yours and we travel to Portland, but I don't feel my girls lost anything playing in town, they did get a good foundation. Abbe Doane with Keizer Soccer club is great. I believe all girls team at Keizer benefit from her training but she does individual and small group training also, she uses the Coerver (probably spelled wrong) method and has been a trainer for them for years. Good luck.

[soccertwinz]

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.

I recommend you read the book Outliers like the previous poster talked about, it has many examples of athletes too, and he definitely explains the 10,000 hour rule (practice, practice, practice) to become great. People like Mia Hamm and Wayne Gretsky are individuals who had natural talent, but drive, determination and sacrifice for their sport and dream is what separated them from the other 8 year olds that showed just as much promise. They also had parents that were willing to make sacrifices and give them opportunities that other kids were not getting. Just like with the music example, remember, he said as they advanced they practiced "with purpose", that would be addressing your concern of different variables. It can be argued that without a certain amount of natural ability, it would not grow into such a high level of feeling of success and willingness to sacrifice. We all have a different path, some will decide that the sacrifice and cost of this level of commitment is worth it and others will choose another path.

[Unregistered]

I don't think that she would come close to the ODP coach that trains the young girl from FC Portland. There is a reason that the top players both male and female train with this guy.

Is the ODP Coach Gaff from THUSC?

[Unregistered]

Yes he is.

[Unregistered]

Practical Advice to the Origional Poster

My daughter displayed the same passion and early technical ability at a simular age. We have had to always seek out good training and as she got older, make sure she was with a team that was the right fit as far as coaching and style of play. Technical skill will always stand out as she gets older, and putting her infront of as many soccer opportunities as possible when she is younger will help her to continue to develop her love of the game.

Here is some practical advice that served my daughter well, especially at the earlier ages:

1 - Stay as local as you can for now.

2 - Get involved in a positive way with her team. Examples would be setting up a 3 v 3 team(s) to play in local tournaments with other interested parents. Set up small group or private training with a good coach/trainer from your club. Often we set something up for 30 minutes before practice with a higher level coach from an older team that would have a practice starting the same time as ours. Futsal and indoor soccer is also great for footskills and speed of play and often these are coed, which is great. See if you can find a local facility and encourage some of her teammates to do it too. Ball girl opportunites at local college games are also fun.

3 - My daugher loved soccer camps over the summer and during school breaks. There are tons of them out there. She even did the residential camps from age 9 and hasn't stopped.

4 - If she still wants more after all that, talk with your coach / doc about having her train with an older or or boys team once a week if you feel the physicality won't be too much.

5 - Get her involved in the "culture of soccer" Get her a jersey of her favorite team / player to wear to training. Watch some soccer games on tv together. Take her to watch older girls teams with some of her teammates.

6 - Have fun!

[Unregistered]

FC Portland

FC Portland has the best JR Academy. The boys won Mt Hood and the girls lost in the final. Jason Carney is their coach. He coached professionally in the UK for six years. Go to www.fcportland.org website to get Jason's contact info........Good luck