SC Soccer Forums SCSoccer.com Forums Girls Varsity Soccer What is your daughter doing?

Im not sure that the average soccer parent understands the committment needed by there daughter to play at an elite level or play college soccer. How many games a week does your daughter watch on tv? Is she training 4-5 times a week during club soccer? How much conditioning work is she doing outside club or high school? Is she working with weights on her core strenght? Everyone is to concerned about travel etc, you need to focus more on your daughter becoming a better player and stop worrying about what club she plays for. What is your daughter doing that sets her apart from the crowd on her team?

That might be one of the most sensible "road to success" posts I've read in a while.

Sweet feet,

To me this is but one leg of what a kid needs to do to make themselves a great player.

1. Work hard on your own.
2. Highly competitive training sessions.
3. Highly competitive matches.

a strong work ethic at whatever they pursue

Well said, CHT...it's a mindset that is usually evident in every aspect of a person's life, or it isn't there--the work ethic. No matter where you are or what you're doing, if you step up to something, do it to the best of your ability, and push yourself to not only meet expectations, but exceed them.

I agree, but.........

A big chunk of player development has to do with competition. Working your tail off on your own is outstanding.....but you also need those 3-4x per week training sessions competing against equally talented and motivated players. And then you also need......to compete as a team against other teams equally talented to your own.

I see a ton of kids whose eyes light up when they see a competitive level they aren't used to. It helps stoke that fire that burns within.

Michael Jordan famously said that he loved it when people talked about his weaknesses, becasue that would motivate him to work hard and turn them into strengths. Had he stayed in Wilmington its doubtful those weaknesses would have been exposed.

No argument...competition is a key factor in developing excellence. I think what the folks in this thread are trying to point out, though, is that too often the emphasis is on where you are first, rather than on what you're doing to get ready to take advantage of it. We hear so much on these boards about placement, and so little about personal preparation; development of character, work ethic, drive, determination, commitment, and love of the game can have a greater effect on a player in the long run than having a parent pony up the "right" amount of money to get them into the "right" club and think it runs on automatic from then on. A high level of competition is an important factor, true, but only if the mind and body are conditioned to use it to best advantage. An intensely competitive PLAYER in a somewhat less competitive ENVIRONMENT can sometimes progress more than a somewhat less competitive player in a more competitive environment.

Michael Jordan had the outstanding drive and competitive spirit attack his weaknesses and turn them into strengths rather than simply accepting or succumbing to them...otherwise the exposure would have done him little good.

"An intensely competitive PLAYER in a somewhat less competitive ENVIRONMENT can sometimes progress more than a somewhat less competitive player in a more competitive environment."

I absolutely agree.

But the ultimate.....if your kid fits this bill, is to also place them in an ultra-competitive environment. They go hand in hand. This was my point.

See below, especially with the ladies.

If it ain't fun, then it ain't any good.

Amen, Hurst...

BD, I agree with your assessment as long as Hurst's addendum is part of the equation...if it's not, then sometimes the most competitive environment may not be the one that brings out the best possible in the players.

Define best possible?

Obviously.....a kid has to enjoy what they are doing. That's a no brainer. If they look at it as work......they aren't apt to want to do it.

Its a circular thing......kids that play at the highest level, this IS their passion. They don't look at it as work. They LOVE to train. They LOVE to lift weights. They LOVE to skip rope. They LOVE to watch games on TV and play as their heroes on PS 2/3.

I agree that there are very talented players out there who don't burn to play the game. My opinion is they won't play at the highest level, not because they couldn't.....but because its just not that important to them. That lack of priority will eventually deprive them of the push for added training and eventually they will no longer have that choice.

Not a bad thing. And for that kid.....they should play at a lower level and they will do just fine.

But I took this thread.......to be focussed on the super achiever kid. Or the kid who wants to be. And for those players.....

I go back to my original 3 points: hard work on your own, challenging training environment, challenging game environment.

Again, I agree, with minor qualifications.

By "best possible," I mean an environment that will bring out the very best in the player, which is often determined by a combination of factors (as you mention), not just level of competition. And I agree with your profile of the successful player as someone who naturally loves to do those things that will be beneficial to level of play--most of the things you mention have to do with individual effort rather than club environment, which is where SF started this thread way back when.

I also know that passion for the game can be nurtured, and that it can also be burned out of a player; I've seen girls in highly competitive environments who somehow lose some of that spark, and what used to be a passion somehow turns into a job. I've also seen players who have previously been more indifferent develop a love and intensity for the game. There is an X-factor in there that goes beyond difficulty of competition level, and I think wherever the player can find that positive factor mated WITH competition, that is where she will find the "best possible" situation. Different things can often click with different players, so everyone's most effective environment might not be in the same spot.

A great post. Thanks! It was an eye opening experience for some of our club girls to talk with college coaches who expected them to be up to run at 6 AM most days, in the weight room 3-5 times a week, watch film for a couple of hours a week, watch soccer matches on TV when in the team room, do other team stuff, carry 15 hours of coursework, and be a B+ or higher student. Really good players opted out of soccer in college or opted for small school programs instead of a D1 type program. I personally overheard D2 and NAIA coaches use a concept of playing with "less effort" as a way of recruiting good players away from D1 programs. However, that said, many of the girls are very happy playing D2 and NAIA, and I know of one who left a D1 to come back to a D2. They all found their fit.

My daughter sleeps a lot. Between rehab sessions.

My daughter sleeps a lot. Between trips to the tanning bed and refrigerator.