When is less more in Girls soccer

[Eric Teepe]

In the game today, Youth Girls Soccer faces a myriad of issues. Perhaps the most complex and debated is the amount of soccer a youth player can end up playing. With choices between US Youth Soccer, ECNL, School ball, US Club Soccer, AYSO and then for many the additional chance to play ODP, ID2, US Training centers or possibly the US National team, what is too much and how does a player choose? Being that the NSCAA is the leader in coaches in the US, what do you feel we can do to address this and for that matter US soccer as a whole. This is a huge dilemma that as coaches we face and we must solve. Please give us your thoughts on this subject and lets open these ideas for debate. Our youth players need us help answering this situation and we as coaches need to work together to come up with some of these answers.

[Ron Kruse]

When i played sport as a youth we trained 3-4 days a week, if not more some weeks, depending on the sport. We wanted to be the best and we were, in all sport. I believe that the coaching staff was the key to our team staying motivated and focused. As a player i knew the schedule and was commited to being the best i could be. Now, as an adult, i have the same focus and motivation that was instilled in me as a player. I don't think anyone else can decide for an individual player what is "too much", the player has to make that choice and commit to it 100% either way. Players(people) need to learn that the choices that they make will have cosequences good and bad. The issue of "too much" or burning out, should be addressed with each player or as a team. Again, I believe that it should be an informed individual choice that must be made by the player with guidenance by the coaching staff and parents.

[Richard Defabritus]

If you consider that girls have a higher incidence of injuries like ACLs / MCLs / meniscus, then "too much" is more than just burnout.

Strongly recommend participation in different sports and minimizing specialized, 1-sport training. I hold practice for my U12G team 2x per week, and I encourage those kids that play middle school or travel sports other than soccer.