Age Progression
Technical development is the foundation of every soccer player as they progress through their youth career. The iSoccer System is an effective, challenging and fun training program for players four years old to adults. Each assessment exercise represents a core topic of technical proficiency and should be introduced and taught before any assessment results are recorded. That said, some skills are more advanced than others and should be presented at the right developmental stage. Listed below is our recommended age appropriate progression through the iSoccer Assessment:
Introduce
Before timing or counting a particular skill, introduce the exercise to the player so that they are comfortable with the concepts and movements. In addition to the assessment skills, go to iSoccer’s video library and watch the over 150+ basic introductory video clips for great exercises for beginning players. [click here]
Causal Count
Add the element of motivation by either the coach casually counting or having the player count their own score when the they are performing the skills. You don’t need to record the scores; just introducing the idea of assigning a score to a skill will increase a player’s effort level and motivate players to improve their scores.
Assess
Now that players are comfortable with the exercises and the idea of assigning scores to a skill, start recording their results and sharing them with the players and parents. This will not only provide a great motivator for the players and constructive feedback for the parents but it will help you track progress over time.
Every Club and Team is Unique
Each player, club and team are different. This is the minimum assessment progression that we recommend but if players or teams are more advanced there is no reason that they should refrain from attempting the entire assessment as early as they like. Even a score of 1 is fine. It’s not about performance, it’s about improvement. Assessing the baseline and tracking player development over time is what iSoccer is all about.
Sample Progression Video:
How much soccer training is it needed to become a top player? It depends on the efficiency of your training routine… I don’t believe there is such a thing as a ‘born’ soccer player. Perhaps you are born with certain skills and talents, but quite frankly it seems impossible to me that one is actually born to be an ace soccer player [...] Success is no accident. It is hard work, perseverance, learning, studying, sacrifice and most of all, love of what you are doing or learning to do.
- Pele, Brazil World Cup Champion 1958, 1962, 1970
I am really surprised to see how early you recommend practicing and assessing head juggling. As a physician, I have always recommended that kids refrain from practicing heading the ball until the age of 10. After seeing this, I doulbe-checked the AYSO’s recommendation on this topic. I found this: http://www.ayso.org/resources/safety/is_heading_safe.aspx , which confirms that kids shouldn’t begin routinely heading the ball until the age of 10.
Admittedly, the data on this is not absolutely clear, but it seems that it would make sense to be overly cautious, no? Can you help me understand your contradiction to the AYSO’s recommendation? I don’t feel comfortable recommending that my teams use this site without understanding this. Thanks!
Drew Keister, MD
Drew,
Great question! To begin, safety always has to be placed first and if you personally feel kids should wait on heading till after 10, 13 or even 15, that is what we would recommend for you. From iSoccer’s perspective, there is very limited medical evidence one way or another stating heading at age X is bad for the child. Therefore, we believe, in a controlled environment (like the iSoccer Assessment) it is a good opportunity to work on heading basics. Heading properly comes down to the right form and technique and the iSoccer assessment teaches both of these. Eyes on the ball and ball striking the forehead. If players begin learning the proper technique at a younger age, they will have better form and precision as they mature as players. With that said, if there is ever any medical evidence that states heading at an early age causes issues, we will follow the recommendation.
Thank you for the post and good luck raising the level of your team!
Good answer, thanks! I totally agree that the evidence around this is poor. It’s tough to balance safety vs. skill and to know whether better skill earlier may reduce the risk of injury later. I also wonder if starting when they are using a lighter size 3 or 4 ball may reduce the likelihood of injury… so maybe that’s another reason to start early. I don’t know that there is a great answer. I appreciated your balanced approach.
Drew
What i can say is,the isoccer is perfect. Am kenneth in Africa Uganda! I love the isoccer web!
Thanks Kenneth! We are happy to be helping players in Uganda have more fun with the ball!