PLAYER DEVELOPMENT FRAMEWORK
MOTOR SKILLS, COORDINATION & TECHNICAL SKILLS
AGES 5-7 YEARS OLD
Goal: Formation of new physical movements to allow for mastery and application of technique.
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What: Fun and technical based soccer activities.
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Why: Aid in the development of coordination and motor skills required for technical development.
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How: Short, fast-paced activities that maximize player contact with the ball.
INDIVIDUAL TACTICS
AGES 8-10 YEARS OLD
Goal: Enhancing success in 1v1 situations.
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What: Activities focusing on attacking and defending in 1v1 situations.
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Why: Technical base enables the introduction of single-task tactical concepts, which lays the foundation for the future development of group and team tactics.
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How: Fully opposed, directional activities that develop 1v1 attacking and defending decision-making skills.
GROUP TACTICS
AGES 11-13 YEARS OLD
Goal: Developing and understanding combinations, coordinated movements, and numerical superiority/deficits.
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What: Activities that create opportunities for small group attacking and defending (e.g. 2v1, 2v2, 3v2).
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Why: Comfort playing in groups enables players to deal with numerical deficits and/or create numerical superiority in game situations.
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How: A range of numbers up, numbers down, and balanced numbers activities, with limited enough numbers to maintain significant ball contact for each player.
TEAM TACTICS
AGES 14 AND ABOVE
Goal: Combining tactical groups to create one cohesive team unit that embodies the FA Euro playing philosophy.
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What: Activities requiring tactical groups to effectively link with other tactical groups.
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Why: Players gain insight into the connectedness between concepts covered in earlier developmental phases.
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How: 7v7 to 11v11 activities connecting tactical groups (e.g. goalkeeper/defenders/midfielders/forwards; left sided/central/right sided players; etc.)