5 Activities to Boost Your Soccer Training

Every parent wants their player to be well rounded, healthy and successful.  We hear it all the time that the healthiest players cross train in other sports. But what about that player that only wants to play soccer?

Here are 5 activities that can support your player's soccer development while giving them another fun outlet without a long-term commitment.

1. Yoga is not just for us crunchy moms, kids can benefit from this calming and stress reducing exercise routine.  Flexibility and core strength are key in injury prevention. Imagine all of the benefits that 60 minutes of quiet, meditation and focus on stretching could do for our overstimulated screen-time addicts?

Check out the Youth Yoga Project for local yoga programs in our schools.

2. Plyo, jump-training, box training - no matter what you call it plyometrics is a great compliment to any athlete's training program.  Focused on full muscle use in small burst this training technique can improve coordination, speed and strength over time.

3. Boxing is another stress reducing activity.  This full body workout improves both upper and lower body coordination and can help overall endurance.  This is a demanding activity that like yoga and plyo can be practiced at home with a small investment in equipment.

For boxing workouts you could try Title Boxing or for boxing training check out Pilgers Old Skool Boxing Gym. 

4. Basketball, in the winter all of our soccer programs compete with basketball (and Fortnite) for our kid's attention, but is that a bad thing? Not really, there is a reason why so many European academies have basketball and tennis courts on their campuses. They see the value in cross training, plus think of all of the concepts basketball and soccer have in common, spacial awareness similar footwork and strategies for attacking and defending.

I'm a soccer mom, not a basketball mom so my kids play recreational basketball through our church and school but if you are interested in basketball training 3N Sports Facility has multiple trainers private and semi-private training sessions as well as competitive teams.

5. Futsal is certainly the most obvious activity for soccer players in the "off season". This fast-paced small-sided version of the beautiful game is a fun way for any player, at any level to sharpen their skills and try new things.  Futsal improves decision making while the weighted ball improves striking strength and power and players gain confidence in one-on-one situations.