Things that can Impact a Child’s Football/Athletic Development

It’s not as simple as ‘one’ thing that unlocks a child’s football or athletic ability.

The best players we’ve coached seem to move very well.

But what things can impact how well a child moves?

Lots of things can help. Some we can control, some we can’t:

Siblings

Siblings always have someone to play with!

Sports, ruff & tumble play, tig…it all helps.

If they love football they’ve always got a defender (remember how much we love opposed training!)

Active parents

We meet many parents & one thing we see is those who are sporty/active can end up with kids who also develop a passion for moving.

Kids feed off what they see. Seeing parents being active/playing sport can help impact their desire to move more.

Genetics

Some kids are just born with things that makes a difference.

Speed, strength, height…

Some just have whatever ‘it’ is that helps their football/athletic ability.

Home environment

Are there other kids to play with nearby?

Is the street quiet & safe to play on?

Is it walking distance of a park where they can play?

All this allows for more chances to play football & other sports/games more often.

Birth month

Like it or not, the odds are stacked in favor of kids born in Q1 & Q2 (Sep-Feb in the UK).

The Relative Age Effect.

Kids born earlier in the year can have can have an advantage over those born in the later months.

Not always but it has been an issue for some time, certainly in junior football.

How much playtime

More football can help improvement but letting kids be kids and spend more time simply playing can be huge for movement.

A great way for kids to learn to move is to just let them play.

Run, jump, climb & dodge. No adults telling them what to do & how to do it.

In football, free-play is also great.

Instead of coaches dictating how they move they’re allowed to be creative & explore their own ways.

This is why we have free-play 3v3 games.

Away from football – play Tig Floor is Lava, climb trees.

That’s ‘real’ movement. Young kids don’t need ladders & hurdles (we fell into that trap years ago).

They need more chances to move, which isn’t easy today.

Just some thoughts – hope it was of use