Going to Make it...

[AmericanFutballer]

Well, today has been that day where i feel i need some organization in my life. And I believe this Progress log will help keep my eyes and goals straight and in the same path. Here, i will show you my love and determination for soccer, and what i'm willing to do to be the best I can be. So lets get started!

Short Term Goals
1. Maintain and gain stamina for Next season Rec Team
2. Get as much experience as needed to be better at footwork and execution in game situations

Long Term Goals
1. Make High School Varsity Team when i go to highschool next year, we'll see how that turns out!
2. Maintain grades at current level, hopefully that will make me stand out.
3. Never lose my passion for soccer...

Well, since i'm starting i'm going to post some old logs just to see where i'm heading now

January 10, 2007

Today I worked on ball skills, just hitting the ball against my fence for around 15-20min. After that I did sprinting drills followed by juggling. After that I began working on footwork skills. I began envisioning moves to use in certain situations, including my own unique elastico, stepover/cryuff, and regular elastico. All in all a good day considering it got alot colder than our regular 70-80 degree weather here in florida...

January 11, 2007

Today I worked once again on ball skills, hitting it against the fence. Worked on shooting and curving the ball only to find out that my ball is getting cuts in it from chipping wood off of the fence, look like i'm going to need another wall somewhere! Today was unique because my parents came out to play with me, as well as my grandpa. I practiced long shots and curving the ball, long shots i made 4/5 while curves where 1/5. I also worked on some 1v1 skills with my mom in which i succefully performed my unique elastico to get by her. Awesome day.

January 12, 2007

Today I worked on juggling the entire time, was playing during unusual times with heat so that's all i could muster, i did do some running drills but mostly juggling. Not a great day to practice, hopefully my friend can play at the park later today .

[iwannagopro]

Nice to see you made a progress log mate... but not to crush your hopes if you are playing on a rec team where they hand out oranges at half time, and the coaches and parents sometimes play sidelines ref if the normal refs aren't there, you have a bout a 0.00000000001 percent chance of making Highschool Varsity. You need to get on a real team mate. Your goal should be getting on to a 3rd division or 2nd division team first... if you really work hard you could probably make Varsity in your sophmore year. Otherwise, you should spend some more time working on your touch, and accurate shots with power. Try taking a look at some of the guides in the Skills sections. Peace out.

[AmericanFutballer]

Hopes not crushed, but diminished..lol j/k. The rec team was just to get me back into the swing of soccer, but alot of the players on my team play for their highschool teams so....It's not that bad, though freshman teams are probably what they are on not varsity but who knows. My mom was a really good soccer player here, got a chance to play college soccer but she didn't take it for some reason..Hmmm... but she definitely gives me good tips....anyway it's a fine league, i know i can compete with the top league here so i don't have any problems. Yes, i've been working on touch and shots, how did you know? . Anyway keep in touch.

[iwannagopro]

How big is the highschool you plan on going to? Glad to here you are working on touch and shots, those are the most important! Peace out.

[AmericanFutballer]

Umm...let me think...it's probably around 600-800+ kids, i'll have to check it out. But think, in USA probably a quarter of them play soccer and only a handful are good enough to play at that level so i think my chances are good for making the team next year, not varsity though, unless i follow all my trainings schedules and whatnot throughout the summer and play every free day i have with someone else, but hey i could do that . I tried out for my middle school team this year, before i even went to my rec team, and i didn't make it. Now, a single season later, i can beat almost everyone of them on that team, hands down. So, my progress has been phenominal, just have to work on my field sense though .

[ageorge]

If you want to make varsity or anything else you should get on a select/travel team, I'm sure there is one in your area find out how you can get on a team. Rec teams are garbage in the US. If your coach cares about winning he won;t care about your grades as long as you have a 2.0 or better (Which is really low standards anyway.) If you want to get better you should find some good drills to work on.

[Soccer4Life]

Well, I have a tip for you on making varsity: If you are a less skilled rec player, then not only work on footskills, technique, etc, but also work a lot on fitness. So that at the end of practice (usually when teams scrimage) and/or games, you will be able to keep running, and beat tired players who may have 2x as much skill as yourself. You can make up for lack of skill in certain areas if you have covered all the basics.

Anyways... good luck!

[gnarlyjim]

Since, I'm from Canada, the names of teams are a little different around here. I understand Varsity, and all the best with your goal of making it, I sincerley hope everything works out well. Keep us update on how your training and such is going.

[AmericanFutballer]

Uh...maybe i didn't make myself clear in the last post but i can compete with the best "team" members here. They are on travel teams/select teams so really it doesn't matter for me because i already compete with them, the only thing i lack right now is field sense, because i just got back into the swing of soccer last season. I could make it onto the select teams here, but the next tryouts for one of them is the end of the summer and the other teams already had tryouts a while back so...I might as well try to get into a highschool team next year. Also, i am not a bad player in soccer, i'm actually pretty talented, the only problem is that i stopped playing in 5th grade, three years ago . But hey, i love soccer now, i would like to know any drills you guys might have to improve your unprefered foot and any skill that just makes you a better all around player. Thanks!

January 13, 2007

Got home 15min before it got dark from a Mu Alpha Theta competition, math competition and my team of 3 people won first place!, so i just juggled for 10min and tooks shots for the rest of the time. Not really a succesfull practice, but hey, atleast i did something instead of nothing right? .

[ageorge]

If you played here you wouldn't even be good enough for the bench, teams on travel/select teams aren't guaranteed a spot, I don't know about the competition where you live but usually varsity is not made up of players who play rec and haven't played "since like 5th grade"

Chances are pretty high that you don't have enough natural talent and you just think you do or the competetion at high school where you live is low.

[Brines]

The best thing for you is for people to say that you can't make it. What do the 12 and 13 year olds on this forum know about your ability to play? Ignore the negitivity, and prove them wrong. Rec soccer isn't exactly the way to go pro, but keep working on your own, and you'll have a shot at making varsity next year. I'm assuming you go to school in a small town. I do too. The competition is fairly weak, so you need to make sure that you get far better than everyone else. My brother played here, and now he is playing in college. He dominated in high school. You will have to dominate too if you want to go on past high shool and rec soccer. Anyway, here's what I do:

I like shooting on a brick wall at school. Pick out a spot and try to be accurate. Practice trapping as the ball comes back. I found a place where there are two walls about 15 yards apart. I've been passing/shooting at one, getting the ball back down to my feet, and then turning and shooting again. That's how I plan to get my left foot up to par. It is good practice for when you need to take a quick shot after turning. Taking shots on a goal isn't very good because you don't get to do it as much. If you're shooting on a brick wall, you could get hundreds of good touches in a half hour. A wooden wall doesn't rebound like brick does. I live in Michigan, so the weather blows in the winter. I still try to manage to kick a ball around for at least a half hour a day. Sometimes I juggle. Sometimes I just practice moves and sort of dance around with the ball. In the summer, I went for 3 mile jogs with a ball at my feet. Make sure to have your head up and get in a lot of touches.

[AmericanFutballer]

Ok, ageorge, my friend in the same grade as me, same team as me, rec, plays on his highschool varsity team cause' his school runs k-12. And i compete with him pretty closely. I have enough natural talent to make it, hence the title, and really discouragement in the progress logs really don't help... But, my mom, who once again has surprised me, is a great coach for me because she played with two players on the US national team. I know what i'm doing, and i'm going to make it...

Edit: No, actually i live in the a big town soo....competition is kind of rough. (In response to above)

[ageorge]

OK you say your really good, prove me wrong and make odp, and then state odp, and past that if you can; also get on a good division 1 select team. When are tryouts for varsity?

[AmericanFutballer]

Varsity team is near September, but i'm taking up your advice and trying to get a tryout for this one select league. The tryouts are in a couple of weeks i believe so i'm going to be practising with my friends 3v3 team just to shake things up .

[Soccer4Life]

The best thing for you is for people to say that you can't make it. What do the 12 and 13 year olds on this forum know about your ability to play?

Why did you have to bring age into this? I would have thought all of my efforts would have made people on this forum think more highly about younger players.

Uh...maybe i didn't make myself clear in the last post but i can compete with the best "team" members here. They are on travel teams/select teams so really it doesn't matter for me because i already compete with them.

Sorry, AmericanFutballer, in my city, a rec player doesn't have organized practices, and they play in quarters insted of halfs. The refs socialize with the players at half-time, and hand out fuits and snacks. You don't have to come to games if you don't want to, and when the other team scores, your coach is congradulating them. You line up in lines to say "Good Game", and you all go out for pizza and ice cream after every game. So I misunderstood your abilities, per say, because my understanding of recreational soccer is different from the level you are playing at. My apologies, I wasn't trying to be negative.