As Soccer Becomes More Popular, Athletes Turn to Coaching Clinics for Improvement

Almost 500,000 children play high school soccer across the United States, and as the sport continues to grow in popularity, many high school athletes are focused on skill building with an eye toward college participation in the sport. Soccer is a sport of endurance: players often run and sprint for over an hour, covering as many as seven miles per game.

Soccer, known as “football” in many other countries, has over 250 million players around the world and many more fans who follow the sport devotedly. Although soccer does not receive much media coverage in the United States, the popularity of the sport is rising and games are shown more frequently on television.

Eleven players on each side use nearly every part of their bodies to pass the soccer ball around the field and to score goals. Children and older athletes who want to learn soccer moves are advised to stretch, to study skilled players who have received professional soccer training, and to practice regularly.

In order to learn soccer moves, many athletes attend skill-building sessions during the summer and fall, known as soccer camps and soccer clinics. Coaches can help athletes improve their endurance, their speed, and the skill with which they handle the ball. More than half of all kids who play sports report that they play to spend time with their friends, and coaching clinics can help players form a unique bond of friendship.

Over 10 million soccer players attend soccer coaching clinics across the country every year: they learn how to defend the goal from players attempting to make goals, how to keep the ball moving rapidly across the field, and sometimes even how to hit the ball with their head in order to keep the ball in play – a perfectly legal move in soccer.

Since soccer is such a physically-demanding sport, participants are encouraged to spend time warming up before each game, stretching and drinking water in order to stay hydrated. Parents whose children are playing in youth soccer leagues in lower temperatures may want to invest in thermal clothing that the children can wear in order to stay warm and comfortable.