Starting the Season Well

Starting the Season Well: Balancing the In-Season Demands of Youth Soccer Players

The start of a new football season brings excitement, anticipation, but also several challenges.

Whether they are a young player just starting out, or a teenager looking to develop and push themselves on, the key to a successful start to the season lies in striking the balance between the demands of competition, training, recovery, and personal life.

This blog explores how players across the U12-U16 age groups can start the season well, and manage the demands associated with in-season youth soccer participation.

Competition and Game Day Excitement

No matter the age, for young players, the primary goal should always be to enjoy the game and to continue learning.

Maintaining their enthusiasm and having a consistent approach is essential. The thrill of the first few games of the season is always something to enjoy but, at the same time, it can also become overwhelming for some young players through either over-excitement or anxiety.

Establishing a consistent, fun, and simple pre-match routine can help players settle and focus on the game ahead. Trying to keep this fun can help alleviate any pressures they may be feeling. Coaches can use the time to emphasise the importance of trying their best regardless of the outcome and praising good effort.

It’s also a key to ensure they are physically prepared. Once the competition has started one key aim to balance physical, psychological, and possibly tactical elements is to ensure players don’t over-exert themselves in the early stages. Whilst having a fast start and good intensity of play is positive, it needs to be in a calm and controlled fashion.

Training

There can often be an (un)intentional increase in training volume and intensity as the season begins.

Coaches may see errors in players' games or even opportunities for further progression in some areas and, as such, there is a tendency to do more, more, more to correct or improve performance.

As well as the psychological pressures of starting the new season (well or poorly) too big of an increase in physical load can be a concern for many young players particularly if they have had a large volume of pre-season training.

Additionally, when considering a large proportion of players within the U12-U16 age groups may be exhibiting changes related to physical growth and maturation, large increases in physical load can put them at a greater risk of injury.

As covered in ISSUE 1, with young players it’s ok to play the long game: they have plenty of time for development and there isn’t necessarily a need to work on things in the immediate subsequent training sessions that can lead to burnout, keep things fun and varied and there may even be considerations for a reduction in physical and psychological load as players adjust to in-season training and competition schedules.

Recovery

Closely linked to both competition and training is the concept of recovery for young players.

As alluded to above, a more strategic form of recovery from a physical and psychological perspective may be a decrease in the volume of training and/or some* of the intensity of the training content. Allowing players to recover physically and mentally and enjoy their start to the season. This allows variation in training throughout the season providing opportunities to “push” and “back off” in a structured manner instead of trying to go all-in every week. On an acute level, ensuring players get adequate rest and sleep is key for their growth and development and is a key pillar of holistic recovery in addition to appropriate nutrition. Finally, it is also important to balance their training and competition with the external pressures they face as adolescents.

Personal Life

Teenagers face increased demands both on and off the pitch.

Balancing school, social life, and football becomes crucial for their overall development. Helping them to manage their time between schoolwork, spending time with their friends and family, and playing football is key and the importance of each should be clearly emphasised.

Try to be open and let players know they can have conversations with you about any pressure they are feeling and that you are there to support and encourage them. It’s ok for them to occasionally miss a game or training if that’s what is deemed best for them in the long run. Having a strong and positive team environment can also have a huge impact as players can support each other in a variety of ways.

Conclusion

Starting the football season well is about more than just winning the first few games.

It's about setting a solid foundation for the months ahead. For young players, the focus should be on enjoyment and steady progress. No matter the age group, the key to a successful season lies in balance. By managing training, competition, recovery, and personal life effectively, players can ensure they stay healthy, motivated, and ready to perform their best throughout the season as well as contributing to their overall development.

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