The Time Of The Year Is Here
Happy Thanksgiving to all of our readers! We hope that you enjoy this holiday with your family and friends.
Thanksgiving is the holiday where you reflect on things you are most thankful for.
This includes Family, Friends, and also hobbies such as football/soccer.
With the end of the fall season, we wanted to challenge our readers both parents/children to truly reflect on themselves. Both on good things that have been done so far this season, and also things that could be done better in the future.
Parents
The job that you guys do can’t go underappreciated. It is a hard thing to be a “Soccer Mom/ Dad”. All of the sacrifices that are made to drive to games, practices, and tournaments deserve big appreciation. It takes a lot to balance your own lives and the lives of your children.
Applaud yourself for the hard work that you have done so far because you are truly what makes these club, and rec teams work. Without your kids being there on time consistently it would never work.
Now since it is the season to reflect there are some questions you can ask yourself. These questions will allow you to make sure that you are doing the maximum for your child. Sometimes I think parents can forget how much of an effect they have on the mindsets of their children.
The correct guidance can help push your children to perform at their highest level. You can help your child make that club team that they want, or even get a scholarship one day! The possibilities are endless. This is why reflecting and asking yourself questions every now and then is very important.
Here Are Some Important Questions To Ask Yourself.
1. What can I do to help my child get closer to reaching their potential this season?
Parents you have a huge role to play in making sure your child reaches their highest potential. They get their mindsets from YOU. Encourage and support them as much as you can through good and bad periods. The focus should be on becoming a better player every day.
Advice can go a long way for a young player. I remember being down sometimes after I didn't play so well in a game and my mom would tell me to keep my head up and bounce back. Hearing that let me not sulk for too long and move on. Sometimes your child will go through times where they lose confidence and its important for you to be that backbone.
2. Am I putting unnecessary pressure on my child and comparing them to other players?
One of the hardest things to deal with is pressure coming from your support system. No child should be compared to someone else because he/she is not that person. Everybody develops at different rates so it is important that the support system is always there to help nurture the child. Yes, your child might not be as good as "Johnny" right now, but with the correct support, he/she could be better in a year's time.
3. What do I expect out of this new season? Out of my child?
Going into the next season you have to ask yourself what do you want to see. The answer should be that you want your child to improve as a soccer player and a person. Going forward from the already answered questions that you've asked yourself you should have a good idea of how you can best affect the outcome of the upcoming season.
Players
Players pat yourself on the back. You just made it through half the season, and you put in the hard work week in and week out. That is an achievement in itself. Now it is time to reflect and prepare for the next half of the season both mentally and physically.
This reflection process is a key tool for really digging into what went well and not so well over the season. Asking yourselves a few questions can create a critical foundation for catapulting yourself to greater success in the upcoming season.
1. What did you learn?
Every season provides an opportunity to learn more not only about yourself as a player, but understand the game more as well. Usually, there are hidden gems, things you didn’t anticipate learning in a season that can make you a better player. Keep track of things learned, refer to them often, and continually seek to add to your knowledge as a player
2. What goals did you have that weren't accomplished, and why not?
It is very good to establish goals for yourself before the season. It can be personal goals like a certain amount of goals/assists, or it can even be catered more towards team success. Sometimes you won't hit them and that's okay but the important part is to think about why you didn't. For unaccomplished goals break it down piece by piece. Try to see if setbacks were avoidable and how to prevent them from occurring in the future. Once you do this it will make it easier in the future to stop these setbacks from happening and allow you to reach your goals.
3. What goals did you reach and how?
Take pride in accomplishing a goal that you set. Don't take it for granted you have to really be proud of yourself. Acknowledge what you did during the season to reach your goals and stick to that. Don't let it take away your hunger though keep improving!
4. What are your goals for next season?
So what's next? If you hit certain goals and didn't hit some it doesn't matter in a new season. All of that is wiped away. The focus should now be what do you have to do to be better. Don't get comfortable you should always try to improve your game from season to season.
How We Can Help:
At FuturElitez Soccer, we emphasize a lot on our player's mindset and attitude towards not only football/soccer but life.
Not only do we emphasize this with our players, but we try to put out information for everyone to see. With our podcasts on youtube and our blogs, we try to put out a message to help everyone live their life to the fullest! If you enjoyed this read, it would mean so much to us if you could share this with a friend/family member! Thank you in advance for always reading our blogs on a weekly basis!