Blog for Parents of Young Athletes

Spain have produced some of the best football players in history but it has only been in recent years that they have enjoyed regular success at international level. The Spain national football team was considered the best in the world between 2008 and 2012 when they won two European Championships and a FIFA World Cup. They began that era under Coach Luis Aragonés and ended it under the guidance…

Depending on the age everything varies, the size of the racquet changes, the size of the court is not the same or the balls have a different pressure. Here we are going to analyze the tennis equipment for early ages and we will also show you other very fun tools that you can use to train, but we do not…

In our previous interviews, we have gained some great insight into youth coaching from the perspective of coaches at many different levels and ex-players who have gone into coaching later in their careers. But what is it like for a young player today taking their first steps on the road to becoming a professional footballer? How are they treated by the top youth soccer…

TO BECOME A BETTER TENNIS PLAYER, YOU NEED TO GET THE BASICS RIGHT, AND THAT’S WHERE A TENNIS BALL MACHINE COULD COME TO YOUR AID. If you are an aspiring young tennis player, you need to learn how to strike the ball well on a consistent basis. And if you want to compete at a high level, it is also vital that…

Football fans from England are used to the fairly simple relegation and play-off system that exists across the top four tiers of the football league. But when it comes to understanding the Spanish football league system, things can get a bit more complicated. This is because the third and fourth tiers of Spanish football feature over 440 teams and are divided into many regional…

For advanced/elite soccer players (boys only) from 16 to 21 years old who want to spend one to six weeks of the school year training alongside full-time academy students at the oldest private soccer academy in the UK. Table of contents Overview 1 Program options 2 Training 3 Coaches 4 Language classes 5 Camp schedule 6 Accommodation 7 Safety 8…

For advanced/elite soccer players (boys and girls) from 6 to 21 years old who want to spend one to six weeks of the school year training alongside full-time academy students at one of the best soccer academies in Europe. Intensive Winter Soccer Programs also serve as try-outs for the academy’s full-time programs. Table of contents Overview 1 Program options 2…

The FIFA World Cup is watched by over 3 billion people and provides the biggest stage of all for the world’s best footballers. However, for a variety of reasons, some of the elite players never get a chance to take part in the greatest soccer show on earth. Here are 13 of the best: Alberto Spencer The Ecuadorian striker known as “magic head” was…

Superstitions are commonplace in football. Plenty of players, coaches and fans strive to achieve some kind of spiritual sanctuary before a game by performing various bizarre rituals. Here is a rundown of the 20 funniest soccer superstitions. Real Madrid When Real Madrid re-located to their new stadium in 1912, they did not win a trophy for 5 years. To break the “curse,” they took…

As part of our ongoing project to garner the opinions of football coaches from all over the world, we spoke to one of the rising stars of youth soccer coaching in Scotland, Kirsty McFarlane. In recent years, there has been a significant rise in the number of female coaches working within the game. In 2014, Helena Costa became the first female coach to take charge of a men’s professional team when she…