DSPFC Approach

Our team trains 3 nights per week with over 4 hours of cumulative focus on learning the ins and outs of soccer. Whether that be technical work on the ball or tactical positioning and movement - this is focused soccer time.

 At DSPFC, we have created positional profile roadmaps that outline key traits, fitness targets, soccer IQ elements, technical skills and physical attributes that are necessary to play at the highest level. They are a guide for players to develop the foundational skills across all aspects of the game as well as the nuance and subtlety of a particular position.

We are leveraging the work of Matchfit, an English organization who has developed a speed and stamina program specifically for soccer players. Rather than just focusing on raw speed, it encompasses the speed that is necessary for soccer players including acceleration and deceleration, changing direction and jumping. Our players participate in the speed program twice per week to improve their technique and build their capacity for speed. 

We have developed a strength training program just for youth soccer players, with our local partner, Momentum Fitness. At this age, players grow in height and strength at different rates dictating the need for an age-specific, soccer-specific strength program. Our players participate in the program twice per week in small groups to avoid injury and enable strong, healthy growth. 

We have created a psychological framework that is used to create a positive environment for the kids to grow. It provides direction for the players, parents and coaches and distinguishes between self, parent, and supporter roles to help everyone understand the impact they have on not only themselves, but everyone else around them. Creating a positive environment where players can challenge themselves, fail, and grow is critical to closing the gap. 

Our program allocates time for the players to identify a training priority and visualize themselves successfully achieving that objective. As they practice with a purpose, it improves their awareness and raises the level in training and games. Upon completion, players are required to reflect, evaluating what they did well and what they need to work on. To aid them in this process, we teach them by reviewing and providing guidance on their reflections, showing them how to analyze video, and helping them uncover the methods to make better decisions on the field. This cycle of planning, visualization, training, and reflection accelerates our players' development and helps them achieve their goals.

We have provided the players with a meal plan itinerary for training days covering 5 time frames:

• School lunch
• Pre-Training (after school)
• During Training
• Immediate Post-Training
• Dinner

At training, we have a snack period about 1/2 way through to enable the players to top off their carbs to keep their performance at the highest levels during the second half of training and everyone brings a protein and carb source for consumption during our stretching time to facilitate muscle development and healing.

At every training session, we have 10 minutes of dynamic warm up and 15 minutes of stretching cool down - critical as the kids then sit in the car after training. In addition, we monitor all the kids activities with GPS devices to manage overall load taking into account outside training, school soccer, etc. We are pushing the kids harder than they have ever been pushed, but we have to do it in a responsible way.