One of the coolest aspects of the USSF National Youth License course is that it goes into a lot of detail about how kids learn, how their bodies develop, how they interpret and understand things, and thus what their practice sessions should be like. Their age will dictate what they can realistically understand and process. It can put planning your practices into a whole new perspective, especially for younger age players.

One of the presentations they used in our classroom session was ‘How Children Acquire Skill‘ by Xavier University professor Ron Quinn. It lays out some of the foundation for the NYL course and the current USYSA thinking on youth soccer player development.

Give it a look – interesting stuff.