F.C. Porto 2018 Player ID Camp

DEVELOPING TALENT

Developing talent is a complex journey for both player and coach.

We have felt the fire ignite within those who train dynamically and intelligently.

First thing in the development process should be giving knowledge to the players. Knowledge about the game of soccer...

From positioning to how to make the right decisions. Players can not make good decisions if they are not coachable... 

Adding energy and intensity to practices is essential. Committing to dynamic and effective interventions. It is important to bring the energy levels required to activate the talent. 

INCREASE EFFICIENCY... incremental improvements to deliver a better service with contemporary practices and founded upon sound pedagogical principles.

The USA World Cup Qualification Failure

U.S.A. being eliminated from World Cup is just the result of the incompetence of the people in charge...

From top to bottom and from bottom to the top... the USA soccer is wrong...

A country with so many resources not being able to compete against CONCACAF countries it is hilarious... and the excuses of the failure is even more hilarious...

From the field being wet... to a place that is not very friendly to play... I want to laugh but it is too bad and painful for that...

Creating a myth of a super star that will resolve all the problems like Pullisic (developed in the German system) ... that never won nothing in his carrier as a soccer player is the mirror of mentalities that run the soccer in US.

Soccer is a team sport... you cannot have a youth development system focus on player development... is team development...

You cannot have a top league without relegation/promotion system...

You cannot give millions to old European top players expecting that will get USA to be world Champion... or at least qualify to be in the World Cup...

Lower leagues with 3 months duration... College soccer... club soccer... town soccer... is all wrong... Iceland was top of the table and qualified to the world cup and they have about 400k citizens...

The system is business oriented and not oriented to really develop soccer in this country...

Nobody wants to invest in development to see results in 10 to 15 years... soccer is about selling franchises...

But the financial losses of not being in the World Cup are huge... from sponsors to TV rights... how smart are the business men in charge of US Soccer?!?!?!?!

Mental toughness cannot be achieved without pressure... pressure of not being relegated. pressure of not being called for your mistakes... pressure makes you stronger... if you cannot handle pressure... pressure will handle you...

Endurance Matters

In youth athletics, endurance matters.

The team with the most energy towards the end of a game usually wins.

Lots of youth athletes look AMAZING in the first half of a game, and then things start to fall apart after half time.

They get tired.

And tired teams usually don’t play their best.

If you want to ensure your team comes out fresh in the second half, you need to start doing HIIT.

HIIT= High Intensity Interval Training

High-Intensity Interval Training describes any workout that alternates between intense bursts of activity and fixed periods of less-intense activity.

It’s Efficient: In fact, our HIIT circuits take just 10 minutes, but your athletes will achieve MORE in 10 minutes than they would running for half an hour.

It Improves Cardio Like Nothing Else: Most youth athletes aren’t used to pushing into the anaerobic zone (where it’s actually hard to get out a sentence because you are breathing so hard).   But it’s that anaerobic zone that offers amazing results.  One 2006 study found that after 8 weeks of doing HIIT workouts, subjects could bicycle twice as long as they could before the study, while maintaining the same pace.

It’s Fun: There are lots of exercises you can use for a HIIT circuit, but we’ve designed ours to be fun for kids. All of our HIIT exercises involve a ball.

Get Ready for the Season: Sign up NOW!!!

Change Your Game in Soccer

Your greatest weapon when playing soccer is your mind prior to and during the game.

Your mindset is how you mentally approach and prepare for soccer.

When you have an effective mindset, you have belief that you can win games, or at least compete at a high level even against very good teams.

Negative thoughts will creep in for you, but the goal is to have most of your thoughts enhance confidence and have the ability to refocus when negativity creeps in.

A positive mindset reduces anxiety prior to games, allows you to play freely or intuitively on the pitch and keeps the focus on the task at hand.

A positive mindset not only affects how you approach games, but also how you approach practices and training sessions.

When you have intensity and drive, you train hard and compete in practice rather than merely being physically present in practice.

When you have a strong mindset, you are passionate about competition and enjoy playing your sport, both of which contribute to your success as an athlete.

Is your mindset helpful or hurt your game?

If your mindset is mostly negative, do you think you can do anything about it? Or do you believe "it is what it is?"

The truth is your mindset is a choice. YOU control your mindset.

Your mindset is something you foster by your decision of where to place your focus.

Focus on fear, deficiencies in your game, mistakes, comparisons or the negative criticisms of other, you will grow a negative mindset... and that negative mindset will show in your performance during games.

Focus on your strengths, effort in training, successes and your will to improve your game, and you will cultivate a positive mindset.

A positive mindset will produce positive results in games. Positive results don’t always mean wins; it means playing aggressively, playing to your potential, competing throughout the game, never giving up and making plays.

Change your mindset... change your game!

Tips For Fostering a Positive Competitive Mindset:

"Competitive" means to compete or to make a full-out effort to be successful.

You can improve your mindset by getting into the habit of competing at your peak all the time.  Start competing in practice... push during drills, race to the ball, play aggressively during scrimmages, etc.

As you start winning battles, finishing first during runs, hustling in games, you will notice that your mindset changes... and the results will be positive!

A Year of Success

This Weekend and this month was and as been very special to me...

After so many struggles to establish Victory Soccer Club we achieved in 3 years so much... 9 promotions in our youth teams, 4 Division Championships, and one more can happen in the last week with the U11 boys.

We brought back the U23 team and slowly we intend in developing into a powerhouse of soccer...

I am achieving my goals with the support of all of you that believe in Victory Project and I can not be more thankful and happy...

It was not easy to get where we are now with all our teams being so competitive on the field and having an Elite team in only 3 years...

This weekend I achieved a dream... the Dream of playing for Victory... at the age of 46 years old I defended Victory S.C. goal and we won... I was part on the field as a player and as a coach to the success that I work every day so hard and with so much passion.

I do not have any intentions to keep playing... but it was an experience that I can not forget... to be on the field... defending Victory shield in a competitive game sanctioned by USSF and USASA.

I cannot express in words... the gratitude and happiness that life decided to offer me... to all Victory members... THANK YOU!

You made my Dream possible!

Sergio Taborda

Director of Coaching

Invisible Training

Not all performance improvements are gained in the field

Have you ever stopped to think about when improvement occurs in your training cycle? You may have never thought about this, but you should. Is it right after a hard workout? Is it 12 or 24 hours after a workout?

For most people, the benefits of the work done need time to transpire, and once the body has adapted, you start to see performance improvements.

Some coaches even refer to this recovery period as “invisible training,” less obvious than the actual workout, but vitally important. You may not be doing sets and reps, but when and how you recover determines how much you’ll reap from your “real training” sessions.

Understanding when your improvement happens is crucial if you want to continue to improve your performance because the ability to recover is what changes most as you age. You do not lose the ability to increase strength or power as you age, rather your body slows down its recovery response rate. This cannot be overstated: your ability to recover from training is what changes as you age, not your ability to improve strength or power.

If you don’t adapt your training schedule and intensity to match the biological changes that your body is going through, your training will not continue to produce the effects you seek.

Anyone can train hard, that’s usually not the issue. Instead, it’s whether or not you know when to train hard and when to back off to allow your body to fully recover. If you don’t know when to retreat, you’ll slowly drive yourself into a deeper and deeper hole. This is when sickness and sub-par performances take the place of feeling healthy and seeing improvements on a regular basis. Also known as over-training, this is a lousy place for performance-focused players to reside, and it happens to many Top players who may think that more training is always better.

Though this problem is common, the fix is simple. Shift your mindset. Realize that some benefits are gained not from training harder, but by recovering better. Intensify your recovery period, and you’ll notice more gains. This might seem counter intuitive, but recovering effectively and consistently is a skill you can learn, and you’ll probably have to experiment to find the best methods for your body.

Over the years, some of the athletes I train have found one or two strategies from this list that really help. Individual variation is an important component of applying these strategies. Experiment with these strategies to see whether your performance improves.

Recovery Strategies

Consistent and sufficient sleep. Many people are chronically sleep deprived, and although it can be difficult to get enough sleep, it’s vitally important to your performance not just in the field, but across all aspects of your life.

Proper nutrition. We all seem to be eating on the run these days, but take the time to eat properly and you’ll likely see a performance increase when your body has the appropriate balance of nutrients it needs to perform at the top level.

Stretching, foam rolling. All of these activities can help release lactic acid that accumulates in the muscles during a training session. When the body can efficiently flush these toxins out and repair the training-inflicted damage done to the muscles during a workout, you will likely see bigger gains from your work in the field.

Proper warm-up and cool-down procedures. Similar to stretching, warming up and cooling down before and after a tough training session prepares your body appropriately for the work that’s coming and helps the body process the work after it’s been completed.

Icing, cold plunges, and contrast baths. Though chilly, these methods can help reduce inflammation in the body after a workout, which also helps flush out toxins and improves your body’s response to a training session.

Massage and chiropractic adjustments. Keeping everything limber and in alignment can also help your body work smoothly and may enable you to get more out of your training time.

Remember, improvement does not come strictly from actual training sessions. You improve during your recovery, that space in between training sessions when your body does important repair, adaption, and improvement functions.