PLAYER DEVELOPMENT
Our primary goal is to develop professional level players through intensive technical, physical, positional, and mental training. Every player has a development plan and a pathway to accomplish their goals. We take our players through a 20 page technical evaluation to assess their ability and ball mastery. From there we create a custom development plan to address the players weaknesses and continue to build on their strengths.
TECHNICAL TRAINING
Technical training is mandatory to be a good player and to have success on the field. A high level player (or a player that aspires to collegiate or professional soccer) MUST have a great first touch, and make good decisions quickly, and posses overall mastery of the ball. Great ball control allows you to increase your speed of play, poor ball control will make it nearly impossible to play with speed from both tactical and physical standpoints. The technical curriculum at Pathway also give players the confidence to be creative and take more risks to advance the ball on the pitch. Confidence in your ability is a vital to becoming a consistent elite player.
TECHNICAL CURRICULUM
Our technical curriculum address the following and more:
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FIRST TOUCH
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BALL MANIPULATION /MASTERY
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DRIBBLING SPEED
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1V1 SKILL DEVELOPMENT
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PASS ACCURACY & TECHNIQUE
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SHOOTING /FINISHING
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DEFENDING TECHNIQUE
PHYSICAL TRAINING
Physical conditioning (athleticism) is a major factor that determines an athlete’s performance and ultimately their success. Physical training is a must to be a good competitor and have success on the field. The players that follows an consistent strength and conditioning program will always have the competitive edge. Players that are athletic are always ahead of the players who lack athleticism, this is proven in almost every sport. Athleticism and fitness (speed, agility, and strength) is what separates players of equal technical skill and often compensates for lack of technical ability.
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A high performing player (or a player that aspires to play at a high level) must have stamina to stay sharp, make good decisions quickly, and maintain an overall high level of play for the entirety of the match. One of the first areas that suffer is the players ability to process information and make good decisions when he or she is tired. Being physically fit directly effect a players motor control as the game goes on, specifically the players ability to quickly and precisely control their muscles, in result their technical ability also suffers.
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Our strength and conditioning program will increase your physical performance. We use various plyometrics, reaction and resistance drills that focus on the movements and muscle groups used in soccer. The training is focused on developing proper sprinting techniques, improving core and functional strength to reduce the risk of injuries (legs, knees, hips, back, abdominal), speed (explosiveness, faster footwork, quicker first step), agility (turning, shifting and stopping more effectively), and stamina (aerobic and anaerobic fitness).
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SPEED TRAINING
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COORDINATION AND BODY CONRTROL
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INJURY PREVENTION
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MOBILITY AND FLEXIBILITY
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OVERALL STRENGTH TRAINING
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AGILITY AND QUICKNESS
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STAMINA
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REVOVERY
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SLEEPING PATTERN
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OFF THE FIELD HABITS AND ROUTINES
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NUTRITION
POSITIONAL TRAINING AND TACTICS
We challenge our players to thoroughly understand their role on the field, whether it be a defender, a midfielder, or a forward. Regardless of their position we train our players to have fundamental tactical awareness, understanding when to get open and provide passing options to their teammates. When defending we teach our players to quickly apply pressure on the ball while blocking passing lanes to slow opponents advancement of the ball, or to cover an off-the-ball runner to provide defensive balance. The link between skills and tactics enables students to learn about the game and improve their performance.
We are very careful not to go into specific detail with team strategy because different teams and coaches may require different things from players in a position. However our positional and tactical training will help a player with the following:
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UNDERSTANDING THEIR ROLE
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BETTER DECISION MAKING
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SPATIAL AWARENESS
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IMPROVE GAME IQ & TACTICAL UNDERSTANDING
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INCREASE SPEED OF PLAY