Step 1 – Know your child’s ambitions in football

The vast majority of parents with whom we have spoken in recent years agree that the practice of football is beneficial for their child‘s physical, emotional and social well-being and that it provides experiences and learning that we often only find in a sports environment.

But do they all know what their child’s ambitions are as a football player? No, many do not know it, despite supporting the practice.

This should be your first step, knowing what your child’s ambitions are because only then you will know what to do next to really support him in his goals and not just in the practice of the sport.

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Step 2 – Help him to manage expectations about his future as a player

After realizing what your child’s goals are as a player, one of the most important steps is realizing if his level matches the ambitions. It is important for a player, and consequently, for his parents and coaches to be able to help and control these same ambitions, to know their current level.

Almost all the youth players dream of reaching a top European club, playing in the Champions League and achieving a lot of titles, but the reality is that just a few players in the world have the capacity to reach that level.

Don’t take the dream away! The dream gives them the strength to keep working hard and to fight for personal achievements, but explain how difficult it is to reach that level. Try to give your children goals that they can control, that depend only on them.  How?

A good example can be defining the number of repetitions of a technical gesture in a training session or a match, like the number of balls recovered, the number of successful passes or avoid being caught in an offside situation. These examples will make your children develop, says the NF Academy Director João Plantier.

Just like the reverse, some parents who ignore or don’t know their children’s true potential when they have the ability to take a step forward and reach the professional level.

This should be your 2nd step, identifying your child’s current level.

NF Academy has a team of coaches with extensive experience in training young players in various countries and at various levels, which allows them to know how to evaluate players at the beginning of their development and players on the elite level. Click here to consult us through our new program NF Video Analysis.

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Step 3 – Look for solutions that can accelerate your child’s development

In any sport, profession or situation in our life, we learn more the more diverse our experiences are, the greater our dedication and how many more people we know and learn from.

In Football it’s the same. We advise all the players to try new exercises, new training methods and to meet new coaches and players. Of course, the work done in the club will always be the basis of a player’s learning, but, to learn more and faster, players need to explore add-ons for their work.

Therefore, NF Academy invites all the young players to join our upcoming events. Click here to see our complete Event Calendar and explore our web to know more about the different NF training programs.