Is your child interested in learning new skills and taking part in team sports? Children’s soccer in Singapore is a great all-round game for littlies and older children as they develop more focus and ability. Being a good footballer involves a reasonable level of fitness.
Traversing the soccer field, up and down, back and forth, during a game is likely to wear out your kids, especially if they’re unfit. Running training is a great way to steadily increase fitness and help improve their game on the field.
Whatever stage your child is with their soccer training, they will benefit from the increased fitness that comes from regular running.
Mobility is part of modern football
The days of the static central midfielder or defender are over and even goalkeepers need to be able to sprint properly. Running is one of the fundamentals of football today. This is because for most of the time any one player will not have the ball at their feet. They will be running into space, tracking another player or pressing the opposing team to make mistakes. Each of these skills requires a lot of running. Sprinting is vital, but so is endurance running, and being able to change direction instantly. Certainly, when your child does get the ball, they may need to run with it at their feet.
Football matches lasts a long time
While younger children play 15-minute halves, graduating through 20 minutes at under 8s to 40 minutes for U16s, an U19 game is split into two halves of 45 minutes each. Each stage has been specifically tailored to the children’s age group. So, in theory, your 6-year-old is playing just as hard as your 16-year-old, in relative terms to their size and stamina. For your child to go the distance, they must be able to run as fast and hard in the last minute as in the first moments of the game. Running training helps improve cardiovascular strength, along with improving muscle ability. Running training also helps kids to avoid cramping throughout the game.
Being a good runner improves the overall game
If your child feels capable of competing for any ball in any given situation, they will be a better footballer. This means having confidence in themselves at all stages of play. If one child thinks they’ll never get to a loose ball before another, for example, they won’t try to. This immediately gives the other team an advantage. Multiply this by the amount of loose balls, crosses, passes, free kicks, corners and goal kicks in a game, and this is an awful lot of advantage. If a child is sure of their own running ability, they can focus on tactical awareness without being puffed out.
Running training helps reduce injuries
Running is a specific form of physical activity. It uses certain muscles a lot, and others not so much. Soccer, while lower than other codes of football, is still a contact sport. Tackles, slips and collisions all come with the risk of injury. A high level of running ability allows your child to take less time to recover from certain types of injury. More importantly, as a good runner, they are more likely to be able to avoid them in the first place.
Good running training is an essential part of the football coaching your children will receive at Singapore’s Cosmo United Football Academy.
CUFA run regular scheduled training sessions and matches, as well as holiday soccer camps. Contact Cosmo United Football Academy on +65 9821 3869 or email info@cufa.com.sg. Also, check out our website or visit us on Facebook, Instagram or subscribe to us at YouTube
