Travel teams or county squads have been around for quite some time now. There is a real prestige attached to be being picked for a travel team or to represent you area/county.

Sometimes new uniforms, training equipment and other kit are handed out to the "chosen" ones. What child in their right mind wouldn't want to be part of an elite group of players who are getting additional coaching with players who are all at the top of their game?

However, there can be some down sides in being associated with such teams, which needs careful management by you the players coach and also the parents.

Across the globe we have travel, elite, county, A teams, and the selection criteria to be hand picked for this soccer squad can be quite tough. Through the selection process, various levels of cuts are made with a squad size of 60 typically, getting pruned down to the final 16 who will then go on to represent the area.

In this weeks articles in Junior Soccer Coach we are going to shed more light on elite teams, what it means for you, your team and as importantly your players, but here is a quick heads up on one issue that I know myself and other coaches have to battle against with their players representing other elite teams... Burnout.

We have seen players stop playing soccer altogether because they were playing too much and the fun went out of the sport.

By their nature, travel or elite teams are high competitive environments where a substantial amount of commitment is required from parents and players alike. Occassionally, training sessions for your team and the elite squad may clash... which team is the player more likely to lean towards?

With a game on Saturday & Sunday, what can you expect from 12 - 14 year old? They put it all in on Saturday playing for the elite team and then come Sunday when they are playing for you they are tired. Young bodies also need some time to recover, admittedly its not as long as us oldies ;-) but they still need to recouperate.

So if you have any players who are selected to play for elite teams as well, make sure that they still enjoy playing in your set up and that you are appreciative of their performance bearing in mind they may be playing twice in a weekend. Where possible, ensure that they get plenty of time on the pitch for you but also subsititute them as well to give them a rest.

Explain to them why you are resting them and that you want them to continue to be a great player and you don't want to over play them. By doing this will eventually take all the fun out of playing soccer and the classic burnout situation occurs where the kid stops playing soccer altogether.

Thats your tip for this week, remember in the coming week in JSC we'll posting new articles based specifically around elite team, and give you some information sheets to share with parents if their child is chosen for such a squad.

Good luck in this weekends games...

Best wishes

Neil

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