Confidence & Synchronization

This year’s GameSPEED program was a little different than years past.

The On-Field Program: 

During the on-field portion of each workout, my coaching was centered on one idea…Awareness.

Soccer isn’t just about controlling the ball. It’s about learning to connect with everything happening around you. Recognizing opportunities before they happen. Seeing passing lanes as they open. Positioning yourself off the ball more effectively. Discovering your own way of performing a skill—one that feels fast, athletic, and authentic to your identity.

Ultimately, synchronizing your movements with the ball, the players around you, and the constantly changing demands of the game.

If you watched one of our sessions early this summer, it may have looked a little chaotic. Missed passes. Poorly timed runs. Heavy touches. Players trying different solutions and making mistakes.

That wasn’t a problem. That was the learning process. Every mistake became information. Every challenge became an opportunity to better understand the problem, adjust, and try again. Players who learn to embrace that process don’t just become more skilled—they develop real confidence. Not the temporary confidence that comes from memorizing patterns, but the lasting confidence that comes from knowing you can solve problems, adapt, and overcome adversity.

Every on-field session followed a simple progression.

• We begin by helping athletes organize movement and explore different technical solutions. Rather than teaching one “correct” answer, we exposed players to a variety of possibilities and encouraged them to explore combinations, discovering their own style and abilities.
• As confidence grew, we expanded the environment. More movement. More space. More speed. More players. Athletes had to coordinate their movements with the movements of others, maintaining rhythm while making constant micro-adjustments.
• Eventually, we removed the patterns. Players could no longer rely on memorization. They had to see the same cues as their teammates, anticipate movement, synchronize their timing, and creatively solve the problems the environment presented.

Every group was different. Some progressed quickly. Others needed more time to focus on rhythm, coordination, and confidence.

That is by design…The goal was not for every athlete to progress at the same pace. The goal was always to build confidence. With their skills, coordinating their movements with the environment, and synchronizing their actions with the players around them.

The Indoor Program:

Inside the training facility, our attention shifted from soccer-specific movement to athletic movement.

Without a ball or other players to react to, athletes focused on moving with confidence. Sometimes that meant pushing through challenging interval runs while maintaining posture and mechanics, or developing coordination and rhythm in our plyometric sessions. Other times it meant improving athletic positions while throwing medicine balls or building strength with challenging loads or speeds.

Although the summer groups are much larger, we still try to coach every athlete as an individual working through their own unique challenges. We offer feedback, ask questions, and suggest movement strategies that help each player discover solutions rather than simply copying someone else’s.

In many ways, the summer GameSPEED program is about exposure.

• Exposure to new movement challenges.
• Exposure to different technical problems.
• Exposure to changing rhythms, speeds, and situations.

Our goal isn’t to fix everything in ten weeks. Instead, we’re trying to help athletes recognize where they struggle, better understand why those challenges exist, and begin developing the confidence to work toward better solutions.

That’s where our Fall Small Group Program begins.

The Next Steps…

Summer exposes opportunities for growth. Fall gives those opportunities the attention they deserve.

Our small groups are limited to just 2–4 athletes. This allows us to organize players by age, ability, and specific areas of need. Whether the focus is first touch, awareness, speed, athletic strength, or creative skill development, each session narrows its attention to one area while providing individualized coaching, conversation, exploration, and refinement.

These high-repetition, highly focused sessions allow athletes to make meaningful adjustments, build confidence as they overcome challenges. Then we leverage those improvements to help enhance other aspect of their game.

Ultimately, that’s what AthleteFIT has always been about…

Helping young athletes build a healthy relationship with challenge—a confidence that comes from learning, adapting, and trusting themselves when the game becomes difficult.

Because athletes who aren’t afraid of challenge become people who are prepared for whatever life asks of them.