Why 1 vs 1 duels are important for 3, 4 and 5 year olds.

As a parent, it is super important to understand the “why” behind why your children do what they do in the football classes on the weekends, or in the week.

As part of our design process, we go back to our document which outlines our philosophy so that we can make sure we develop each individual child in a holistic way, so that they are well-balanced as they move throughout their journey of learning the beautiful game of football.

We have seen Eren, Luca, Karmello (and the rest of the superstars on our Hall Of Fame page) go through that early “grassroots football” development and we have refined our process to make sure there is always a balance between what they need to learn in those early years, and making sure that we help them fall in love with football.

Within each 4 week block of learning, there is always one constant for our 3 to 5 year old children in our classes, and that is the concept of “1 vs 1 duels”.

Super important, because as football changes year on year, the one thing that remains the same - no matter the format, or the age, is that there are 1 v 1 duels happening at all times.

Our job is simple.

Make sure that the children are exposed to enough scenarios where there are simple conditions:

1. Is there a goal for them to score in
2. Is there a goal for them to defend
3. Is there someone trying to stop them from scoring
4. Is there someone trying to score against them

This may sound simple, but it is constantly overlooked by coaches when they design their practises, so we make sure to include it in every session. 

When you watch football on TV, that is what it looks like.

Now, the game always “looks different” at 4 years old, but the mechanics of the game remain the same.

So thats why we do it.

Your job as a parent should not be about focusing on if your child wins; but making sure they do the fundamentals:

1. Try to score
2. Try to defend
3. Be comfortable under contact and pressure
4. Be competitive.

We will do the rest.