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The Mission of the ISA STING Soccer Club is to promote the game of soccer by providing the highest possible level of technical and tactical training, skill development, competitive team play, and to provide highly skilled and capable players with an opportunity to further excel in the sport. The goal, however, is not to train players to follow any particular style of play, or to adhere to some rigid program that resembles a video game. Rather, we try to harness each player’s natural creativity and love for the game and to foster a sense of humility and self respect that comes with being part of a select group of female athletes. We want our kids to feel comfortable in their roles on each team and to allow them the freedom to explore what the game teaches us about teamwork, fair play and life in general. In other words, if one is wondering whether ISA Sting is striving to be just another academy or soccer factory, where players are consistently worried about their position on the team, the answer is an emphatic NO!
It is ISA STING’s goal to be recognized as the Premier Girls Soccer Club within the tri-state area and throughout the United States. ISA Sting Players, Coaches, Managers and Member Families will work to be role models for young soccer players and parents in their communities. Whether they are playing down the street at a local field or hundreds of miles away in a premier tournament, our players and parents all understand that they are part of something special, something different in the world of youth sports.
There are truly no limits with the ISA STING so “Get Involved”
“In the end our mission is to create a cutting edge environment where players can test their physical and mental limitations. We designed a soccer community for female athletes who thrive in highly competitive environments, who exhibit strong discipline of character, and will enjoy the long-term benefits in the social experience of youth soccer. Our system fosters individuality, discipline, conditioning and sportsmanship, and demonstrates that female athletes can train as hard as male athletes!"
ISA STING Player Development THEORY
The Trinity of Soccer = attacking, defending and transition
• Learn the game by playing the game
• The applications of actions should not be separated from the actions during training
• Training sessions must be match related
(exercises must include attacking and defending)
• Training is to simplify Soccer
• Players have to solve Soccer situations
• Our Coaches help the players to understand when, why, and how to apply training
Our training philosophy places a very strong emphasis on developing TECHNICAL (skillful) players who THINK (decision makers not robots) andPLAY with CREATIVITY (personality) and ENTHUSIASM. Our training regimen and philosophy are heavily routed in Dutch and Brazilian soccer principles. The development of superior fundamentals (dribbling, driving, 1v1 attacking, shooting, passing and receiving) are critical to the success of players and teams that we train and coach.
Training soccer players is not an exact science. No two teams or players are exactly the same, nor are the circumstances and surroundings exactly the same in all instances. However, a consistent and progressive approach to player development is necessary to maximize each player’s (and team’s) development. Over the years Intense Soccer Academy (hereinafter “ISA”) has acquired a tremendous amount of experience training and observing players and teams of all ages and abilities throughout each of the stages of development. Our program has documented the training results of not just our own players and teams, but the results of our competitive peers throughout the United States of America.
Quantifying the results of training is no small feat. While we can keep statistics like goals scored, shots on goal, corner kicks, turnovers, as well as statistics of other finite categories, these statistics do not tell all. This is why it is very important that we step back and take a big picture approach to development. The fruits of our labor may not be overly obvious to the untrained eye right away, but if we identify and execute a steady course of training the fruits will be obvious and enjoyable to all in the future.
The first step to setting up your training program is to figure out what you want the end product to look like. In reality, our end product will probably not be identical to what we first dreamed. However, it will be substantially similar in substance. For example: if we want our male forwards to look like T. Henry (France) and our male forwards to look like Marta (Brazil), we need to first analyze the qualities that those players have. Once we break down those qualities, we then need to put together and implement a curriculum that is designed to develop those qualities. You might be saying, “isn’t it a little far fetched to try to make my U10 girl play like Marta?” The ISA answer is “No. Training her to play like Marta is exactly what we are supposed to be doing. However, expecting her to play like Marta at U10 is CRAZY!” That being said, the qualities of superstar players helps us with our grocery list of soccer qualities that we want our players to develop.
Step #1 – identify individual player qualities that you want your players to have
Step #2 – identify a team game-style that you want your players to play
Step #3 – perform an audit of the players on your team & their natural & present abilities
Step #4 – set up a curriculum that teaches the qualities you want for the players & team
Step #5 – constantly evaluate and re-evaluate the performance of your players, team and most importantly, YOU
Keys to success are: CONSISTENCY, PATIENCE & ENERGY.
Be very cautious about those who simply “criticize” without offering correction. Those people who simply criticize are “destructive” and not“constructive” of player development.
It is important to UNDERSTAND HOW PLAYERS LEARN. Learning is a multifaceted concept. Players learn in many different ways. They learn by (a) watching and emulating (copying) successful players and peers; (b) repeated training and participation; (c) listening to coaching instruction; (d) unorganized and informal “street soccer” where players are free to experiment; and (e) watching video tape of their own play. All of these different ways of learning must be used in order to get the most productivity out of the development process. Training and match participation alone are not enough.
