After playing and coaching soccer for years at various levels I can personally testify that the proper training equipment for soccer is critical. A soccer player goes through many phases of development as they grow and the training needs change significantly. As a coach of a highly competitive independent club I’ve had to learn to find my own training equipment and research products myself. Whether it’s your soccer socks or your re-bounder, it’s worth investing a little bit more to buy a quality product. Soccer training equipment is generally purchased by three main groups: coaches, parents, and/or individuals. If you are a coach you no doubt have had to research and determine what training products to purchase to form your own soccer coaching “ecosystem.” I’ve known some coaches that love to use elaborate magnetic boards at half time and others that want to draw “in the dirt.” I can’t tell you how many parents I’ve run into that have never been around soccer and have no idea what to buy for their kids. Heck, they don’t even know what shin guards are and whether they go inside or outside the socks! The bottom line is that whether you are a coach, parent, an individual or any combination of the above you will need to have solid training equipment to get the most out of soccer training. On this site I’ll try to break down different categories of training equipment. At the most basic level a person needs to be dressed properly for training. Good shoes (or “boots” as some call them), shin guards, socks, shorts and tops are all things that lay a personal foundation for readiness. After that we’ll move into cones, nets, re-bounders, goals, flags, bags, etc. Overall, I hope to cover several helpful areas and hopefully grow this blog to be a very helpful place for people to learn from a few of the things I’ve learned from over the years!!
