​Most are taught from a young age to fit in. Adjust, be compliant and fit in with a crowd. But the biggest thinkers, innovators, inventors, creators who have made life changing discoveries products or services have been people who did not fit in. People that stood out and took pride in standing out. People that did not listen to others, marched to their own drum, maybe been called troublemakers but at the end of the day their standing out changed the world one way or another.

Why shouldn’t the same thing be applied in sports? Well, it does and top-level coaches like and encourage players that stand out, are creative, take initiative are free thinkers and leaders. Please do understand that there is a fine line between standing out and being a disruptive force. To society, to a team, to a coach.

This is something that we feel should be taught and cultivated at a young age. In most sports at any given day, one will find coaches training players in skills, technique, and plays. Everything is choreographed and orchestrated by the coaching staff. Little is left up to the players. Most coaches are always telling, dictating to the players what to do, never asking their opinion or their thoughts. The same applies on game day when they are always shouting directions from the sidelines to accompany the instructions shouted by the parents.

We realize that everyone has the players' best interests at heart, and everyone wants to help those players but the way they go about it is very wrong. By constantly spoon feeding the players we are not allowing them to be free thinkers. We are not challenging them.

No one grows from having someone else figure out the solution to a problem when they are faced with adversity. By allowing players to figure out their own problems with our guidance we allow them to grow in their sport and eventually in life.

Elite Player Futsal Training is More Than Just Technical Skills Training - It is mental and technical training. All top players have great technical skills but not everyone has top notch mental skills. 

The reason top players can execute consistently under pressure is because they have been taught to do it at the training ground over and over again, under pressure.

I remember a player that was on one of my teams that always did his own thing, even when we orchestrated some activities, he would always do it his way, no matter how much we tried to direct him and help him. This player had serious physical attributes, speed work ethic and never gave up. He stood out right away. He loved playing soccer and you could see the joy in his demeanor. He was just never taught fundamentals, control, restrain or other qualities that make a good soccer player at a young age. My guess is that his previous coaches did not take the time to develop him thinking he is a handful. 

Well instead of trying to restrict him and confined him to everyone else we allowed him to do it his way if he was not harmful to himself or others. He would just run and sometimes be all over the place. He would put himself in situations that at times got him in trouble on the field, by losing the ball falling and tripping into other players, running out of bounce consistently and well you get the idea. Instead of trying to control him, since he would not listen, we would allow him to fail consistently and after a while he did not like it at all. I would then step in and offer him a suggestion to try it a different way and offered him the option of his way and a different one. Sooner or later, he would try it and by finding success he started to listen more and trust me more. I also would always ask him questions instead of telling him what to do.

This player developed in one of the most creative, free thinker attackers I have ever coached. He became a top scorer and feared by everyone he played against. He went on to play at a remarkably high level and earn a college scholarship.
 
The ability to stand out is an exact science.
It is governed by law.

The way you stand out is in the desire to do so, earning the skills to do so, the amount of work you put in, how well you perform certain skills, the ability to be irreplaceable, as well the need and the environment.
A player must learn to stand out and most players do not know how to stand out.

Most player think that skills will make you stand out.

A standout player for me is someone that can change any situation, in the locker room, on the field anywhere. A player that makes his peers better anytime he is around them. In school, playing field, or life. A player that is not afraid to be creative, take calculated chances, help others, put other’s success over his. Sep up his teammates for success by working hard to make them look good. Not be afraid of failure rather than learn form it. Learn to view failures as steps to success. Learn to deal with success, be humble in everything he does and always look to better himself as well as others. A player who is always hungry to do better even when he achieves certain goals. A player who is always asking himself: “What’s next”. A player that is irreplaceable, a player that I can never take of the field, a player that I always want in my life on and off the field.
​
One can do all kinds of things to be noticed and stand out, but many of them do not make a lasting impression.

As parents we all want what's best for our children.
We want it so badly, and most times more than they do, that we often overlook certain things that are pretty obviously bad for them. The road to youth soccer development is not an easy one to navigate if you allow your desires to over rule your player's.

1. Inconsistency

We often sign them up for training programs but only for a few sessions. Or we only sign them up for training during certain parts of the year. Well, think about it. Do they only go to school for a few days at a time or certain part of the year, then off and then back on? No, they consistently go to school at predetermined times and periods. The reason is that they need a continuous flow of information given to them followed by repetition.
 

1. Patience

The times we live in have become fast with the desire for instant gratification. There is extraordinarily little patience. We want it now; we want it our way! Anything in life requires patience to be materialized or mastered. To come to fruition. Why do you think training is any different? Players must train continuously and allow them time to learn, digest what they learned and practice to perfect it.
 

1. Always looking for the next best thing.

Parents always want to try every training method that is out there. When they hear of something new, they are off to the races and try it. Yes, training methods change but there is no need to continuously jump from one to another. If nothing else, it will confuse young players.
 

1. Dishonesty

Instead of jumping around to different training sessions or training systems, sit down and do an honest player assessment first. What age are they? How advanced is your player? What level are their skills at? How committed are they to the sport and getting better? These are some of the questions you may want to ask. Sit down with your player and ask them what they think, how do they see themselves today. Where do they see themselves in a year? Make sure to ask them for their honesty without fear of what you are going to say or think.
 

1. Accountability

Once you and your player commit to a certain training program make sure there is accountability. Make sure they show up and train all out. Make sure they want to be there and are enjoying their experience. Make sure that you ask them before you sign them up. A common mistake is that most parents sign their players for training without asking them, telling them it is good for them, and they will go. That alone is recipe for failure as the player will not do their best, go through the motions, and achieve extraordinarily little. Once you and your player have decided that they want to be there, make sure their finish it. No quitting.

Knowing some these youth soccer development tips makes it a lot easier and cost effective.

​Gaining skills and modeling successful soccer players that already have been there is the best way to start your path to success​.😀👍

Doing that is how you gain an unfair advantage as most try to figure it out for themselves.
No one will save you, no one will do it for you >>>it is up to you to seek, do and change your future.

By accepting failures, we can move forward in a positive way that leads to success. But by modeling someone who already has made those mistakes one can speed up the path to success.😎🏆
Gaining capabilities and modeling people that already have been there is the best way to an end result.

No one will save you, no one will do it for you >>>it is up to you to seek, do and change your future.
When you gain capabilities from people that already have been there, the nerves go away, the unknown is not scary anymore, the imposter syndrome melts away.

The Street Futsal philosophy was built on the idea of unscripted, creative, fun, playground style play.
No coaching, just players using their skills, improvising, and challenging each other for king of the hill.
World’s best players were created through street futsal in their neighborhood’s playgrounds.

Street Futsal is the most creative game of futsal you ever played. It is a playground innovation that combines street soccer with urban football. It is a unique combination of different disciplines and skills, moving at a rapid pace and played on a hard surface, any surface.

Street Futsal is marketed as a fun and rewarding way to improve ball handling, dribbling, agility, and field awareness in all levels of the game. With more than just skills development on their minds, parents and coaches can also use the innovative street futsal approach to foster essential character traits such as trust, resilience, teamwork, respect for teammates and self-confidence.

For players, Street Futsal is way more than just a chance to enjoy the game. It isn’t about just having fun on the field – it’s about developing important character traits off the field that will help in life and in sports.

The Street Futsal philosophy was built on this idea that players should learn important life skills, through unstructured, playground style free play. No coaching! It’s all about having fun while applying vital personally learned training concepts along with lots of creativity.

Thinking about signing your child for soccer?
Think Futsal Instead.
Here is why.

If you’ve never played futsal, it can be hard to imagine how it’s so much different from soccer. Allow me to help you visualize the difference between playing futsal and soccer.

Think of Futsal as the next generation soccer experience for children. Kids develop soccer skills playing constantly with the ball, high intensity activity to improve speed, agility vision, creativity.  It's a fun way to learn real dribbling, passing, shooting, tackling and much more – all leading to immediate improvement.
 
Futsal provides better ways to develop skills: Especially for young players ages 6-12, Futsal is a much better game for a players development. Most of a player's learning comes from playing, especially at the young starter ages of 3-6. The size of the court and speed of Futsal means 6 times more opportunities for a player to touch the ball vs soccer. It also puts players in constant situations where they need to think fast to solve problems, constantly be forced to protect the ball, work out of tight situations among other.
 
Soccer is normally played as an outdoor game on large fields, whereas Futsal is a form of soccer that is played mostly indoors on a much smaller courts. Futsal is also played around the world in outdoor courts anywhere. The smaller field size ensures a game of Futsal is fast-paced and more intense, with more opportunity for goal scoring.
 
Another difference is in the number of players. There are eleven players for each team in the game of Soccer, while Futsal is played with five players on the court. Less players at one time means more opportunities to touch the ball. There are three substitutions allowed in a game of Soccer, whereas there are unlimited substitutions in Futsal. Once again players can come in and out of the game as often as possible, giving them more time to play.
 
There are many other differences between the two games in terms of tactics, positioning, and the skills required. However, the fundamentals of the two games are essentially similar, making Futsal a great option for Soccer players and vice-versa.
If players become good at playing in a faster surface like a futsal surface they will immediately stand out on turf or grass.

Over the years, soccer has been labeled as a "Thinking Man's Game". The term has been derived from the game's uninterrupted, steady flow of play without timeouts or many set plays, full of player engagement, creativity, situational recognition, adjustments and problem solving on the fly is what it is called a "player's game".

In soccer a player must be a thinker, problem solver and a creative machine without much help from the coach at every single minute of the game. There are unlimited options, combinations and opportunities to score goals. A player's imagination and creativity is the only limitation in the game of soccer. Because of this game setting nature players grow not only in their game but in life as well. The ability to constantly think, adopt and solve has massive benefits in everything.

Well, futsal adds to the mix, a faster playing surface, restrictive smaller playing area, less time to think, react, adjust and solve game situations. The pressure is multiplied ten fold. 

If soccer is a "thinking man's game", then futsal is a "thinking man's game" on steroids.

Futsal will absolutely, unequivocally, without any doubt grow a player's soccer game.  

Futsaler Life
The Futsaler Life movement is the way of using futsal as the training basis to advance and/or maintain a player’s soccer skills as well as develop one’s futsal specific IQ as it pertains to the sport of futsal year-round. It is putting futsal first at the younger ages and making it core for soccer development.

Formidable, dedicated, and bold in nature, the game of futsal personifies everything we want in life. The fast-paced play of the game keeps players honest about their strengths and exposes all the weaknesses; the small-sided, fast playing surface keeps players focused, always engaged, and the success of victory keeps them motivated.

All players dream of becoming successful in soccer and/or futsal. Excellence is not something that happens by chance and it cannot be achieved by just talking about it: it is a result of taking action, going the extra mile, sacrifice, and do what others are not willing to do. One does not only find greatness in the big triumphs; One find it in every little detail of how one lives their life. Shoot for the moon, do not settle, and be persistent.
Live the FUTSALER LIFE!

What are coaches saying about futsal and Central Jersey Futsal - In this video learn what ex Albanian Professional Soccer Player Vani Mehmeti has to say.
"I think futsal is great development tool for young ages staring with 5 or 6 years old all the way to 13, 14 and older ages", Vani says. 
Just like many other coaches who have developed their soccer skills by playing futsal in their native countries, Vani is a big believer in futsal not only as a development tool, but as a sport as well.
He goes on to mention how US must build more futsal courts and make it easy for youth soccer players to have access to futsal courts everywhere like it is done in many other countries.
Being able to play unstructured and unsupervised small sided games like futsal will help build a player's confidence, creativity, and ability to get out of tight spot situations as well as improve their 1v1 skills.

Developing Elite Players Through Futsal of High Character and Standards on The Court, Field and Life is part of this unique program.

We do not seek to just develop soccer players with their technical and tactical skills that will help them reach the elite levels of their soccer game. We seek to also develop and guide their mental and behavioral habits that will help them in their pursue of a college career or beyond.
There are certain characteristics that elite players possess that help them excel not only at the top level of their sport but in life as well. Quality habits that help them shape an elite mentality and work ethic.
This is what the “Character of Champions” is all about.
Program director, Niko Alexopoulos, is a college level coach who knows what coaches are looking for from elite players. “At the college or pro level all players have high standards, but the elite players stand out because of their Character of Champions mentality” he has quoted saying.
Coach Farrell is a current semi pro soccer and futsal player who knows what elite player mentality is and coaches that methodology to the players she mentors. The fact that not only is she a coach but actively playing at a high level makes her extremely relatable to youth players as they can harvest from her playing experience and how she incorporates the Character of Champions mentality in her approach to her game and coaching style.

We are every excited to have Farrell Pomponio join our Elite Player Training Club as a lead trainer and the Director Of Coaching for the girls. Farrell brings an enormous amount of experience both as a coach but as an active current semi pro player both in soccer and futsal.

We strongly believe that all female players now will have a role model as a coach who is actively playing as well as coaching. They can have an opportunity not only to gain from high level training inspired from Farrell's current semi pro level playing but also be mentored by her on many different topics that are required by player who is looking to play in college or beyond that. 

Elite Player Training Club players, both boys and girls will have a new pathway of knowledge into higher level of playing.

Farrell Pomponio has been in love with the game of soccer ever since she was a little kid, but as she got older, she also fell in love with the game of Futsal. She played for the South Jersey Barons Academy team and was a 4-year Pinelands Regional High School varsity letter holder and starter. She has also played for New Jersey’s 1991 age group Olympic Development Team, as well as New Jersey’s Futsal Team where they won the state championship in 2007.

After multiple scholarship offers, Farrell decided to stay local and play college soccer, where she received a scholarship to play at Georgian Court University. Her freshman year she was a member of the tournament team, in 2011 she won the MVP award, she was selected for All-CACC first team, and received Honorable Mention in 2012. Farrell was a 3-year starter and captain and would have been a 4-year starter if she did not suffer a potential career ending and life altering injury.

She suffered a major injury to the spine which included periods of time where she was unable to walk. This led her to undergo two spine surgeries, which included reconstructive surgery, after the first surgery went horribly wrong leaving Farrell unable to get out of bed and unable to walk for days at a time. Doctors told Farrell there was no guarantee she would be able to return to the sport she loved so much, especially at a high level, and her focus should be on doing daily tasks and getting through a daily routine that she hadn’t been able to do in the condition she was in. With lots of rehab, had work, and determination, Farrell made it back to finish her 4th and final season of college soccer. She was not the player she was before or the player she wanted to be, but she made it back on the field, and that was a big victory.

Farrell was not going to settle for just making it back to finish her last college season, and then hang up the boots. After college, Farrell continued to rehab and worked relentlessly to make improvements in her physical abilities and went on to play semi professional soccer. She played 2 years in the WPSL before moving into the UWS where she has most recently been playing. Farrell has also played some professional futsal starting out in Virginia with VA United FC, and then went on to stay and play local and was a starter for her team as they won the US Regional Futsal Tournament Championship in 2018 with FC Copa and 2020 with Brazuca Futsal.

​When Farrell is not playing the sports she loves, she is working with youth players to help them unleash their potential. Farrell has been coaching and training players for over 10 years.