Wisconsin Soccer Central

U.S. Soccer announced its new coaching curriculum this week, and the focus is training – especially for young players.

"Emphasizing proper coaching and training for players age 5-12 is critical for our ability to produce elite players and raise the level of play in this country overall," said Youth Technical Director Claudio Reyna, the former U.S. national team captain.

"We have created this curriculum to serve as a blueprint for the thousands of coaches across the country working with these young players at such an important time in their development."

Reyna, who was named to his position a year ago, and the rest of the U.S. Soccer technical staff at the U.S. Soccer + SPARQ Player Development Summit at Nike International Headquarters in Beaverton, Ore.

The goal of the new curriculum is to help create more organized, age-appropriate training sessions, develop coaching practices and create an environment that is fun for players ages 5-12 – which represents the largest group of players in the country.

Former U.S. forward Brian McBride, who like Reyna played professionally in both Europe and Major League Soccer, echoed the importance of functional training during a talk at the summit entitled "The Value of Training" and led an on-field session for coaches.

Another demonstration was done by respected fitness coach Paco de Miguel, who has worked closely with former Valencia, Liverpool and Inter Milan manager Rafa Benitez.

The full curriculum can be downloaded in four parts or as one large file on the U.S. Soccer Coaching Education page. U.S Soccer also released several videos centered around the curriculum, including Reyna's hour-long presentation from the summit.