Page 2 - Football

2nd January 2017.  The beginning of a brand new year is here, and you know what that means ? everyone is starting to think about their resolutions into action. How often are they just some things you say half-heartedly while enjoying the New Year's Eve festivities, though? We've all either heard the stories or directly experienced what it's like to make fitness-based resolutions only to lose interest in them after just a few months, weeks or even days. How can you break out of this pattern rather than succumbing to it for yet another year? It takes thoughtful planning and real dedication, but it's doable. Making a choice to improve your fitness is seldom an overnight "Eureka!" moment. So if you know you want to make some exercise resolutions this year, now is the best time to start figuring out your game plan. Simply "winging it" and trying to play your physical progress by ear will result in the same failed resolutions with which you're already well familiar. That's why we're

8th December 2016.Any parent knows that children are full of light, love, laughter, and a whole lot of one other thing, too: energy. When you see your daughter running around, playing outdoors and having a great time, it's natural to think about other possible outlets for her. While young boys frequently find encouragement to go into athletics, girls don't often receive the same treatment. Why not? There are a whole bunch of benefits to getting involved in sports, and not just as a way to vent extra energy. If your daughter loves to run, perhaps you've introduced her to football. Would it be a good idea to consider encouraging her to join a team? Yes! As long as you focus on the important word there: encourage. Joining any sports activity should always ultimately be up to your child ? let them choose to participate in the activities they enjoy. Perhaps your daughter already expresses interest in trying to play football; maybe she picked it up from going to see a match with her parents!

Take a look around the world, and without a doubt, what you will see is that football is the most popular sport across the globe. From the legions of excited, shouting, and loyal fans who crowd the stands at Arsenal games to the World Cup teams filled with national pride, association football's popularity extends to all levels. Billions of people around the world not only love watching the sport, but they love playing it, too. While the quadrennial World Cup is often considered to be the tournament which crowns the world champion in the sport, there are other major competitions with just as much at stake ? like the Olympics, for example. Olympic football has a storied and rocky history, one characterized by highly contentious matches and the ever-present, looming shadow that politics often casts onto the Olympics. At the same time, though,

Being a coach for any sport can be fun and rewarding, you can assemble (or sometimes inherit!) a team, and with that team grow, face adversity, and experience success as their leader. You can have an incredible impact on the lives of your athletes, but it is challenging work. When you coach football in a youth league, the level of difficulty becomes even higher. You must serve as a positive role model for the kids, motivate them to succeed, and make the game and your practice sessions fun so as not to sour any potential young athletes to the prospect of continuing sport as they grow older. That last part is tricky, as you have to balance keeping your players focused and disciplined while making the sport engaging and allowing them to have fun. You also have to take into consideration the fact that for most kids, especially nowadays, winning can come secondary to having

Whether you are a young footballer with dreams of someday signing with a major club, or just someone who wants to get into terrific shape, you might wonder how you can replicate the training programs of the pros. How can these athletes cover 10 to 15 kilometers per game and then be back ready to practice the next day? Read on to learn a bit about how you can train like a professional soccer star on your own time.

1. Plan a week-long regime
2. Focus on the legs
3. Mix up your training
4. Take the recovery process seriously
5. Don't forget diet and sleep

Plan a week-long regime

In a typical one-game week, football clubs will observe a basic weeklong regime cycle to make sure players are in their best shape when the weekend hits. You might not be able to replicate every bit of this training routine. For instance, if you don't have buddies who are willing to run soccer drills with you every day, you