Top 8 Ways to Get Your Kid Into a Football Club

If your child has expressed an interest in playing competitive football, then you may be considering getting them into a football club. Competitive junior football can be a lot of fun and has a lot of benefits such as improving in confidence, teamwork, and of course, football skills.

Before having a look at your local football clubs, there are a few things that can help your kid prepare for the new and competitive environment. The following article will detail some useful suggestions to get your child ready and up to scratch.

Start Playing

It’s as simple as that. Our first suggestion is to just grab a football and start playing. Whether it’s alone or with others, kicking a ball around and becoming familiar with it is a great place to start.

Joining a football club will be a lot easier if your child isn’t a total novice to the sport. Having some prior experience will make it a more seamless transition for them and will make the whole experience a lot less daunting.

child playing football

Learn the Basics

The next step is to learn the fundamentals of football. These are very simple things like passing, running with the ball, dribbling, tackling, and shooting. By learning these basics your child will be better prepared to join a football club.

Don’t worry about tactics or even positions at this stage. It’s important to be able to do all the basics first. Even if your kid wants to play as a striker, make sure they at least know how to tackle. After all, it’s becoming more and more important for all players in the modern game.

Solo Drills

Having learnt the basics, the next step is to practice and refine these skills. There are hundreds of different solo drills to develop many different skills. However, you don’t need to get too complex with these for them to be beneficial.

Simply dribbling around some cones, performing some wall passes, and shooting at a target will produce notable results before long, especially for new beginners.

solo drills

Invest in Equipment

If you want to take this to the next level, you can always invest in some training equipment to help your child improve further. There is a lot of variety out there and some pieces that will really improve certain drills.

Pop-up goals, for example, can be a great way to boost engagement and make football for kids a lot more fun. In addition, these pieces of training equipment provide your kid with a taste of the things they’re likely to encounter at a football club.

Improve Fitness

This isn’t essential ahead of joining a football club but it certainly won’t hurt. Improving stamina will have the benefit of being able to keep performance levels high throughout long training sessions and games.

A strong level of fitness will help your child get noticed and will also improve their overall experience as they won’t be out of breath so quickly.

Play with Others

If possible, getting used to playing with others is a good idea. Lots of things can be done on your own but there are certain aspects of football that simply require someone else. You’ll be able to improve passing, movement, tackling, and perhaps most crucially, teamwork when playing with someone else.

Naturally, this will be useful when joining a club as there will be a large focus on team-based activities, not least match situations.

children playing football with others

Practice

Practice makes perfect. It’s a cliché but it’s true. Get your child to make the most of their time playing football before joining a club by refining their skills and practising all the other things mentioned.

There’s no need to always mix things up, repeating the same exercises will lead to further development and will help your kid become a better player ahead of joining a club.

Football Camps

The perfect step before joining a football club is a football camp. Soccer schools/football camps help kids refine skills in a similar atmosphere to a football club for kids by providing competition and qualified coaching.

Before looking at football clubs in London, consider enrolling your child in a football camp like Samba Soccer Schools. We provide a fun and engaging atmosphere where kids can learn football the Brazilian way. For more information, click here.

FAQs About Getting Your Kid Into a Football Club

How do I find football clubs for kids?

There are lots of great resources online to help you identify local football clubs for kids. You can also try asking a local football camp to see if they have any recommendations.

Is there football for kids near me?

No matter where you live in the UK, there are likely to be kids football clubs near you. Have a look online to find the closest and be sure to get in touch.