France League

I remember watching that heartbreaking moment when Kai Sotto went down during practice last season. The arena went quiet, and you could almost feel the collective gasp from everyone watching. As someone who's been around youth soccer for over a decade, I've seen too many promising young athletes like Kai sidelined by preventable injuries. His recent statement about needing to focus on his recovery really hit home for me - it's a reminder that sometimes being "selfish" about your health is actually the smartest thing you can do for your career.

The truth is, most ankle and knee injuries in teenage soccer players aren't just bad luck - they're often the result of muscle imbalances and poor movement patterns that we can actually fix with the right exercises. I've worked with dozens of 14-year-old players over the years, and I've noticed they often skip foundational strength work because they think it's boring or unnecessary. They'd rather spend all their time practicing fancy footwork or shooting techniques, not realizing that without strong foundations, they're basically building a mansion on sand.

Let me tell you about Sarah, a 14-year-old midfielder I coached last year. She had incredible ball control and vision, but she kept experiencing minor ankle sprains that would keep her out for a week or two at a time. Her parents were getting frustrated, thinking she was just accident-prone. Then we started incorporating simple balance exercises into her routine - just 10 minutes a day, three times a week. We began with single-leg stands while brushing her teeth (yes, really!), then progressed to standing on a cushion while tossing a ball against the wall. Within six weeks, not only had her ankle stability improved dramatically, but she also found her overall game had elevated because she could change direction more efficiently.

The knee is another common trouble spot, and here's where I get really passionate about proper form. I can't tell you how many times I've seen young players do squats with terrible technique that's actually doing more harm than good. For soccer players specifically, I prefer single-leg variations because they mimic the unilateral demands of the sport much better. My favorite is the rear-foot elevated split squat - it sounds fancy, but it's basically just placing your back foot on a bench or chair and lowering down until your front thigh is parallel to the ground. Start with just body weight, then maybe add some light dumbbells once the movement feels natural. I typically recommend 3 sets of 8-12 reps per leg, twice a week. The research isn't perfectly clear on exact numbers, but from my experience working with about 200 teenage athletes over the years, this frequency seems to hit the sweet spot between building strength and allowing for recovery.

Plyometric exercises are where I see the biggest transformation in injury prevention, though I'll admit I was skeptical at first. When I started coaching, I thought jumping exercises were too advanced for young athletes, but the data changed my mind. Studies show that proper plyometric training can reduce ACL injury risk by up to 50% in female athletes (though the exact percentage might vary by study). For 14-year-olds, I like to start simple with two-footed jumps forward and backward over a line, then progress to lateral hops. The key isn't height or distance - it's landing softly with bent knees and control. I always tell my athletes to imagine they're cats, not elephants, when they land.

What most young players don't realize is that the muscles on the back of their body are just as important as the flashy quadriceps in front. I'm a huge believer in Nordic hamstring curls - they look deceptively simple but provide incredible protection for the knees. The exercise requires a partner to hold your ankles while you kneel on a mat and slowly lower your torso toward the ground, resisting gravity with your hamstrings. When I first introduce this to my 14-year-old athletes, they can usually only manage 3-5 reps, but within a couple of months, they're often hitting 8-10 with much better control.

The reality is, injury prevention isn't sexy. It doesn't get the cheers that a game-winning goal does, and it certainly doesn't show up in highlight reels. But watching Kai Sotto's journey has reinforced what I've always believed - that the most impressive athletes aren't necessarily the most talented, but the ones who understand that longevity requires this kind of dedicated, sometimes "selfish" focus on their body's needs. The exercises I've mentioned aren't complicated, but they require consistency. I'd rather see a young athlete do three simple exercises regularly than an elaborate routine they only touch when they're already injured.

Looking back at my own playing days, I wish someone had taught me these principles when I was 14. I probably would have avoided that season-ending ACL tear that still bothers me sometimes when it rains. That's why I'm so passionate about sharing this knowledge now - because every young soccer player deserves the chance to play the game they love without constantly looking over their shoulder wondering when the next injury might strike. They deserve to build careers that last, not just flashes of brilliance cut short by preventable physical breakdowns. And if that means being a little "selfish" about their training routine now, then so be it - their future selves will thank them for it.