In my virtual SMARTER team, we don’t count goals that are not followed by an awesome celebration! What do you do when you score? Do you point your fingers to the sky like Messi? Do you have a celebration choreography with your team? Show me a goal followed by your most awesome celebration to be the best of the week! Check the video for some ideas! Send your video through our we transfer account and win a gift card for Rush Soccer’s fan store. 

I’m tired coach! Let us wear our Christmas pants and watch a movie! Let’s watch this one together boys and girls.  ADVICE FOR THE WEEK: Always take care of your cleats, no matter how ugly looking or old they might be. They could be magical!

Is there anything more awesome than seeing a player dribble past 3,4,5 defenders?! Well, these players did it so many times! My favorite was Diego Maradona. Who’s yours?!

Ok, I did say that Steve Hyuga was my favorite cartoon character because he could shoot so powerfully he would break the net of the goal, but this keeper Richard Tex Tex was so cool too! He was also black belt in karate so he could make himself bounce in the crossbar to make saves! How awesome is that?! Can you do his move? I want to see it!  Careful, we don’t want to break anything at the house!

Rush Soccer has 11 core values. These core values are more than great words, are behaviors that we commit to and that we expect others to show as well. These are Respect, Unity, Safety, Humility, Tenacity, Empathy, Advice, Leadership, Enjoyment, Accountability, and my favorite Passion! Learn about Passion with this video and find them all in this word puzzle!

When I was your age, I had two dreams. One was to be a professional soccer player, the other was to be a ninja! Look at these players combining both. Do you have a ninja soccer move too? We want to see it! Send your video through our we transfer account and win a gift card for Rush Soccer’s fan store. 

At the highest level of competition, all of the players are strong mentally, physically, and technically. The difference between good players and top players relies on the number of right decisions they make. As Johan Cruyff said: “You play football with your head, and your legs are there to help you” This week we are going to focus our learning on attacking principles based on the memorable 2010 Barcelona 5 – 0 Real Madrid. Watch the first 15 minutes of this video below and as you do so fill the quiz, let’s test your Attacking Soccer IQ!

The game of soccer is normally analyzed in four moments or phases: attacking (when in possession of the ball), defending (when out of possession), and transitioning from attack to defense or defense to attack (when we lose the ball, or when we win the ball back). Uruguay’s legendary head coach Oscar W. Tabarez said once: “Soccer is a game of four moments, our job as coaches is to make the team flow through them”.  This week we are going to focus our learning on transitioning from attack to defense, that is the moment in which our team loses the ball. To do so, we’ll watch Bayern Munich 3 – 1 Real Madrid at the 2019 International Champions Cup. Let’s see how much you know about it. Don’t forget to fill the quiz as you do so!

Defending can be an art, and is beautiful to watch teams that defend right, showing Tenacity, Passion, and Unity, among some of our core values.  This week we are going to focus our learning on defending, analyzing Atlético de Madrid, possibly the best team in the world at it. To do so, we’ll watch Atl Madrid 0 – 0 Barcelona for the 2014 Spanish League. Let’s see how much you know about defending champ! Don’t forget to fill the quiz!

Well done everybody for we have covered three out of the four phases of the game already (attacking, transitioning from attack to defense, and defending). Let’s focus on the last one this week: Transitioning from defense to attack. These transitional moments are super important and many times where soccer games are won and lost! To cover this topic we are going to be analyzing Leicester City 3-1 Everton from the 2015/16 Season in which the Fearless Foxes won the Premier League. Let’s see how much you learn about it champ! Don’t forget to fill the quiz!

This week we are shifting gears and starting to look at each positional group tactically.  First up is The Role of the Goalkeeper! It is important that everyone has a basic understanding of the Goalkeepers job and more importantly how it fits and works together with the backline and the entire team.  To cover this topic we will look at a few short videos from Ederson and De Gea!  Let’s see how much you know about the position as you fill in the quiz!

Defending is an art and is a science. We need goals to win the game but we also need to defend well and not concede them. A heroic tackle or clearance can be as enjoyable as scoring a great goal. This week will be all about learning to play as a defender, and we’ll do it watching 2018’s World Cup Final France 4-2 Croatia. Are you ready? Fill the quiz!

The midfielder is the player that wears many hats on the field. They are the creative force, they are the metronome to keep the game tempo ticking, they are a shield to protect the defensive line, chipping in with goals as well as creating the width and service for the front players. This week will be all about learning to play as a midfield either in the defensive phase or the attacking phase, and we’ll do it watching 15 minutes of this game between USA WMNT and Portugal WNT from the 2019 Victory Tour.  You will recognize Rush Soccer’s own Lindsay Horan playing as a midfielder.

As the game developed over the years, the role of the striker has changed, and there are now different types of forwards with various styles and roles, depending on their skills and their team’s game model.  This week we are going to cover some of the most common roles for forwards. Let’s see how much you know about these positions. Get ready to score some goals!

So, we know that the beautiful game was invented in England, but what about ‘Soccer’? We don’t mean the sport itself, but the word. Why do we call it Soccer while most of the world calls it Football?

To understand how we got to today’s game, it is necessary to review the evolution of soccer and its tactics over time. The different styles and strategies carry with them the mark of the past, with the innovations and renovations that occurred during the first decades of the sport.

Soccer has the power to change people’s lives. This week you will learn about ‘The Soul Embrace’, an inspirational story that took place during the 1978 World Cup Final between Argentina and Netherlands. Watch the video, read the article (CLICK HERE) and solve this quiz!