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Colby Cunha: U-12 Assistant Coach, Red Bulls Academy
Review of Fall Season:
The U-12s enjoyed a fall season of competitive games and extensive development opportunities during training that culminated in playing at the El Arbolito Cup in Austin in December. The competition, which was hosted by Austin FC, involved six (6) other MLS Academies from across the country.
At this age group, we want to ensure large player pool roster, so that players have the unique opportunity to play in diverse training environments with different players. A handful of our top prospects have had valuable experience training and playing games with the U-13’s. We feel this player movement accelerates development and pushes our players out of their comfort zone. In the fall season, leading up to the El Arbolito Cup, competition for this group included top local and regional opponents.
Aims & Objectives:
The focus is always on development with the U-12 age group. During the winter months, we have focused even greater on individual development areas that we feel each player needs to home in on. Another main area that we also focus on during the winter season is small group attacking and defending principles within overload and underload situations. And as we move towards the upcoming spring, we will then look for more opportunities to expose our players to 11 versus 11 formats.
