Well the Football Holiday is over. I am not talking about the start of the Premier League next Friday, nor about the start of the Ligue 1 or the Eredivisie! But about the start of the Football season of both my sons!

Last training was end of May, last football tournament was in the beginning of June, so after a break of 2 months, the circus starts all over again today!

This week both the sons have a football camp! For the oldest one, this is 5 days in a row football from 9.30 until 16.00. The youngest one also has halve days, so from 9.30 until 12.10, expect in Friday because the last day of the week, he is also allowed to be there the complete day! (also the regular training regime will start from Wednesday, more about this later in the post!)

The last day of the training camp there is also the penalty cup, where 3 players per age do play the final! Lars did reach the final already 3 times, but 3 times he did end up as runner-up, which is just great but not for him ... Nyls (the youngest) did only made it to the final one, but he took the cup! Curious if they will make it to the final or not!

On Wednesday the regular training season starts, and it will be a heavy one! Last year this resulted in 6 out of 7 days football related activities but this year we will have (depending on the games) 2 or 3 days off :)

The oldest does train 3 times a week (1,5 hours), on Monday, Wednesday and Friday and plays his home games on Saturday! The youngest has his training sessions on Monday on Wednesday (1h, 15 m) but also plays his home games at Saturday :( So choices have to be made.

Nyls



Nyls is my youngest son, 6 years old.

Experience: He is starting his third football/soccer season!
Position: All rounder
Strong points: Dribbling
Weak points: Speed

The start of the season is always strange and for sure this year. Both boys will get a new coach and a new team. The youngest one plays under 7 and plays his games 3 against 3. The football club decided to mingle up the teams so lots of new potential friends and enemies :). For us it is always hard to predict what type of parent will be there. We all know the different type of parents ranging from I don't care to my son is the next Messi!

The 3 against 3 is a new format this season. A team consists of 6 to 8 players and they do play 2 times 4 games of 10 minutes!

Lars (Known from Lars Supertips)



Lars is my oldest son, he will become 10 on the 25th of August.

Experience: He will be starting his 7th season. Was a little bit surprised about this number, and re-calculated but yes this is actually his 7th season!!
Position: Central midfielder / Winger
Strong points: insight and passing (he really can read running line of his teammates and can give a pass with his right and left foot)
Weak points: speed (Yes like the youngest he isn't the fastest of the bunch)


The oldest son did get a promotion and will play now at interstate level. Meaning that some teams will not be for our state! The max ride we are facing will be a little bit over an hour! I am proud on his promotion but I don't know what to expect. He has enough skills for the league but does miss a little bit of attitude!

The team he will be in, will be a mix of newcomers to the club of some team mates of last season (to bad for him, 2 of his best friends didn't make the promotion)! For sure in this team it will be interesting to see how the coach will be and again what kind of parents are joining us!

Because it is the highest team in his age at the club, lot's of pressure will be there! From the club, from the coach and of course from the parents! I hope I won't be putting pressure on him too much!

Last season he was the caption of his team and of course he does expect the band around his arms again this season! Also curious on what position he will be playing this year! Last year he was did play as play-maker until half the season and than he was switched to central defender! But a new coach has another vision!

He will have a very well filled agenda this month. With 3 training session per week and at least one friendly game or tournament per weekend!

And if he doesn't make it as football player he still can become a movie star :)

My opinion!

To be honest I am not looking forward to this season! It takes away a lot of time, but this is done with a smile for my sons! I am just (already) fed up with the political games which are played (who has to play in which team), the discussions between parents, the ongoing discussions with the coach (not from me, about the playtime of their kids). Also this means that no sleeping out can be done anymore on Saturdays :(!

And just like the end of last year, if I can see the game from the canteen, I will stay in the canteen (not for the beer) but this will make sure that I won't pressure him to much!

I will consider for both the season a success, if they enjoy themselves. Honestly, that's all that matter.

Lars will have a though season ahead of him selves. In Belgium there are several levels, in order of importance:
- Local (against other teams in the area or town)
- State (against other teams in the state, luckily Belgium isn't that big)
- Interstate (against teams from the own state and states neighboring ours)
- Elite (against the top teams of Belgium)

He is moving from Local level to interstate, which is quite a big jump. The opponents will be so much better and for sure he will face selection teams.

Nyls will need to get used to the new format. Passing and running will become more important, but he will also get more space to try his tricks. The first part of the season will be adjusting, the second part will be the preparation for next season where they will play 5 a side!

I am considering to write down a bi-weekly post about their season, if people are interested in how future Red Devils are formed. So if there is any interest, let me know! Otherwise I will just stick to my betting models and bets.

Cheers,
Peter