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I thought the Brazilian 8 year old was outstanding, but take a look at this 6 year old from France. You will be AMAZED.

Please visit the Dwyane Demmin photo contest and vote for your favorite picture. Thank  You!

Jean Carlos Chera is now 14 and is currently playing with the Santos Futbol club in Brazil. He is one of the most promising youngsters in the world of youth soccer. Take a look at some of his goals from 2009.

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Four years ago, the world was introduce to an 9 year old Brazilian super star name Jean Carlos Chera. He became an instant hit when his video spread like wild fire over the Internet.

Shortly after, several of the top European teams such as Rel Madrid, AC Milan, Barcelona, Manchester United and Chelsea were knocking on his door, with the intent of signing him to their youth programs. They were unsuccessful at that point.

Whether you are an adult or you have a young child who wishes to develop better ball movement or dribbling skills. This video would make you wish you had his skills. Even 50% of his skills he exhibits would serve any select or recreational player well.

As you look at this video, over and over and over. These are some of the things I want you to watch for.

Dribbling- Dribbling the ball in soccer is running with the ball at your feet or dribbling past opponents and still maintaining control of the ball. Jean Carlos  dribbling strength lies in his ability to delay his touch long enough for his opponents to commit. By the  time his opponent swings at the ball, Jean Carlos soft touch is able to use the space to get by his opponents.

When he is dribbling the ball in tight spaces(with defenders around) the ball is staying close to his feet. He has excellent dribbling skills.

For all moves to beat an opponent off the dribble, you  must do three things:
1, Get the defender off balance by feinting.
2, Change of direction of the ball and away from the defender.
3, Change your speed.

Jean Carlos demonstrated all three skills. Once he realized that his opponent was off balance he would immediately change direction, after changing direction he accelerated to avoid the beaten opponent to get back at him.

Finally, a word about his shooting ability. One word to describe his shooting, SPECTACULAR! OK one more word, AMAZING!

What Jean Carlos did in this video, I was doing when I was four(smile). Just joking! It was when I was two.

Tomorrow post will be an update on Jean Carlos, 5 years later. So don’t miss it!

Some great goals this past weekend in major league soccer.

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I was browsing the Internet  and I came across this 8 year old girl.

This was posted by her dad: “This is my 8 year old daughter Renae Blevins juggling in our basement. She has been working hard to break the 1000 mark, her NEW record is 6114 (feet only!). Marta is her hero.”

Ultimate Battle Cristiane vs. Renae Blevins

Christiane is one of the top female players in the world. She is from Brazil and plays on the Brazil national team with Marta. Together they are unstoppable. She plays with the Chicago Red Stars in the Women’s Professional Soccer League.

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AS the Women’s Professional Soccer League continues to grow in popularity, one of the major signings in its inaugural year was Brazilian sensation Marta. Everyone can agree that the 21 year old Brazilian forward Marta is by far the best female soccer player in the world.

This past  season she led the league in goals, and to see her play is like watching something out of this world. Her amazing dribbling skills and her goal scoring abilities has helped earned her FIFA player of the year on two occasion. Take a look at some of her goals and dribbling skills.

Brazil versus United States in the 2007 FIFA Women’s World Cup. Marta was unstoppable. She destroyed the US defenders. Her second goal was amazing!

It has been over three months since the conclusion of  the Women’s Professional Soccer League in America. I was very surprised by the number of female soccer players and parents that were not aware that the league even existed.

A few days ago, I began asking some questions to several female soccer players. My questions were: Who won the women’s professional league? Name one of the players from the league, Name one of the teams in the league?

Some of their answers were: I don’t know. Is there a professional women’s league? Ummmmm!!!? After hearing those answers I realized that these players have missed out on watching some quality women’s soccer games.

As we continue to develop and improve on our skills, I think it’s important to watch ans learn from others who have played at a professional level. I remember growing up in Trinidad watching professional games on television. After watching those games I would go outside and work on some of the dribbling moves and tricks that I saw on T.V.

One of my favorite players to watch was Diego Maradona from Argentina, He was the best player during his generation. He was amazing! Because of him, I have learned the Maradona dribbling move.

Click here to read more about Women’s Professional Soccer

Take a look at some of the MLS  goals from over  the weekend.

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Mallory Coleman

Former Clinton high school standout and current Ole Miss soccer star, Mallory Coleman is having an outstanding season in her senior year.

The Ole Miss rebels are ranked 21st in the nation. Mallory has been instrumental in helping the  rebels achieved that position. She is a talented player with an excellent work ethic.

Although, I have never coached Mallory at high school or club level. I have worked with her several times on an individual basis. She is an excellent role model with a strong passion for the game.  Read my questions and answers with Mallory Coleman.

ddemmin: How was preseason training?
Mallory Coleman: Preseason is always very hard because we are spending so much time training and It just takes a toll on our bodies. It was also tough because we had seventeen new players came in this year and when you put everyone together it brought many new personalities to the team.  We trained three times a day for about a week then tapered in to getting ready prepared for our first game.

ddemmin: What was some of the training you did this past summer to get ready for your season?
Mallory Coleman: They expect us to come into preseason very fit and ready to step right into playing without fitness being a problem.  Not being able to play in full field games because of numbers I had to rely my training and running on my own to make sure I was ready. I trained fitness and agility every morning with two past teammates: Courtney Alexander and Rachel Given. We ran fitness tests and worked on touches and 1 v 1s to keep touches on the ball.

ddemmin: How is your season going so far?
Mallory Coleman: So far out season is going great! We are 9-3-1 and with some very important SEC games to go.  Our team is very young but we have a lot of talented players who are stepping up in big games.  Our team works very hard and we are playing well together.  If we continue to play with confidence and strive to get better everyday I feel like we could be very successful.

ddemmin: I have to ask this question, what’s the most you have ever juggle?(smile)
Mallory Coleman: This one is always tough for me!! I have to say that when I was 12 I set a major record of 115 (juggling is not my strongest area)

ddemmin: What advice would you give to young soccer players that want to follow in your footstep?
Mallory Coleman: I would tell young players to take full advantage of every opportunity they get to play and compete.  We were blessed with the ability to play soccer at some of the highest levels and we shouldn’t take that for granted. Also, I would tell young players to work hard everyday at practice and in games. It’s important to always keep a positive attitude in every situation because you’re not going to win every game but you can always learn from every situation. I would recommend learning as much as you can, be able to take criticism and let it make you stronger as a player. Lastly, would be to have fun soccer is fun and we are supposed to enjoy playing the game.

ddemmin: Do you have any funny stories to share or any funny incident that happen to you or your teammates?
Mallory Coleman: We have a tradition on our team to play a prank on one of the freshmen during preseason and when I was a freshman I was the target. During preseason we eat in our schools dining hall which always has ice cream you can get for dessert.  So when the joke was on me I had a teammate come up to me and tell me that another one of our teammates favorite parts of the ice cream was the bottom of the cone and they dared me to ask for a lick and bite off the bottom of the cone, thinking I was getting the person eating the ice cream. Being the daring freshman that I was I didn’t want to turn down the dare. Little did I know the joke was on me and they filled the bottom of the cone with mayonnaise and mustard and everyone laughed because I got tricked. Ever since then I have played the same prank on the incoming freshmen and the ritual will continue.

ddemmin: Who is your favorite male and female professional soccer player?
Mallory Coleman:Female- Kristine Lily, Male-Lionel Messi

ddemmin: Besides Ole Miss, if you could have played at any other school which one would you choose and why?
Mallory Coleman: I don’t think I would choose another school because I have loved every minute of my time here and would not change it for the world. The people I have met and experiences we have gone through have made me a better person and a stronger player.

To read more about Mallory and her teammates click here: http://www.olemisssports.com/ViewArticle.dbml?SPSID=12887&SPID=741&DB_LANG=C&DB_OEM_ID=2600&ATCLID=204812309