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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.

Practice often- I would strongly recommend that you practice for at least 30 minutes per day. You also need to practice at least four to five times  per week . If you can practice every day, that would be great. Practicing once or twice a week or once a month will not assist in you becoming a good juggler.  Juggling must be done consistently.

I am not making this up- Back home in the jungle, I mean Trinidad,  I used to practice juggling and other soccer tricks with the ball every single day. Before school, during lunch in school and after school. Although I am proficient at juggling now I still practice a few times a week.

At age 10 I was already juggling over 2000 with my feet. I felt that juggling with my feet was too easy so I started practicing with my head. Now, I feel like juggling with my head is easier than juggling with my feet. After a few weeks of serious practice you will notice that your juggling skills have improved. Some players will improve faster than others. The main things is don’t give up. Keep working hard. Set yourself a goal and attack it with full force.

Keep your focus on the ball- You must stay focused and concentrate on the task of juggling. Try not to get distracted while juggling.

Challenge yourself- Try to break your record every time you juggle. I always wanted to break my previous record and learn cool tricks which were one of my motivations to keep juggling. Each time you practice your juggling keep a count and always try to beat your old record. Never be satisfied if you juggle 25 or 55 times. Encourage yourself to do your best.

Relax- One of the most important things about juggling is to keep your body relaxed. Try not to be too stiff. The more you relax the better you will be  able to juggle.

REMEMBER-  You will struggle a bunch of times before you improve. So don’t give up.

First Thing: Eliminate the word I CAN’T from your vocabulary. It is too negative.  You are already setting yourself up for failure when you say I can’t juggle.

Patience- It is important to have patience while practicing on your juggling skills. You can’t expect to become good at juggling in just one or two tries or a few weeks. Learning to juggle is something that takes time and effort.  You will mess up a lot, you will get frustrated, and you will want to give up. I speak from experience but I never gave up.

I remember struggling to get to 100 juggles. For days and weeks I would juggle in the 50’s and 60’s and to have the ball drop. But I would pick it up and continue to struggle. After struggling for days and weeks, eventually I was juggling over 300. By the way, that was when I was seven years old(smile).

Perhaps the most important thing to remember concerning juggling is: MESSING UP is a sign of improvement. You will mess up a bunch of times before you improve your juggling so don’t ever think about giving up. Giving up should not be an option.

Juggling in my frontyard

Since I am going to be attempting one of the most tiring, difficult juggling task ever tried by a human being, it seems only fitting to start talking about juggling. I know you are wondering what juggling task I am talking about. In two weeks I will let you know.

All of the great players can juggle, Ronaldo, Ronaldinho, David Beckham, Lionel Messi, Zinedine Zidane, Diego Maradona, Mia Hamm, Marta(The best female player in the world) Dwyane Demmin(from the jungle) and the greatest player of all times, Pele.

Improving your ability to juggle does not guarantee you success on the field, but it will help you improve your first touch on the ball, your coordination, ball control, your concentration and confidence when dribbling.

As a parent or as a coach, how many times have you heard someone say:”I am not good at juggling, I just can’t juggle, I am terrible at it. I don’t know how to juggle.” I have heard it over a hundred times. While all of this may be true, it can be fixed.

As a coach and a player, I strongly believe that each player can improve their juggling skills. One of the problems that I have noticed with players is that they are not willing to put in the time and effort to practice it on their own. Consistent practice is essential to respectful juggling.

As a kid growing up in Trinidad, I remember the countless hours I spent each day working on different soccer skills in my front and backyards.  I spent a lot of time on my own with the ball. I always enjoyed watching and appreciating someone with great soccer juggling skills and tricks. For me, juggling was fun and challenging. Learning new juggling tricks, or beating my previous record was a great accomplishment. All you need is your front yard or back yard. Beating your old juggling record can keep you entertained and can give you bragging rights over your friends. So get started!

I created this soccer blog for several reasons: 1. I am training for a juggling event that I will have next year, and several players and parents wanted to know how and what type of crazy training I will be doing to get ready for it.  Mark this date on your calendar (May 1st 2010). More information to follow soon. You do not want to miss this event. Trust me; it’s going to be AMAZING.

2. To give advice, to motivate young soccer players to work hard and to encourage them to give their best at all times. 3. To keep players and parents informed about soccer related events happening around the country and around the world. 4. To share some secrets that helped me achieve many of my goals. 5. To offer different skills competitions and contest where players can win prizes(smile). So keep coming back and invite your friends because you may win a prize.