How To Teach Mental Strength In Youth Soccer
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Jenny Ruiz (@JenRuiz13) is a former Mexican-American soccer player that played professionally in the United States and on the Women’s National team in Mexico. She traveled to Athens, Greece in 2004 as a part of Team Mexico for the Olympic Games. Ruiz currently coaches youth soccer in the San Francisco Bay Area.
In Ruiz's early career, her coach constantly taught the importance of mental strength, which he called mental power. Throughout her entire competitive club soccer career, this coach taught his 'umbrella of mental power' to make it easy for his young athletes to understand that all aspects of success are related to mental power, even small tasks like carrying the water. Under this umbrella falls character, discipline, and leadership, all important aspects of mental strength that it takes to succeed in youth soccer and beyond in life.
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