While living in his native England and working as the Head Football (Soccer) Coach and a Soccer Coaching Tutor at The Manchester College, Illinois Skill Schools Director Kyle Jones focused his studies on soccer skill development and on the various skill development methods used across the globe in countries such as Brazil, Spain, Holland and England.
With over twenty years of skill-specific coaching experience, Jones’ experience enabled him to collaborate with some of the finest English Premier League Academy Coaches. After years of collaboration on curriculum and program development, Illinois Skill Schools began.
Illinois Skill Schools is widely regarded as the "Most effective soccer skills training" in Illinois and beyond. Now an official partner of Nike Soccer Camps, Illinois Skill Schools now works with over 1,000 players each calendar year and remains committed to making each player more skillful and confident than when they entered the camp or program.
Numbers Approach Methodology
Illinois Skill Schools' "Numbers Approach" brings the best skill development methods from all over the world to Illinois with particular influence from Brazil, Holland, England and Spain.
The methodology starts with one player: the individual. Each player is guided toward complete mastery of the ball, encouraged to make decisions of their own, and equipped with over 60 individual skills to help win the individual competitions that take place during every game. Players are then added to the practice progressively (2 players, 3 players and 4 players) to recreate the small numbers situations that take place during every game.
Players are encouraged to isolate players through creative skills, movement or combinations in order to create "numbers up" situations within each game or exercise. The numbers approach maximizes the number of touches, decisions, and combinations for each player during each practice.
SKILL BAND CHALLENGE
"Practice never ends." Players are encouraged to extend the practice to home by practicing their skills independently. The 60+ skills we coach are broken down into groups based on the level of difficulty and type of skill. Based on the martial-arts belt system, players are rewarded at our camp programs when they master a group of skills with a different colored skill band. This helps develop freedom and focus for young players. Check out the first two skill bands, the white and yellow skill bands, below: