Is One Extra Training Session Each Week Enough?

your effort determins your progress- kylie casey

One of the questions we get asked more than almost any other is:

"If my child trains once a week with their team and once a week with ACFA, will they improve?"

The short answer is yes... but only to a point.

Attending an academy session each week will absolutely help. Your child will receive quality coaching, more touches on the ball, individual feedback, and a chance to develop skills that often don't get enough attention during team training.

But improvement doesn't happen because of one session.

It happens because of consistency.

Today's young footballers are training more than ever before. Around Australia and the world, players who progress are the ones who spend time with the ball outside of organised training.

That doesn't mean they need to train for hours every day.

In fact, 10–20 minutes of purposeful practice most days can make a huge difference.

Grab a ball and head into the backyard.

Find a wall and pass against it.

Practice juggling.

Work on ball mastery.

Dribble with both feet.

Challenge yourself to improve your first touch.

These simple habits build confidence and technical ability far faster than one extra session each week.

One mistake we often see is young players spending hours trying to master flashy tricks.

Rainbow flicks look great on social media.

But they're a trick—not a foundation.

If you can't consistently control the ball, receive under pressure, turn, dribble, and pass accurately, you'll rarely find yourself in a position to use a rainbow flick in a game.

The best players in the world mastered the basics first.

Their first touch.

Their passing.

Their ball control.

Their balance.

Their awareness.

Only then did they add creativity.

Think of football like building a house.

The fundamentals are your foundation.

Without a strong foundation, everything you build on top becomes unstable.

So before learning the spectacular skills, ask yourself:

Can I juggle 100 times?

Can I control the ball with both feet?

Can I pass accurately against a wall over and over?

Can I dribble comfortably using every surface of my foot?

Master those first.

Then start adding the layers.

At ACFA we believe improvement isn't about doing more for the sake of it.

It's about doing the right things consistently.

One academy session each week is a fantastic start.

Combine that with team training and just 10–20 minutes of quality practice on your own most days, and you'll be amazed at how quickly your game develops.

Remember...

Great players aren't built in one session.

They're built through thousands of quality touches, repeated consistently over time.