Book Private Soccer Lessons with Coach santiago

I am a Colombian American that started playing soccer in Colombia since I was three years olds, After moving to America I joined the Philadelphia Union academy where I had the privilege to be coached and mentored by some of the best coaches around such as, Iain Munro former Scotland international, also Jim Curtin the current head coach of the Philadelphia Union, and Brendan Burke the current head coach of Hartford Athletic. After this I joined FC Delco Academy where I was blessed to be coached by great coaches as well, such as the current director of the New York Red Bulls Academy. All these different interactions with great soccer minds and my love for the game allowed me to really learn and be able to understand why things happened in the game, whether that was technically, tactically, or physically speaking. I also spent some time in Colombia and Spain playing which allowed me to see the game in different way and continue to develop my understanding for the game, specially from a more professional point of view. I began doing individual sessions for myself and doing private sessions with my teammates at the time. This really transcended and developed when I finished playing, and I worked at a local soccer summer camp where players began to ask me to train them privately because they saw the passion and love which I coached with. Some of my friends that continued playing professionally would also train with me when they were free during the holidays. Not only training but I also began to analyze and advise players especially those playing at a higher level, based on their game film. This way we would watch and then try to correct some of the things from the film in a private session.

I usually work with both girls and guys starting from 13 years old and older. My primary focus are middle schoolers, high schoolers, college players, and professional players. When working with all these groups of players I can help those that are motivated to improve while at the same time giving them tools and understanding of the game, so they continue to grow on their own. I am currently an assistant at Cumberland University Men's Soccer, where we had a great success in winning our conference last year and making it to the national tournament.

When doing a private session, I would first need to know if there is something in specific the customer would like to work on, if not we will work in all three aspects of the game such as the tactical, technical, and physical aspect all from a perspective of the position the athlete plays at.

- The first phase of the training is based on short and sharp technical footwork, to work on our technical and physical aspect of the game.

-After we will proceed to the longer distance technical part of the session. In which the player works on the technical part while also focusing in the tactical part of the game, in a range and distance that is more game realistic.

-The player will go through a variety of drills to focus on the things they need to work on, with emphasizes on their specific position, all these drills are to be done at game speed to ensure improvement in the technical, tactical, and physical aspect of the game.

Iain Munro

Parents and athletes should know I’m committed to their growth, focused on building both skills and confidence, and driven to help each player reach their full potential with dedication, clear communication, and a supportive coaching approach.