Meet Shea Salinas

Shea Salinas is a former Major League Soccer (MLS) player who only recently retired at the end of 2022 after a 15-year career which included 13 seasons for the San Jose Earthquakes, one season for each of the Vancouver Whitecaps FC and the Philadelphia Union. Among all players in MLS history, Salinas ranks 10th in games played (374) and top-100 in MLS history both in assists (53; 43rd) and minutes played (20,623; 83rd). He is one of just six players in MLS history with 370+ appearances and 50+ assists. He is also one of only 22 players (18 non-goalkeepers) to play at least 15 seasons in MLS. Today, Salinas serves as the San Jose Earthquakes’ Club Ambassador and Head of Youth Soccer Partnerships.

SHEA SALINAS SOCCER

Vision - To grow a young athlete’s soccer qualities to help them reach their maximum potential while also using the sport to grow the young child. Not every child will become a pro player, but the game can help teach all of them valuable life skills that will help them in all aspects of life.

Mission - We coach and mentor young athletes to develop their personal character, technical skills, tactical awareness, physical abilities, and mental strength.

5 Areas to Develop in the Young Athlete

  • Youth sports are a great place for a child to develop many life skills. We will be intentional about speaking into the importance of specific

    character traits that soccer can develop. We help young athletes think about how impactful their own integrity, work ethic, compassion, perseverance, teamwork, sacrifice, etc. can be on and off the field.

  • Young athletes can see tremendous growth in ball skills over a short period of time when they know what to practice and how to practice it. We teach young soccer players how to take a complex skill and break it down to its most basic movements, master those, and then build it back up to master the entire technique. By doing this we hope to motivate young athletes to set goals and be intrinsically motivated to improve their abilities through practice.

  • So much of soccer is about knowing where to be, when to get there, and how to get there. Some of these tactical ideas vary from coach to coach or club to club, but there are many foundational principles that need to be learned and mastered at a very young age (pressure/cover, through balls, body shape, double movements, numerical advantages, committing a defender, etc.). Our philosophy is to incorporate many of these principles into our technical and physical sessions. By simplifying the tactical concept and teaching it in many different contexts, the young player will

  • For the individual player most of the soccer game is played without the ball. A players’ physical attributes are a huge factor in how effective they can be on the soccer field. We work on developing the young athlete’s coordination, balance, change of direction, acceleration ability, speed, flexibility, and strength.

  • The best players will not make it very far if they are unable to mentally cope with the circumstances most young athletes face. From simple and daily situations like making a mistake to more complex issues like not playing or costing your team a game, being able to handle these pressures can be taught and improved. Through our own experiences we will talk through what it means to have a positive mental state and how to apply it to difficult situations.