Is FIFA 11+ safe for U10?
Quick answer to the question we get most often: the standard FIFA 11+ is designed for players 14 and up. For a U10, the right warm-up is FIFA 11+ Kids. Same research group, age-adapted exercises. Both reduce soccer injuries by about a third to a half when run twice a week.
They're not the same routine, and the difference matters at this age.
what FIFA 11+ actually is
It's a 10 to 15-minute warm-up from FIFA's medical research arm (with the Oslo Sports Trauma Research Center and Santa Monica Orthopaedic). Three parts: slow running with planting cuts, then six strength and balance exercises, then sprinting drills.
The published trials (Bizzini and Dvorak, 2015) showed teams running it twice a week dropped non-contact injuries about 30 percent and severe injuries about 50 percent. The biggest wins were in ACL and ankle injuries.
The catch: it was validated in players 14 and older. At U10, the exercise selection assumes biomechanics your kid doesn't have yet.
why standard 11+ isn't right for a U10
Three real reasons, not a hedge.
Growth plates are still developing. The Nordic hamstring exercise in standard 11+ puts heavy eccentric load on the posterior chain. For a 15-year-old, the injury-prevention upside is worth it. For a U10, you don't recover fast enough for the load to pay off.
Plyometric volume is too much. Box jumps and lateral bounds in 11+ assume two more years of growth. U10 plyometrics should be skipping and hopping in place, not reactive cuts at speed.
Attention span. A U14 can hold focus through 15 minutes of structured warm-up. A U10 starts performing the exercises badly around minute 8. Bad form on Nordic hamstrings is worse than skipping the exercise entirely.
The research team knew this. The kids version exists for exactly this reason.
FIFA 11+ Kids – the version your U10 should do
Seven exercises, about 10 minutes, run twice a week. Validated for ages 7 to 13 by the Rossler et al trial in 2016: 48 percent fewer injuries, 74 percent fewer severe injuries across European youth clubs.
No Nordic hamstrings. No box jumps. No single-leg Romanian deadlifts. What you do get: foundational motor patterns first – hopping, skipping, two-leg landings, lateral balance on stable surfaces. The point at this age is whole-body coordination, not isolated strength.
That's what a U10 should be doing.
the practical part
The exercises are the easy bit. Getting a U10 to do them consistently when their friends are juggling and pretending to be Messi is the hard bit.
Run it before the fun part of practice, not as a separate thing. The kid associates the warm-up with actually playing, not with parental nagging.
Cycle the exercise order weekly. Same 7 exercises every time becomes background noise. Same 7 in a different sequence stays engaging.
Rename the exercises. "Knee saver" beats "Nordic hamstring eccentric." "Sneaky cone" beats "lateral plyometric bound."
Twice a week, 10 minutes, with the names changed – that's the version that actually gets done. Once a month is not.
when to graduate
Around U13 to U14, swap in the standard 11+ gradually. Substitute one or two harder exercises into the kids routine over a season rather than switching programs overnight. By then growth plates are closer to maturity and the load-to-recovery math works.
Frequently asked questions
Is FIFA 11+ safe for U10?
Standard 11+ is for ages 14+. For a U10, run FIFA 11+ Kids instead. Same research group, validated for ages 7 to 13. About 48 percent fewer lower-limb injuries at this age.
What's the difference between FIFA 11+ and FIFA 11+ Kids?
Standard has 15 exercises and assumes adolescent biomechanics (Nordic hamstrings, box jumps). Kids has 7 exercises focused on foundational motor patterns (hopping, skipping, balance). Same research lineage.
How long does FIFA 11+ Kids take?
About 10 minutes, twice a week. Less time, less often, fewer benefits – the trials specifically compared twice-a-week to control groups doing a generic warm-up.
Does FIFA 11+ Kids really reduce ACL injuries?
Rossler et al (2016) showed 48 percent fewer overall injuries and 74 percent fewer severe injuries in ages 7 to 13. ACL specifically is rare at this age, so the trial didn't isolate that number for U10 – but lower-limb injuries dropped substantially.
Can I run it if my kid's team coach doesn't?
Yes. Ten minutes before training or a backyard session works. Consistent weekly repetition matters more than who leads it.
Is FIFA 11+ Kids in the SoccerSkills catalog?
Yes. Every combined session ends with a kids cool-down, and the full routine is browsable in the "strength + injury prevention" pillar.
What if my U10's team runs standard 11+?
Watch the Nordic hamstring. If the team's doing standard 11+ at U10, ask the coach if the Nordic can be swapped for a half-kneeling hamstring stretch until the team graduates to age-appropriate. The rest is mostly fine; Nordic load is the riskiest piece.
Want a 20-minute session that starts with FIFA 11+ Kids? Make a free family account. The catalog is age-tagged so the wrong exercises never show up.
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