Training indoors during the winter provides a wealth of benefits that can supplement any young player's development. Indoor soccer is faster, smaller, and more intensive than the outdoor game. Players develop key skills including: positioning, off-the-ball movement, and individual attacking & defending. 

Indoor fields are smaller than outdoor fields, and the number of players on pitch is significantly less. Due to smaller field size and a faster surface, the ball moves end-to-end much faster, and requires quick decision-making. A lapse of concentration in an outdoor match can be problematic, but there is still an opportunity for teammates to fill in the gaps and correct your mistake. In contrast, losing focus for a split second in an indoor game can result in your 'keeper picking the ball out of the back of your net.

Indoor soccer is a game of individual plays. One-on-one attacking and defending occurs during virtually every possession. Indoor play refines a player's ability to successfully engage in 1v1 battles several times throughout a game. At the end of a professional match, a striker may have completed five "take-ons" in the course of 90 minutes. In an indoor match, five take-ons can occur in the first five minutes. Indoor soccer players are granted the opportunity to develop creativity in attacking 1v1 and discipline in defending 1v1, which greatly impacts their outdoor game.

The fast, small-sided, and intensive aspects of indoor play can be seen all over the field during an outdoor match. Players that have trained for these aspects of the game all winter are better suited to succeed when spring comes around.