Cross Country or Soccer? A No-Cost Training Plan for the Dual-Sport Young Runner

I love to run — it's my passion, my sport, and it feeds the competitor in me. I'm in year 7 and I first started running in year 5. I've done well in cross country, right up to state level, but I'm noticing a plateau in my times this year. I also play soccer, which I really enjoy, but it's taking up more and more of my time. My family can't afford paid running coaching or squad training — so I'd love some training advice I can actually use.

– Monique, Year 7

Answer by Dominique: Hi Monique,
That's a genuine dilemma, and a common one: a talented young athlete, two sports you love, one of them plateauing, and no budget for a coach to sort it out. Here's how I'd answer.

Yes — you can train seriously in two sports at once through most of your teens. Sports-medicine guidance, including Hopkins Medicine's, recommends delaying single-sport specialisation until later adolescence, since early specialisers face higher rates of overuse injury and burnout. The real question isn't which sport to pick. It's how you structure the load across both.

I'll break my response down as follows:

1. Why You Don't Have to Choose Yet
2. A No-Cost Training Plan for a Dual-Sport Season
3. Watching for Overuse — Especially With Two Seasons Overlapping

1. Why You Don't Have to Choose Yet

Monique, you don't have to give up either sport — and I'd go further: at your age, playing both is very likely the smarter call.

Soccer and cross country overlap more than people think. Both demand a strong aerobic base, powerful legs, and the change-of-direction fitness that comes from cutting and accelerating on uneven ground. Soccer's short sprints build power that helps you on hills and rough terrain; cross country's endurance work feeds straight back into your fitness for a full match on the pitch. Neither sport is wasted time for the other.

There's a research reason to keep both going too, not just a "why not" shrug. Sports-medicine guidance — Hopkins Medicine's among it, and the wider body of research it sits inside — consistently recommends delaying single-sport specialisation until later in the teens. Athletes who specialise early carry a higher rate of overuse injury and burnout than those who stay multi-sport through early-to-mid adolescence. Staying with both soccer and cross country right now isn't a compromise. It's the evidence-backed choice.

This is the same guidance I give any young athlete I coach who's juggling two sports.

2. A No-Cost Training Plan for a Dual-Sport Season

Here's what your letter actually asked for — a proper answer, not four links to click through. You don't need a coach or a squad fee to train seriously. You need a simple weekly structure, and the discipline to stick to it.

Four building blocks, three of them sessions. No equipment, no cost:

1. One easy aerobic run — 20 to 30 minutes at a conversational pace, on a day you're not training or playing soccer. This is the base cross country needs, and soccer alone won't build it for you.
2. One soccer session or match as your speed day — soccer's short sprints and constant changes of direction do the same job as an anaerobic training session, so let it count as one. You don't need a separate speed workout on top.
3. One longer trail or grass run — 30 to 40 minutes, on a day free from soccer, building up gradually as the weeks go on. A park, a school oval, or any soft ground works fine.
4. One genuine rest day — no structured training of any kind. Rest is part of the plan, not a gap in it.

That's the whole structure. No gym, no paid program, nothing beyond what you can already do on foot at a local park or oval.

3. Watching for Overuse — Especially With Two Seasons Overlapping

Two sports at once means twice the running and cutting on your legs, even when it doesn't feel like it. Watch for these warning signs:

A pain that doesn't ease once you've warmed up — an ordinary niggle fades as you loosen up, this kind doesn't. One-sided soreness, rather than the general ache of a hard week. A noticeable drop in your usual pace, or in the sharpness of your first touch in soccer — both are early signs your legs are carrying more than they can currently handle.

Here's the rule that matters most when you're playing two sports: treat your total weekly running volume — soccer plus cross country combined — as one number, not two separate ones. It's easy to underestimate your load when you're only counting the kilometres from one sport.

And if something has to give in a given week, here's the answer: skip the extra run, not the team commitment. At your age, the structured solo session is the one to drop — not your place on the soccer team.

Related Reading

• Ready for the full picture once you've settled the "which sport" question? Read full race strategy and season training plan.
• Want to build the aerobic engine both sports rely on? Start with building your aerobic base.
• Ready to add more mileage once you've got a season under your belt? See increasing your mileage safely.
• Already specialised and stuck on a plateau of your own? Read about breaking through a running plateau.

Two sports, one body, and a training week that has to work for both — that's the real puzzle here, not a choice between them. Keep the base easy, let soccer do double duty as your speed work, protect your one rest day, and count your load as one number rather than two. That's a training plan a decade-old version of this page never gave you — and it costs nothing.

Some Other Pages You May Like

Home > Running Training > Cross Country Running Tips > Cross Country or Soccer?

  ☕ Buy Dom a Coffee