Ella’s skill roadmap

Where she is now, and the order the pieces should come. Club/school midfielder, age 13 — built around the stick skills she already has, not a generic checklist.

Ella is a clean open-stick midfielder who's just started using her reverse. The open-stick skills are a strength and don't need building. She's held back by being one-sided: no reverse stick, trapping the ball dead, and reading transition late. This roadmap turns a predictable one-sided stick into a complete midfielder.

The biggest unlock, and the one that opens the whole field.

• Reverse-stick receiving and hitting — ugly volume until it's real.
• Playing OUT of the reverse — a pass or hit, not just survival.
• One rule in games: when they force you left, play out of it, don't panic back.

The measure isn't a drill — it's a game where a defender forces her reverse and she makes them pay.

The dead-trap habit is the next-biggest leak. This block is about the first touch.

• Lead-and-receive — first touch into space, already going.
• Both open and reverse stick on the move.
• Collapsing three beats (stop, control, move) into one.

Her stick carries the ball she has; the next step is being ahead of the play.

• Scan-and-switch — read the picture before the ball arrives.
• Anticipating the switch of play, not reacting to it.
• Getting to space early instead of catching up.

By next season the pieces should combine into a player who dictates the game.

• Both sides live, so defenders can't force her one way.
• Receiving on the move as an instinct.
• Reading transition early enough to control it.

Don't chase all of it at once — that's how a skilled kid stays a predictable one. One horizon at a time, in order. The reverse stick first, because it doubles the field and opens up everything downstream. Revisit every few months; as one piece locks in, the next one sharpens.