Why You NEED to Resistance Train as a Soccer Player

A Few References:

Resistance training is safe and beneficial for youth populations:
Behringer, M., vom Heede, A., Yue, Z., & Mester, J. (2010). Effects of resistance training in children and adolescents: a meta-analysis. Pediatrics, 126(5), e1199-e1210.
Myer, G. D., Lloyd, R. S., Brent, J. L., & Faigenbaum, A. D. (2013). How young is “too young” to start training?. ACSM's health & fitness journal, 17(5), 14.

General Reduction of Injury Rates
Zouita, S., Zouita, A. B., Kebsi, W., Dupont, G., Abderrahman, A. B., Salah, F. Z. B., & Zouhal, H. (2016). Strength training reduces injury rate in elite young soccer players during one season. The Journal of Strength & Conditioning Research, 30(5), 1295-1307.

Performance Benefits
Keiner, M., Sander, A., Wirth, K., & Schmidtbleicher, D. (2014). Long-term strength training effects on change-of-direction sprint performance. The Journal of Strength & Conditioning Research, 28(1), 223-231.
Keiner, M., Sander, A., Wirth, K., & Schmidtbleicher, D. (2014). The impact of 2 years of additional athletic training on the jump performance of young athletes. Science & Sports, 29(4), e39-e46.

Resistance Training & Mental Health
O'Connor, P. J., Herring, M. P., & Caravalho, A. (2010). Mental health benefits of strength training in adults. American Journal of Lifestyle Medicine, 4(5), 377-396.