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Youth Soccer
"What Is The Purpose Of Today's Game?"
By Dr. Alan Goldberg
Since U-10 programs should be all about teaching the game of soccer rather
than determining who has the better team, it's important that the "game" is
structured by the coaches to facilitate learning rather than to optimize the
chances of winning. The best way for this to happen is to seize the
teachable moments during the game and actively show the players what they
did wrong and how to correct the situation. As long as these teachable
moments are short and sweet, they will be effective. If the game is broken
up by long periods where the coach talks you will bore this age athlete into
unconsciousness. The key question that has to be asked in this situation is,
"what is the purpose of today's game?" If the purpose is truly learning,
then this can't be effectively done while the game is still being played or
long after the learning opportunity has passed. Kids this age do not have a
long attention span and will not easily remember a mistake or miscue that
happened even three or four minutes ago.
Dr. Alan Goldberg can be reached at: goldberg@competitivedge.com
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