Youth Soccer
'Kids! They Just Want to Have Fun!'

Kids, they just want to have fun!! Fun and to be with their friends are the main reason kids give for wanting to play soccer. My observations of much of youth soccer in the United States leads me to believe that many adults don't think children's opinions count for much. How can I say this? Because often time fun seems to be the furthest thing from the minds of many parents and coaches one can see prowling the touch line at any youth soccer game. Picture any soccer field - Ten year old's play in a proper league organized and coached by their fathers, men in tracksuits with hand-embroidered Team Coach legends who, dementedly pace the touch line. A slim boy in a black and white shirt rounds his marker and shapes to shoot at goal. Shoot, Steve, shoot, yells one of the tracksuits. Then as the boy blazes wide: That's absolutely useless! This supposed aside probably reaches half the players. Greedy little *@*#! Should've passed it, bawls another shell-suited Coach.

Is this fun for kids?

Unfortunately, inappropriate parental behavior is endemic in youth soccer. It is not uncommon to see a parent stride on to a field to dispute an official's decision. This is, unfortunately, mild in many cases. Verbal and physical attacks on officials and other opposing parents appear to becoming far more frequent. It's a travesty that leagues now have to implement parental codes of conduct. For example, some leagues have no shouting rules and enforce what they refer to as - Rules that are set in place to enable young children to play with increasing confidence, free of the touch line tantrums so often displayed by spectators. Touch line coaching is banned, and critical comments will be by expulsion from the playing area. Unfortunately, these Special Rules do not protect the child from the worst 20 minutes in youth soccer .... the ride home. Although these codes of behavior may be necessary, surely the bigger issue is how do we educate parents and coaches into understanding what kids think is fun, and for parents to realize that it is the child's sport experience not their own - It often seems that the parent wants it more than the child. Youth soccer is not a vehicle through which father's and increasingly mother's, try to reprise and re-invent their own, inadequate sporting pasts.

But how many teenagers compete in soccer because their parents want them to? No matter how able a child is, they need to want to do it for themselves, not because their parents want it. The belief among many soccer mad parents is that young Jenny or Jason only has to try a little bit harder to make it to the top. This just isn't the case!! There is much more to it than that. It is extremely important, therefore, that parents and youth coaches allow the kids to enjoy their experience; and most importantly, allow them to be kids and just have fun!!