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Right that's why US soccer teams are terrible. It has nothing to do with most of the US not giving a damn about soccer, not spending anywhere near as much money on it as other countries and the best athletes going into football, baseball, basketball or probably even hockey before soccer.
The US population is similar to Europe as a whole. We have plenty of athletes to go around. We have more soccer players than most countries. They just suck at ball handling because youth soccer is based around who gets into puberty first.
A nod to the racist history of Amerindian dispossession, genocide, and racist government policies that baby seal clubbing KKKanadians like to pretend only existed south of it's border.
"
Oh well, then I guess I understand your guilt ridden Freudian response needing to use the ever familiar "KKK" reference.
I disagree. Telling the "weak kids" to get out of the way because, well, frankly, they aren't as good, encourages them to be better and develop a better and more competitive skill set.\
You really think so? You think the take-away the average 7 year old child gets from being told by an adult to get out of the way and let other kids play is "I know, I just need to be better and develop a more competitive skill set" and wouldn't be "Daddy that wasn't fun last season, I don't want to sign up again"?
Keep in mind, I am referring to community house league programs that have to take on all registrants and are run by parents, some of whom may never have played soccer before. If your child is able and willing and committed to playing rep league soccer (and possibly riding the pine all summer for 30 minutes of playing) that's fine too.
By the way, how exactly will anyone develop a better and more competitive skill set, if the only instruction they're getting is to get out of the way?
The kids will continue to keep score and they'll still yell at the fat kid when he screws up. The winning team will still gloat and the only thing that changes is the losing team claiming it was a tie and they dont keep score.
It's not the kid's behavior that's the problem or that's being changed. It's the coach's desire to win that's clouding the issue. Canada hasn't been in a world cup since I was 7 years old. What we've been doing isn't working, so it's time to try a change.
Yeah the kids don't know who's winning. So stupid yet so PC. I'm sure when our glorious leaders hear about this the yute soccer programs in the US will have this all mandatory too.
"Tessa McDonald says it’s going to be “a lot weirder†to play soccer without keeping score. But she still wants to win. “Winning is more fun than losing, and if there’s no score, how are you going to have fun?â€
The 9-year-old midfielder, who plays for the North Toronto Soccer Club’s competitive under-10 team, says she will keep score in her head this year (“as long as it’s not more than sevenâ€), but worries her teammates might not be equally motivated if the game “doesn’t matter.â€
Tessa’s league is one of many across the province that will stop keeping score and tabulating standings this season in an attempt to shift the focus of kids’ soccer away from winning and toward skills development.
Some leagues and age groups started last season, others will adopt the approach this year, and by 2014 it will be mandatory across Ontario for all competitive players under 12.
It’s part of a well-established, research-supported and holistic approach to player development, common in soccer-rich countries and endorsed by the sport’s brightest minds."
Who can argue with a holistic approach after all. lol
Right - it doesn't matter. So just keep the score and train the kids to play. If they don't win - or certain kids are not good, it may be an indicator that they should move on to something else they are good at.
That's the problem. It does matter. That's FrankMiller and my point. And what you mean is "if certain kids are not immediately good" they should move on to something they are good at. So that's why we have kids who are good at video game soccer but can't play in real life. Hardly progress.
Quote:
Originally Posted by jazzy jeff
I am all for competition, but rather then tell the "weak kid to get out of the way" sort a speak , a good coach should and will spend extra time with the weak kid to further develop his or her skills.
I 1000% agree. But remember that most house league soccer leagues are run by parent volunteers (so not good coach's by default). Removing recording standings takes away some focus on winning and back on skill development, or at least that's the hope.
Quote:
Originally Posted by Drover
Then what the hell's the point in trying to score against your opponent? Just send 22 kids out onto a field and tell them to kick a soccer ball around. Oh, and make sure they're all wearing the same color uniform lest the divide themselves into "sides" and actually compete with each other in some way.
The point is to learn teamwork, fitness, and most importantly - sign up again next season. Losing all season is bad enough; seeing it in print or online and seeing 0 - 13 in the scoreline is worse. You want competititon? Go do a rep league soccer try out and join that league, so all the kids are equal.
Oh and to the person who trotted out the usual "all the kids get a trophy is bull#$#4" line, I have to ask: To the child who gets one, is that accomplishment in any diminshed by someone else getting one? If I get an A and the entire class gets an A and worked hard to do so, am I embarrassed by my A? Does it suck? If the entire class learns how to swim and gets a badge, is the badge junk? Or is my 7 year old mind so proud of my 'golden trophy' that's what I remember.. or conversely I remember how I didn't get one and the other kids did and soccer sucks and makes me feel crappy for trying.
It's not the kid's behavior that's the problem or that's being changed. It's the coach's desire to win that's clouding the issue. Canada hasn't been in a world cup since I was 7 years old. What we've been doing isn't working, so it's time to try a change.
That's a good way to put it. The reality is, the best method to win youth soccer games is not the same as the best method to raise good soccer players. Chucking the ball to the tall kid doesn't help the other kids develop soccer skills, and it doesn't teach the tall kid how to cope when everyone else hits puberty and catches up.
Quote:
Originally Posted by AlsoNotMe
The point is to learn teamwork, fitness, and most importantly - sign up again next season.
I think teamwork actually belongs in the same overrated pile as winning, at least for younger kids. They need to learn courage and confidence with the ball, and don't have the developed empathy or mental capacity to understand the movement of large teams of players yet. It infuriates me when I see 1st graders playing 8v8 games.
It's like allowing 1st graders to steal in baseball. It's easy to win that way because the kids aren't coordinated enough to counter it; that's why it's disallowed. But in soccer, you can't just disallow tallness.
Well I don't disagree about the point about learning teamwork truthfully; perhaps I meant building a team identity (wearing a uniform, sitting together) rather than the higher levels of the meaning of teamwork. I'm just glad we've gotten overall buy-in on playing 7v7 1st graders, rather than 11 a side that was common thirty years ago.
Well I don't disagree about the point about learning teamwork truthfully; perhaps I meant building a team identity (wearing a uniform, sitting together) rather than the higher levels of the meaning of teamwork. I'm just glad we've gotten overall buy-in on playing 7v7 1st graders, rather than 11 a side that was common thirty years ago.
The point is to learn teamwork, fitness, and most importantly - sign up again next season. Losing all season is bad enough; seeing it in print or online and seeing 0 - 13 in the scoreline is worse. You want competititon? Go do a rep league soccer try out and join that league, so all the kids are equal.
The point was also to try to beat the other team. We learned teamwork and fitness and we kept score. Even 8-year-olds knew they weren't mutually exclusive. If you want to learn teamwork and fitness without a competitive environment, go learn them in some non-competitive activity.
The first team I played on not only lost every single game that season, but we only scored one goal that entire season. None of us were irreparably dejected and almost all of us were back the next season. And we had a hell of a pizza party after we scored that lone goal. Kids who self-select a competitive sport can handle competition a lot better than mewling adults give them credit for.
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