I was not a big soccer fan. My nephew played it up through high school and watched a few of his games when I was visiting family in WI. Then my kids played it when they were young for about 6 years on and off (both spring and fall leagues). They also did softball and baseball in the summer. Practices 2x a week. At least one game a week, and sometimes all day affairs on the weekends for tournaments. They did indoor soccer for the winter leagues.
I didn't push them to play, I let them decide if they wanted to play and I encouraged and supported their choice. I did assistant coach for a couple years for both my son's and daughters traveling teams. Going though all of that, I learned to appreciate the game of soccer. Yeah, much of it is boring, loose balls being kicked around and a lot of running around. But you can see how they set up plays to try to get that one goal. I would say it's much like hockey but on a field and not on ice. Basketball strategy is also similar.
One of my most memorable moments was one day at soccer practice (my son was probably in 6th grade). The coach was teaching them some plays. Who needs to be where, who to pass to and who should be where for a follow up and so on and so forth. My son was not in position, and the coach barked out at him to get into position.
At the end of the practice the coach came to me and apologized for what he thought was being too harsh on my son. He said that my son has great potential and he wants to have him do his best. After practice on the ride home I asked my son if he felt that the coach was too tough on him. His reply: "No dad, coach just wants me to play my best and I messed up. He's teaching me to be better." Brought a tear to my eye... little kid with a drive to be better, competitive and willing to be coachable (is that a word).
Anyway... the video in the original post made me laugh. It reminded me of when my kids were little and just started playing soccer. Bunch of toddlers chasing a ball and randomly kicking it in any direction with no ball control... just kick the ball forward. Too bad a couple of the kids took it square in the face but it's part of the game of life.
Edited by user
3 years ago |
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