mini-soccer

 Mini soccer is probably the key to the success of Volunteer Pool Soccer Club. This style of game is played up to the age of 11 after which the teams move to the full eleven-a-side game on a large field

Most people who have not played soccer have no trouble accepting mini soccer for their children. The game seems to naturally fit the children. However, sometimes people who played soccer in other countries as a child, wonder why we play mini soccer with children rather than the full game that they remember playing as a child. To help understand why we play mini soccer we have developed the following rationale. But the most important thing for people who played soccer in the past is that, in fact, they learned to play soccer by playing mini soccer. They just didn't call it that. They learned to play in the streets just as our kids play hockey in the streets - a few players, a small space and simplified rules. Mini soccer does the same thing.

RATIONALE FOR MINI SOCCER

The rationale for mini soccer accepts the fact that children are not small adults, either in size, muscle and bone formation, stamina or emotional development. They can not compete realistically on adult size fields or with adult equipment. Mini soccer is an attempt to scale the game down so that children will be able to play the game in the way that adults do on their larger field. Decreasing the number of players on the field allows the game to become manageable and, in addition, gives the children more contact with the ball and interaction with other players. This link lists the advantages of what is achieved by playing mini-soccer.

Another aspect of the game that adults have thrust upon children is the competition, ranking and the "winning is important" attitude. The effect in most sports is a drastic drop-off in participation as the children enter their teens (just when they should be involved in organized activities). Late physical maturing children are disenchanted, kids with average or less than average skills are left out and what emerges is an elitist athlete, participating in small numbers in very restricted competition.

Competitive sports and levels are available for those children who have the skills and desire to play them. But for young players, the pressure of competition makes it difficult to learn the skills that are necessary for most people to excel at the game. The pressure of worrying about losing make it difficult to concentrate on skills. Children who play the game for fun until they learn the skills are much more likely to want to continue the game both competitively and into the future, since they now can compete.

Realistically, it is impossible to have a game with teams playing against each other without having some degree of competitiveness. Because of this, there is one important idea to keep in mind: the degree of competition at any division or in any game should be the level that the players bring to the game. In the Tyke Division, most children do not even realize there is a competition on (if you can call it that). By the Squirt Division they understand about winning and losing, and by the Atom Division they know who are the stronger teams and what the score is in every game. That's all right, as long as it is the player's level of competition. What is unnecessary and unacceptable is when coaches or parents put their level of competition into the game.

Coaches and parents should not be talking about who is winning or losing. That is not part of coaching or teaching children in a recreational sport. Coaches and parents should be talking about things like "the nice run', "the great shot", or "are you having a good time", etc. The emphasis should be on playing the game, learning and having fun. If the players are old enough to know they won the game, they'll come off the field excited and cheering, and that's fine. But there is also a team that lost, and they'll come off the field down and dejected. If the coach and the parents have not been concerned throughout the game about winning or losing and when the children come off the field, the adults just talk about having a good time or how hard they played, within a minute the concern about losing is gone, since no one is too worried about it. The child's self-esteem is back up and he or she is ready to play another game the next day. See also 10 Suggestions for Soccer Parents.

"Just a little boy"

He stands on the playing field with his heart pounding fast;

the game is on the line; the die has been cast

Mom and Dad can not help him, he stands alone.

A score at this moment would send the team home.

The ball nears his foot, he kicks and he misses;

There's a groan from the crowd with boos and hisses.

A thoughtless voice cries,

"You missed the goal - you cost us the game!"

Tears filled his eyes; the game is no longer fun

Remember he is just a little boy who stands alone.

So open your heart and give him a break,

For it is moments like this, a man you can make.

Keep this in mind when you hear someone forget.

He is just a little boy, and not a man yet.