Street Smarts

Well well! Last week I asked everyone to help me in order to make your kids to play more soccer at home! And I said that the environment here is different than where I am coming from.

Most top youth soccer clubs in the United States seek to win. In doing so, they often sacrifice individual player development.

The absence of street soccer leads to a key difference between American youth soccer and other nation’s program. Around the world, young soccer players come from all socio-economic backgrounds and play all the time. The defining characteristic of street soccer is that it is not organized and they can develop their creative tendencies and become more clever with the ball.

Here, most of the boys are playing so many different sports that soccer is not their priorities. As a consequence, the mantra of playing for the team and achieving results is imposed much earlier in American youth soccer than it is around the world. Teamwork and results are important aspects of the team sports and of American culture in general, but these elements should be secondary to individual player development at the youth level of any sport, including soccer.

The street soccer environment or playing with your kids is crucial for developing youth soccer players. It enables them to try new things and be clever with the ball while having fun. So I have been teaching more technical and tactical formula but that works effectively for us because we are playing with good athletes. That is why, I am trying to encourage everyone to play with creativity, effort and good technique at home or on the field.

If we are here this summer, let’s play together for fun! Parents & kids together. Just for fun.