Soccer, football, chookgoo, footie, what the hell ever...Just HELP!!!

[KillerMuffin]

I am now officially a soccer mom. Ugh and joy. My son, who is 5, just had his very first practice in his very first peewee league. In soccer. The only thing I know about soccer is that the coach has a really nice ass and that you can't touch the ball with your hands unless you're the guy with the gloves.

Anyway, the coach knows only slightly more than I do. Hey, its peewee, not World Cup, right?

Tons of people who adore, or are at least able to play, soccer/football come through here. To those people I ask, how do I help my son master the game? His idea of proper soccer etiquette, by the way, is to use Charmander's fire attack on the other team.

What sort of at home practices and drills can we do so that he doesn't have to concentrate so much on where to stick his feet? I want him to have fun playing the game, as well as enjoy it, rather than running his little spindly legs off chasing after the ball with no real clue how to do whatever it is those soccer people do.

Uhhhmmm HELP!!!!!!

 

[Always]

let him kick the ball back and forth off the side off the garage... great pratice, i used to do i all thwe time. and make sure he wears pads and stuff on his knees... alot of soccer players break legs.

and tell him to have fun!

oh, and tell him charmander doesn't play soccer. Pikachu does!!!

 

[Weird Harold]

You can set up a target in the back yard for him to practise aiming the ball at when he kicks it. You can also play "keep away" with him to teach him to kick the ball and not the other players. (Of course that would require that you learn to move the ball with your feet as well. <G>)

Just finding him a place where he can practice moving the ball with his feet, and kick it around without breaking something will help.

At age five, there's not a lot of skills that are needed. Starting tommorrow on MSNBC the US women's soccer team is going to be on TV fairly often over the next week. Encourage him to watch, and watch with him. Of course the men's team is going to be playing as well, but there's more commentary on strategy and skills in the broadcasts of the women's games.

There is, of course, always the local library. Depending on the districts size, they might even have instructional videos as well as books on soccer.

 

[RonG]

Amongst my more useless talents is a Class D certification as a Travel Soccer Coach. The biggest thing you can do for your kid is let him have fun. As far as skills at that age, the biggest thing to reinforce is learning to be able to strike the ball with both feet. Too many coaches find out if a kid is right-footed or left-footed and have the kid always use that foot. Wrong! Teach the little one to properly approach the ball with either foot (planting the non-kicking foot even or slightly behind the ball) and striking it squarely, don't worry about power.

BTW, most good soccer leagues play without goalies until the age of 7 or so. The emphasis is on learning field skills and enjoying the participation without intimidating the kids with too many rules. The game is a wonderful teacher and if the coach can lay off the whistle, the kids will learn to correct many of their own mistakes.

Regarding soccer coaches' asses: I was wondering why all those moms stay to watch my practices. Now, I know!

 

[Sparky Kronkite]

Been there...

Twice and going on three. And know this - I was before soccer - it only came into JV existence in my southern HS in my senior year - back then thought it was stupid. So, I didn't know squat when my oldest first started - still don't know much. But....

Go to the pratice. Watch'em pratice. Do the same shit at home. If you're in or near a city with any kind of semi-pro or big league play - spring for a ticket or two.

Besides everything else - enjoy - when they're that young the concepts of stratigy and even rules are pretty much out the window. Those little kids run around like out of control yard apes on the loose. It's a hoot for sure.

And if you imbibe, even a little, cause it will start getting cold - sneak a little something for sideline fun on a Saturday game - you won't be the only parent doing so.

I love attending my kids sporting events.

 

[mass2]

Muff, get lilmuff kicking the ball back and forth to someone or something, then as he gets better add a third person, called triangles, this will teach him how to kick at an angle. Have hin stand on the 18 yard line and roll the ball to him from different directions and have him practice shots on goal. Defensively, try dribbling past him with the ball, tell him to keep his feet and hips square to the ball. These are good developmental drills.
As for you the powerwagon has to go, the official car of all soccer moms is the Chevy Suburban, also go to http://www.ussoccer.about.us.com/sports/ussoccer/mbody.htm I think thats it, scroll down the page and find Youth Soccer, there are links to tons of info you will find useful.
Now go to http://www.mycaster.com search pmass kicks ass to hear my radio station.

[Edited by mass2 on 09-13-2000 at 07:28 PM]

 

[minx]

I have coached youth soccer for a couple of years, and I think the most important thing for kids this age is just to have fun! Forget the drills. They're boring and tedious. Play games with the kids, that just happen to incorperate soccer skills, instead. Maybe a 'keep away' game, or one of my team's favorites is 'grab the bacon'. Divide the kids into two groups, give each child a number, (if there are six kids you'd have 1-3 in each group), have each group stand at opposite ends of the field with the ball in the middle. Then call a number, the child with that number (from each group) runs to the ball and tries to dribble it back to his own side before the child from the other group does. This teaches the kids to get in there and get their feet on the ball. The kids really love it. You might suggest this to the coach, if he's new he'll appreciate the help. If you'd like more game ideas, email me, I've got a ton of them, and would love to help. Also Suburbans are for soccer mom wanna bes. Real soccer moms drive Navagitors.

 

[mass2]

Also despite your sons age he has to be in shape, I suggest alternate daily between 10 ten yard sprints 10 twenty yard sprints and 10 forty yard sprints with backwards jogging thrown in, and a six mile jog. Also a complete weightlifting program three times a week during the season, five days a week in the off season. Fun, fun is for those who come in second, he is young and impressionable, now is the time to teach him that killer instinct, go for the jugular, winning is the only thing, Viva World Cup 2020.


HA HA
Hey Minx so you are saying that you drag your team around in your Navigator?

[Edited by mass2 on 09-13-2000 at 08:01 PM]

 

[minx]

Mass 2

Did you miss the part where she said her son was five!!!!
"Go for the jugular" ??? Have you lost your mind. I'm not a soccer mom, I coach, and I don't drive a Navigator!

 

[RonG]

Fun, fun is for those who come in second, he is young and impressionable, now is the time to teach him that killer instinct, go for the jugular, winning is the only thing, Viva World Cup 2020.



[Edited by mass2 on 09-13-2000 at 08:01 PM]

Unless FIFA goes through with their plans for a biannual world cup, there won't be a World Cup in 2020. As tongue-in-cheek as the advise from mass2, I am afraid there are enough parents that think that pushing at the age of 5 is necessary. KM, please avoid getting your kid trained to run and kick on your command from the sidelines. In pokemon language, let him fully develop his agility skills as a pikachu before you evolve him into a rychu.

 

[mass2]

Minx,
That is the exact attitude I am talking about, weak minded. Fun is for those who don't win, "we're not out here to win, we just want to win." Where do you think those people got that idea from. Social Darwinism on the pitch, where do you want your kid to end up. Minx I know he is five, when do you expect to teach competitveness, when he is 18.


Lighten up Minx its just a joke

 

[minx]

I don't find it funny. There are too many parents out there with this type of attitude. These are the same parents who are suprised to see their child's name in the headlines next to the words 'sniper rifle'. Is a desire to win something that must be taught, or is this just another excuse to push kids?

 

[Strange Girl]

I find humor in soccer parents, all dressed up in their matching Nike sweatsuits and $150 running shoes, sitting on their lawnchairs guzzling Powerade.

 

[Strange Girl]

Oh, I hope your SUV's are adequate for those treachorous journeys to the mall.

sheep.

 

[KillerMuffin]

Muff does not own an SUV. Muff owns a powerwagon, but we will not drag that gorgeous sexually exciting picture onto this thread. I've gotten stuck on the way to the mall before, I live next to a mechanized infantry unit, lots of wonderful tank trails between here and the mall (even if they are 20 minutes out of the way).

I hate powerade. I intend to spend my time on the sidelines taking pictures for the absent StudMuffin or ogling the StudMuffin when he is present.

Mass I'ma drive through your living room with a Peterbilt. Sorry, the whole Pete thing is hysterical to me at this point. I am over caffinated.

I figure about 15 to 30 minutes of kicking around a soccer ball with him in the lawn on non practice days would be fun. He would also get to practice things like sending it where he is aiming it. My primary concern at this stage is that he learns sportsmanship and teamwork. Thats actually the only purpose, other than having alot of fun, for childrens' organized sports.

Minx, thank you so very very much. ANY advice is greatly, wonderfully, fantastically, and beggingly appreciated. The coach himself is begging for it as well. His wife roped him into the job. He had to do it in uniform last night, he had Staff Duty... anyway.

RonG, my only sideline coaching will be to yell encouragement. Too many Generals and not enough REMFs spoil the exercise.

Thanks for the help and thanks for the giggle Strange Girl

 

[Golden]

extraordinary world... a thread about football and all the peeps on it are Americans it seems. You know, we Europeans named this game football because you use your feet - which is why I can't figure why the NFL game is called football over in the States ...

["soccer", btw for the morphologists among you, is a reduction of Association Football, the game's official designation when the rules were first laid down in 1863 in Britain....]

So to the question ... my creds, by the way ,,, played and watched the game for 40 years, and been a full time sports journalist for 2 and a freelance writer for 15 of those years ....

First, buy a ball, and a good leather one not a crap plastic one.

Second, encourage little kids to play the ball off against a wall or garage or whatever, using it as you would a tennis wall.

Next, encourage passing (that's kicking the ball) off BOTH feet and off the inside and outside of the boot as well as the instep, but NOT off the toe end. All sorts of games can be invented to develop skills such as aiming at tiny targets around the garden – kick the ball into a small basin or against a mark on a tree for example; with several kids you can introduce reward games “OK guys,. Ten goes each, the one with the most balls in the bucket from 10 yards gets to lick the cookie mix bowl” …

Then go to the park; practice accurately passing the ball short - 5 yards - and long, taking the ball on the run, controlling and passing ...

Finally, encourage in and around the house what is called "keepie-uppie" - this is juggling the ball on feet, knees, thighs, chest, shoulders, head neck ... anything except arms and hands. Also develop these skills using smaller object e.g. a tennis ball.

FINALLY finally do NOT rush out and buy tons of protective clothing. When playing competitively ALL players need shin pads which are worn inside the socks and cover ankle and shin bone. And that is IT. Knee pads etc are ABSOLUTELY OUT. This is not street hockey or NFL … this is a game of grace and pace and movement … this kind of gear will only restrict movement and badly reduce ball-control, and I think is illegal anyway.

Welcome, therefore to the game which is in nearly every OTHER country the top spectator and TV sport as well as one of the top participant sports …

ENJOY!

 

[Golden]

...his very first peewee league.

didn't know you guys had competitive golden showers ... what a strange country!

 

[Always]

*no comment*

 

[OUTSIDER]

Golden words from Golden

Killermuffin listen to Golden he is spot on and as some one who plays footie every sunday as part of a pub team I can't falt him ( damn it )he real has given you top advice.

Also if you can get to see some European team's on say a cable station then do and you will see why grown men shed tear's of joy and anguish for there team's, in the UK football is known as the beutiful game and player regularly transfer from one team to another for multi million pound figures.

P.S. British women have in recent year's become almost as interested in footie as their men folk, this would of course have nothing to do with the fact that the men playing are as my ex used to say knicker wettingly hansom.

 

[mass2]

Minx,
Personal story; from the ages of four to ten my playground teams, both baseball and football, sucked. It was no fun getting rolled each week by the same teams, but this changed about the age of ten and by the time we were fourteen, we did'nt loose, we expected to win, we won, and had fun. That would have not been possible without a group of parents pushing us to get better. There is a subtle difference between pushing your child in the right direction and pushing them because your own life sucks so bad. But I do know this, I can't think of anyone whose parents pushed them to excel that have become "snipers." Lets see if we can name a few, Tiger Woods sniper, no Venus and Serena Williams sniper sisters, no Dylan Kliebold, sniper yes. It is those parents that don't push and don't pay attention to their kids that end up with kids like that. If you are going to do something be the best at it, don't just do it because its fun because losing sucks. That nugget of wisdom was passed to me by my father, he pushed me to be better than I was the day before, a lesson I use everyday even though my sports participation ended with college. Lets see Mass2 sniper, no.
Minx, if you don't think Iam the best at everything I do, just ask MS. Muff. Anything else I can set you straight on e-mail me with all your misconceptions and I will help you, you have great passion, just about the wrong ideas though.



[Edited by mass2 on 09-14-2000 at 09:39 PM]

 

[Strange Girl]

So fucking what, mass2, your athletic world came to a crashing halt in college, like everybody else. Who gives a shit about Tiger Woods. Do you really give a shit about Tiger Woods? I don't, It might be fun to watch kids play if there wasn't a bunch of psychotic parents trying to relive their shitty, failed shot at the big time. Life is short. An athletes life is much shorter.

 

[minx]

Mass2,

Okay, my turn. Personal story. A little boy, 7 years old, started crying after kicking the ball into the wrong goal. He was trying very hard to hide the fact that he was upset, and it took me a little while to get him to tell me what was bothering him. But he finally did. He told me that he was "no good, and his father didn't love him when he was no good" How about that for wanting what's best for your child? Another personal story. A little girl, 8 years old, told me after the first quarter of a game, she didn't know why we had to play, we were going to lose anyway. The score was 2 - 4, and she hadn't even taken the field yet. Subtle difference, my ass, pushing is pushing! There is a big difference between telling your child to be the best and telling him to try his best. Winning really isn't everything. If a child honestly tries his hardest and still comes up short, I find that far more commendable than a child who doesn't put forth his best effort but still wins.

 

[Samuari]

Right On Minx! As the father of two very sucessful adults in highly competive professions, a college athleate, and a nationally ranked swimmer,(that's right four)I can tell you that you don't have to push for kids to know that winning is fun. What you do have teach is that losing is not the end of the world, and that they are loved no mater what the outcome of the game. Mass 2, you are correct when you say that the really important thing is to pay attention to your kids. So be there when they lose, as well as when they win.

I'm a nationally certified swiming offical, and at a major meet, I had to disquallify my daughter for a two hand touch that only I could see. It kept her from compeating at nationals, but it taught her that doing it right was far more important than winning and that I loved her even when she lost.

 

[OUTSIDER]

Come on people let's not forget that KM only wanted to know how to help her kid and as to pushy parent's how can we judge what kind of parent KM is when we have never realy met her, I for one would like to believe that KM is just trying to do the right thing by her kid and help him/her just have some fun.

 

[RonG]

No wonder Nintendo is so popular

As parents and coaches, we would like sports to teach one thing: Good things come from effort and commitment. The good thing about soccer is that the feedback loop to the kid is so much quicker than any other sport I have found(there is no right field in soccer). If a kid doesn't run or is afraid of the ball or doesn't pay attention to develop their craft, they will get smoked. They learn this without getting berated. Parents need to apply a consistent level of expectations. The standards we set for our kids of commitment and effort should be the same (if not higher) for academic achievement and character than for wins and losses.

I set high expectations for my kids and other kids I coach: 11 division or league champions out of 21 teams. But putting sports on a par with school, family, or faith is the biggest problem we have with burning out kids. Sports should support the big three, not displace or destroy one.

Back to soccer fundamentals: The two biggest things a kid should learn at a young age have been covered - learn to play the ball with either foot and get enough touches with all parts of the foot to learn to possess the ball without having to look down at it (DO NOT PUT A BUNCH OF CONES REAL CLOSE TOGETHER AND MAKE JUNIOR MUFFIN DRIBBLE THROUGH THEM. IT FORCES THE KID TO LOOK DOWN THE WHOLE TIME. TEACH HIM TO PLAY WITH HIS HEAD UP). Work on those things at the age of 5-6 and the game gets much simpler when you are 10-12. Don't learn those, and it gets real hard, regardless of how hard one plays.