Why I Think Soccer is the Best Sport for Kids

Why I Think Soccer is the Best Sport for Kids

When my oldest son was seven, I suffered through one of my major disappointments as a father. My son wanted to play soccer. Not Baseball, Football, or one of the other "real" sports, but soccer. Being a good father, I hid my disappointment and fully supported his (misguided) effort.

That was just 7 short years ago. Today, I think soccer is the absolute best sport there is for kids. Let me tell you why. As a parent, I have coached or assistant coached on over 23 youth sports teams. Basketball, Baseball, T-Ball and Soccer. After being involved with these sports and the kids that play them, I can honestly say that, overall, I think kids have more fun playing soccer. And shouldn't that be the bottom line of recreational youth sports? Having Fun? Kids that are having have fun keep coming back for more. That is why NYSL has such an adamant attitude about creating a "FUN" experience for the kids. No score, No aggressive coaches, and a no tolerance policy towards yelling at referee's.

What makes Soccer more fun for kids? In my opinion it is the ability of the game to accommodate children of different abilities on one team. This is extremely important in youth sports, as young kids of the same age are often at drastically different stages of development. Youth soccer is very forgiving of this fact. Soccer is a team sport where each child can play to his potential, even if it is not yet highly developed. They can blend in to the background of the game, only to emerge when they do something well. Contrast that with baseball. There is very little option for "low pressure" participation. You either hit the ball or you failed. You either fielded the ball or you failed. And while you were doing it, EVERYONE was watching YOU. It is easy to see why many of the less developed kids would shy away from this experience.

Soccer gives us the opportunity to keep these less developed kids coming back. It is very rewarding for me as a coach to see children who are not very coordinated out on the field having fun. It is even more rewarding to coach this child 2 years later, and have him be one of your better players. If this child had experienced a bad coach in his early years, ie..one who was focused on WINNING and PUSHING the kids to achieve, that child may have had such a poor experience that he wouldn't have come back. The true tragedy here is that a bad experience like this could potentially turn the child away from sports and athletics for the rest of his life.

A few years ago I was privileged to witness youth soccer at its best. One of our U14 Girls teams had a player who was mentally challenged. She really wanted to play goalie. Feeling they knew what was best, her parents consistently told her it was not a good idea. Finally, during a game late in the season, the coach gave in to her constant requests. He put all his strong defenders in front of her and told them to help her out. Her mom sat on the sidelines with her eyes covered, while her father paced. The defenders did a fine job keeping the ball out and supporting their teammate. Towards the end of the half, a ball was kicked towards the goal. Seeing it was a slow roller, the defenders let the ball roll through. The goalie ran up to the ball, picked it up and stopped. Holding the ball, she searched the sidelines for her parents. She locked eyes with her mother and gave her a thumbs up and a big smile. The crowd cheered, her mother cried, and many hearts were touched. That's what our league is all about!!

As a commissioner at NYSL, I tell my parent-coaches that their metric of success as a coach is quite simple: If all of the children on your team tell you that they want to play soccer again next year, then you have succeeded as a coach. There are other Leagues and Teams out there that can cater to the needs of those who place winning above all. Our league is not one of them.

With much appreciation,
Jamie Howe