How To Play Soccer At A Younger Age

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1 A Beautiful Game Vince Ganzberg Indiana Youth Soccer Director of Education This past fall I purchased a book entitled, A Beautiful Game by Tom Watt. The book shares untold stories of some of soccer s best players of today, and how they grew up playing. The book looks more like a conversation book but the stories told by some of today s greatest players like Messi, Canavarro, Van Persie, Donovan, etc. are priceless. One of the prevailing themes of the book is how they all enjoyed playing the game of soccer in the streets. The players in this book look back at their childhoods, family homes, and friends and share some of the ways they would play in the streets. Organized vs. Unorganized Throughout the book, many of these famous players shared the ages in which they started to play organized or went to get official training. I have put a chart below that has all of the players in the book that gave their age when they started to play organized soccer. There were several in the book that didn t reveal their age when they started to play organized soccer, but it was evident that they all started around the same time. Player Country Age Benjani Zimbabwe 13 Bouric Poland 14 Cannavaro Italy 12 Cassilas Spain 9 De La Cruz Ecuador 10 Diarra Mali 11 Donavan USA 10 Figo Portugal 11 Galindo Cuba 10 Guerrero Honduras 7 Jaidi Tunisia 10 James England 12 Jazic Canada 11 Kallio Finland 10

2 Kanu Nigeria 11 Kl Karkouri Morroco 12 Kompany Belgium 7 Laursen Denmark 14 Messi Argentina 7 Mido Egypt 8 Nakamura Japan 5 Ribery France 12 Rosicky Czech Republic 6 Ruiz Guatemala 12 Samaras Greece 12 Schwarzer Australia 7 Silva Brazil 11 Suarez Mexico 12 Vogul Switzerland 10 Average Age 10.2 As you can see from the table above the range varies from 5 years (Nakamura) to 14 years (Laursen and Bouric). Nakamura states: In Japan, we start everything younger than in the West. (p. 46) His early start, as you can see, is exceptional and also cultural. While the average age for those that gave it in the book was around 10 years old, the culture of soccer was everywhere around them. Even players that started playing organized soccer later in life played unorganized or street football at a young age in their neighborhoods. Granted the culture in other countries is all about soccer. While in the United States, we have fostered a NFL culture. Sundays in the fall and winter are filled with tv coverage, people going to watch football games, etc. The one advantage that the American culture has produced is the competitive spirit. We have that don t tread on me attitude. That is our culture.

3 I can guarantee you that on June 12 th, England will be more concerned with the American spirit than with our technical ability. The men s national team recently just played Holland, and Rafael van de Vaart, offered these comments: "A robust side," van der Vaart said in Dutch, when asked what he thought of his opponents. "But not great in terms of quality. Hard to play against though. They played compact, we had trouble getting through. Soccerwise they're not great, but they're hard to beat. As a soccer nation, we are gradually making advancements on the men s side of the game. While our women s soccer has been at the forefront of the game for many years, other countries are rapidly gaining ground. Unless we create better technical players and transition to a more soccer-oriented culture, I am unsure whether focusing results-oriented soccer at an earlier age is the answer to the goal of creating more and better competition. So the question begs is there a magical age to start organized, result- oriented soccer? Perhaps, but competition is perception. In a day where more leagues around the country are offering state championships for U8 s, U9 s and U10 s, it is prudent that we evaluate what age is appropriate for our youngest players to play for results, standings, and titles. It seems to me that players can also get competition outside of an organized environment. Fabio Cannavaro, captain of the 2006 Italian National World Cup Championship team gives this quote: Back then, football was all about enjoyment; the best fun we could have: the fun of playing, scoring goals, taking on other kids. We d come home, back to our neighborhood, proud because we d won. And it wasn t just winning the game: we used to play for a bottle of Coke or a bottle of water. There was nearly always some kind of prize riding on the game. (p. 76) Even though the neighborhood games weren t structured or organized, they were still competitive. So, the real question is do we really need to create results-oriented competition for our youngest players or focus on creating a true soccer culture? I would challenge coaches of all levels to try and create a little of both for our players. The world-renowned players in the book all mentioned how they would play on the streets and create their own games. To help foster this culture in American soccer, coaches can incorporate some street/backyard games into their training sessions. Here are a few that were in the book: Robin Van Persie (Holland) - Goal to Goal There was one special game we always played. We called it Goal to Goal. You each stand in front of one of the goals. You have to try and score in the other goal but, to do that, you can t go more than two meters away from your own. Shots from about 23 meters (approximately 25 yards). You can t use your hands but you can pull yourself up on the crossbar to kick the ball away; we learned special tricks like that to go with the game. (p. 110) For safety reasons, I do not endorse hanging on the crossbar for any reason, but coaches could safely play this game in training using flags or cones. See diagram below:

4 Craig Gordon (Scotland) - Ten Bys If there weren t many of us, we played games like World Cup or Ten Bys: one player had to cross the ball in and the others had to try and score with a header or a volley. If they missed, it was a goal to the goalkeeper. Whoever was the first to get to ten goals won. (p. 58) This game could be played in the middle or end of a training session for the U12 and up player. See diagram below: Three and out While this game wasn t in the book, I thought I would share this one. It is a very simple game that can be played for almost all ages but is really most appropriate for U8 s and up. Any number of players can play. The object is to score goals. One player is in goal while the rest of the players try to score. The first player to score three goals wins and whoever has the lowest score goes into the goal while the winner stays out to play another round. See diagram below:

5 In closing, we all know that kids want to win, and we all want them to strive to win. Let s face it winning is an American mentality. Let s create a culture however where the kids are determining what winning is. I will end with a story that was passed along to me. There was a very successful high school football coach. Unfortunately his team didn t make it as far as they normally do in the end of season tournament. After the game, the newspaper reporter asked how successful was his season? The coach replied, I don t know - ask me in 15 or 20 years. The message here could be interpreted as there is more to coaching than winning games. A coach can be successful if their players have a good experience during the journey, to learn life lessons, and to fall in love with the beautiful game. Source: A Beautiful Game : Football Through The Eyes of The World s Greatest Players by Tom Watt (Abrams, 2008)