These tips are meant to make your child's soccer experience enjoyable. Through experience, we've found that making soccer a fun, positive learning experience is the surest way to keep kids playing over the long haul. Many kids who have an unhappy experience and quit a sport do so because a parent pushed them too hard or was negative. With that in mind, we offer a few tips gained through years of experience with many players:
� When a game's over, try asking "Did you have fun?" rather than "Did you win?" or "Did you score a goal?" Avoid offering rewards for goals scored (after all, a child may have a great game without scoring). Put the emphasis on learning and having fun. If your child's not enjoying the experience, he or she won't be as quick to improve.
� Make the ride to and from the field positive. On the way home, find something to praise in your child's performance. Say some complimentary things first, then mention a facet of the game you think your child might improve on. Try not to harp on a weakness. If you don't think your child is aggressive enough, pushing them to play more aggressively may only make them anxious. Encourage your child to play to please themselves, not a parent.
� Keep comments from the sideline encouraging � and brief. Offer praise ("Nice kick," "Good try"), but avoid coaching your child. We encourage our coaches to allow the children to begin making their own decisions on the field, and that's harder with people yelling instructions. Our philosophy is to coach more at practice, less at games.
� In the excitement of a game, it's tempting to tell your child to "boot it!" or "kick it!" As coaches, we ask them to dribble and control the ball and �the hard part �not whack it. There's a time to boot the ball, but at this stage we emphasize control and finesse.
� Keep a ball handy for your child. Kids learn as much (if not more) in unstructured play. Going outside and just dribbling around may be a better learning opportunity than taking your child outside "to work" on something. Keep soccer fun, not homework! Having a ball at their foot (even a tennis or foam ball indoors) is the most important thing. Play with your child. Play keepaway, shoot on each other, dribble around an obstacle course. Watch a game on TV together, go to a Wizards game. Even if soccer wasn't your sport as a child, showing interest is important to your child.
� What do you do if your child doesn't want to come to soccer? Kids who are 4 and 5 need plenty of unstructured time. If your child has had a long day at preschool or kindergarten, it may be OK to skip a day of practice. Let him watch cartoons or play with friends. You can say, "Let's take a day off, but we'll go the next time."
� Above all, soccer's a game. Keep it fun.
Jul 2, 2005, 15:28
