“We are concerned that the beautiful game is in decline. Soccer for children is now very different from earlier generations when the only adult involvement was a call from your mum that your tea was ready. Soccer is no longer beautiful for our kids anymore: it's ugly.” - Paul Cooper, Dutch UK Football School
In a world where children can no longer play outside without supervision, parents and coaches have taken over. The competitive drive adults bring to the game means youngsters no longer have time to fall in love with soccer, to play for fun and thus truly to develop their skills.
Today's children learn from the grown-ups. Without the freedom of the streets, their early experiences of soccer are organized, supervised and coached. They have no real say in what happens, and they don't have time to develop and learn.
The problem areas are:
- Soccer is no longer permitted to be the children's game - it is controlled by adults
- The same children are left on the bench or omitted every game
- Coaches and parents screaming from the touchlines
- Winning comes before fun and development
- Not enough free play where children can solve their own problems
- Children are not encouraged to express themselves
- Children no longer learn about the spirit of the game for themselves
"For a young boy, playing
football should be one of the most wonderful experiences of their lives, but
sadly/regrettably many young players don't find it an enjoyable or pleasurable
activity because too many adults (parents/coaches) are getting in the way by
over coaching, shouting, screaming and raving, and having a win at all costs
philosophy. Unless we adults (who have the power) get our act together on
behalf of our young players, we will not have any football at all because young
boys simply won't want to play - and who could blame them!"
I wish you well with your outstanding campaign.
Tony Whelan - (Assistant Academy
Manager U9-U16s Manchester United FC)
"Football should always be
about enjoyment above all else, especially for youngsters, because if you don't
enjoy it you won't continue to play and to progress. There is definitely a time
and a place for football to get serious, but when kids are involved, it's all
about making sure it's fun - and that's why I support Give Us Back Our
Game™."
Moritz Volz - Fulham & Germany U21s
"More touches of the ball,
more involvement in the game."
Sir Alex Ferguson (on why the younger
players at Man Utd's Academy play 4v4)
"A touch is a touch, even a
bad one."
Bert-Jan Heijmans - dutchUK football
school (Originator of 'Let The Children Play' school project and the Magic
Rectangle)
"Kids football is all about
the individual loving the game: dribbling and shooting, playing games and
scoring goals, experimenting and copying. It is very simple and lots of fun.
Adult football is all about the team and results. It is physical, tactical,
complicated and very serious."
Tom Statham - Manchester United Academy
"I fully support the 'Give us
back our game' campaign. It is about letting children be children and having
fun. We have started to play 4v4 games at the under 9s age group in the
Academy, and not only has it improved their skills and insight but the children
love it. During a break between games one of the teams said 'We want to swap
positions'. We say, 'You decide for yourselves, it is your game'. They love
having the responsibility to make their own decisions both on and off the
pitch. It makes them better all round footballers and develops their
communication and social skills."
David Godley - Watford FC Academy
"Attitude is defined as a person's behavior, which indicates his/her
thoughts, feelings, or opinions. In youth sports, you can tell kids attitudes
by watching their behavior during training or a match. If they see a match as a
game, with an opportunity to learn skills, compete, increase confidence, and
have fun, they're able to go with the flow, have fun and relax.
Overall they show a sense of humor and a sense of good sportsmanship. And
they're able to learn from their mistakes. However if they see the game as a
pressure-filled event with winning as the only acceptable outcome, most of
their energies will be spent trying not to make mistakes. If they make mistakes
(which is inevitable in youth sports) they'll use lots of energy making
excuses, blaming others and complaining about the referee's etc;
Darell J.Burnett - Clinical &
Sports Psychologist
"A lot of great players in
the world will often say they don't know how they produced a piece of game
changing magic - "It just happened", said with a shrug of the
shoulders.
What has actually happened is that they have often merely instinctively carried
out an act from the archives of tricks and instincts built up over the years of
playing football with no boundaries in their formative years."
Oscar Egbogu - (Grew up playing
street football in Africa and now plays 5-a-side in London)
"I have managed a primary
school team and I have to say that Premiership managers don't know the meaning
of the word pressure. You don't get Wayne Rooney's Mum shouting at the manager
for not putting her child on. And it's not often you get three premiership
stars forgetting their boots so they have to play in their school shoes. Kid's
football should be fun. It doesn't matter who wins. In other words 'my kid's
team didn't win that often...'
John O'Farrell - Writer & Broadcaster