Nearly anyone with kids in America has sat on the sideline of a soccer field and cheered on their children as they played the sport. The quality of play ranges from “the beehive” and glorified kickball to impressive displays of skill, effort, and teamwork.

The purpose of this site is to highlight ongoing concerns about youth soccer and player development. Despite the strides the professional side of the game has made in America over the past 30 years, there remains a crisis of sorts in youth soccer. The apparent conflict between winning and player development, coupled with (at times significant) parental misconceptions, severely inhibit youth development in this country.

The next time you’re at a youth soccer tournament, listen to the sideline screams from a game you’re not associated with – a game where you don’t know the parents, the kids, or even the teams. Don’t watch the game; just listen. What do you hear? Chances are, you’ll hear the same inane comments heard at every youth tournament. I’m willing to guess that you hear the following:

“Clear it!”
“Pass”
“Send it!”
“Boot it!”
“Great ball!” (overly used, commonly when it really isn’t a “great ball”)
And my personal favorite, “Shoot!”

On the surface, these comments could be seen as positive encouragement, relating to a parent’s desire to see their child’s team “win” a soccer game. However, there is a consistency in these comments that reveals a deeper message, and – subconsciously – impacts long-term player development.

What you may notice from all these comments is that all of them prevent players from actually thinking for themselves. Think about this for a minute – do you really think a young player needs to be told to shoot? At a remarkably young age, players see the value in shooting, and know if they’re too far away (or at a very bad angle) to shoot. In terms of development, it is critical that a young player begins to learn to think for themselves. If a ten year-old player hears his mom or dad yell “Shoot it!”, what do you think he will do? Even if a shot is warranted, the player needs to recognize the situation and come to the conclusion himself.

Unfortunately, these and similar commands provide little to no youth development benefits whatsoever. The “Golden Age” of youth soccer development  – ages 9-12 – requires a concentration on ball mastery skills. The act of clearing it, or booting it, essentially robs a player of attempting to play the ball out of the back to his teammates – a vital element in the modern game. These sideline comments actually serve to stifle this important growth component.

Instead of telling a young player to “kick it”, what if that young player heard praise for his effort?  What if he experienced the freedom to learn from and enjoy the game on their own?