by Stephen Thorne

Created on: September 06, 2008

All around the world there are budding marradonnas,peles,ronaldo,s! But the reality is only a tiny percentage of kids actually "make it"
Why? There are many reasons. The old saying is that the only escape from poverty is to become a proffessional footballer,or get rich playing in a band.

This of course has contained within it socialogical and class system parameters.But is it realistic? The answer is simply NO.For obvious reasons,or are they?

In the poorer parts of our globe,where the world game is played,most kids aspire too be a
proffessional at some stage.
So how are they going too achieve this?when their very backgrounds work both towards,and,against this dream. Towards it out of sheer desperation,and lack of oppurtunity,and as a human being it shames this writer to add HUNGER!

Yet at the same time the very same things work against them.I,ts hard too play sport when
your starving or suffering from disease or struggling too get by on nothing from day too
day.
Yet most of the truly GREAT players have come from these impoverished backgrounds.

We can learn a lesson from these kids struggling so hard.
The game these days really is a global multi-billion dollar industry,and is only going too
get richer.It is a law unto itself,so far F.I.F.A president sepp Blatter has avoided signing up to the world anti-doping agency,we still are allowed too send underage teams too the olympics.But then after all, the olympics needs football more than football needs the olympics.

So we have POWER, as as a sport,the question is how do we use it,and are we using it in the right direction.
Paradoxically,yet increasingly the game is turning too these impoverised,countries,where the kids play in bare feet,on,brown dirt patches,thet are HAPPY to call their pitch.

The first lesson we can learn from these kids of Rio,Soweto, is they will play any where at
any time,one against one,two on two and so on.So what? The so what is that these kids have so many touches of the ball in these impromptu pick up games they naturally develop touch,
feel,control,and importantly balance.

Most of our kids are driven too training by mum or dad,and well done too those parents!
but the kids unfortunately develop an attitude,that, that is enough,too turn them into world class players.IT,S NOT.

So all training should involve maximum participation at all times. The kids should never be standing around "awaiting there turn"
EVERYTHING should be done with the ball at the feet, to increase the number of touches they have per training

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