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by Drew Price

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Soccer allows its players more freedoms than many sports. It is a player-centered sport as opposed to coach centered sport. It is a sport where its players can choose to involve themselves as much as they want. Even though soccer is not the most popular sport in America, it does appeal to young children because of the freedoms the players can enjoy. It is important to keep in mind that the soccer I am referring to in this article involves young and new players. The game becomes much more complicated as players develop, and therefore, becomes slightly more structured.

In most popular American sports the coach plays a significant role in the outcome of the game, while in soccer the decisions on the field are left up to the players. I am not demeaning soccer coaches now, in fact, I am one. For instance, in football every play offense or defense usually comes from one the coaches in some form or another. Few players are trusted to call every play of every game. Therefore, a football coach basically has an impact on every play. I believe some kids need more freedom than coach-centered sports can offer. Young kids usually play sports for the sole purpose of having fun. Well following orders and memorizing X's and O's may not be a version of fun for younger children.

Baseball, another popular American sport also has a few hangups for younger children. How many times in a baseball game does the right fielder touch the ball? How do you think that right fielder feels after the game when his parents tell him how good he did? I think for younger children that it is much more satisfying to have the opportunity to involve yourself in nearly every play. That aspect of soccer is attractive to young kids. Even though these soccer players have positions to play these positions are not marked with lines or bases, that require players to stand in a certain place (with the exception of the goalie). They are basically assigned an area that they are responsible for offensively and defensively and have the freedom to move about that are which is not at all marked by any boundaries. It is this lack of restrictions that kids love about soccer.

Soccer has a lot of similarities to basketball, but I think still has a stronger appeal for young kids attempted to "find themselves" athletically. I think the reason again is that soccer players tend to have still a little more freedom on the field than basketball players do on a court. I am not a basketball expert, but I enjoy the sport. I believe basketball players are coached to go through certain motions at certain times. Depending on the position they are expected to go to specific places and mark certain people every drive. While in soccer every situation can lead to limitless combinations of plays with eleven players on the field all giving the freedom to move according to their own judgment.

A final point that I want to raise is that among all three sports that I have mentioned and nearly every other sport I can think of. There is quite a bit of individualized pressure on athletes that play certain positions i.e. quarterbacks, pitchers, point guards... Soccer generally (with the exception of the goalie) is a collective effort where it is easy for nonathletic kids to feel they are contributing. They are only one of 22 people on the field, so they pressure is decentralized a bit. I think children that would like to be involved in a sport look to soccer because of the low risk of letting the team down with a mistake. There are ten other people on the field to share the blame, or the glory.

People and children alike enjoy the responsibility to choose for themselves. Sports that do not allow or encourage improvisation may stifle creativity among athletes. I am not an experts in all the sports that I mentioned and by all means was not intending to bash those sports. I am only trying to explain the trend of increasing numbers of young children playing soccer. The fact is these children do love soccer, because of the characteristics I mentioned before, but sadly (for soccer enthusiasts) they use this sport to find out what their athletic abilities are and tend to experiment with other sports eventually leaving soccer behind in search of glory associated with the popularity of the American favorites. I would encourage any youngster to give soccer a shot and stick with it and have a good time; becoming fit, learning teamwork, thinking creatively are just benefits the players receive usually without realizing it.

Learn more about this author, Drew Price.

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