Soccer is the undisputed # 1 game in the world and the primary way kids around the world developed their ball skills was through “street soccer”. World-class players came out of this environment. Most pro players did not see a coach or join a club until the age of 12.

Traditionally, kids played in open spaces, schoolyards, on the street, or anywhere they could put together a field. The kids directed this free play. The kids, with little input from adults, carried out the creation & management of the game. The game was theirs.

They played everyday, sometimes for hours, no subs, no lines, no boring drills, no laps or lectures, no parents or coaches pacing up and down the sidelines yelling instructions. The played without pressure to win or perform for anyone.

They allowed the game to be their teacher, and thus learned to experiment, solve problems, make decisions, learn from trial & error, observed other players, become self-reliant, self-directed and expressed their imagination & creativity. In the beginning “discovery learning” is more time-consuming than the traditional “Little League” approaches of drills & coaching, but in the end this process actually speeds up development.

They saw “The Big Game” through their own eyes and played their version of it and they enjoyed it!

All over the world that game is disappearing. The risks of modern life and the rise of organized youth programs have all but eliminated the unstructured, child-centered games of the past. The consequences of these changes are being felt deeply in soccer countries around the world. Even in North America, the realization of too much structure in young ages is not conducive to the development of players.

There is little free time in modern life, playing in one’s own free time has been replaced with the obligatory overly-coached & overly structured soccer time.

The players don’t gather themselves to play for fun, and when they do play they are outnumbered 2 to 1, parent to player. The fields are marked & lined, goals are in place. The fields rest idle until it is soccer time, and soccer time is organized time. The soccer ball sits in the closet & the child plays video games until they are told to play.

Our game, which was free and spontaneous, is now organized and obligatory…so where do we go from here?