February 02, 2009
Getting kids to play on their own

By Mike Woitalla (from Soccer America's Youth Soccer Insider, Jan. 15, 2008)



Take a ball everywhere when you're with your child. It doesn't have to be a soccer ball, in fact, those red, bouncy ones used for schoolyard dodge ball are perfect. At the playground, kick around with your child whenever she feels like it. She may want to kick for a few minutes, then hit the swings. Over time, you're likely to find her enjoying the ball more and more. And chances are other kids will migrate to the ball, and you'll have started a little soccer game.

BOUNCEY PASS BACK. Pass the ball back and forth with your child while keeping it bouncing. Count how many passes you can hit before it stops bouncing or you lose control, turning it into a contest.

KICK AND CATCH. Play kick and catch with your child. Kick it so he can catch it. Then he drops and kicks it back.

SOCCER TENNIS. Take your child to a tennis court with a bouncy ball. Try and kick it back and forth over the net. You can bring tennis rackets, too, and mix things up. A little tennis, a little soccer tennis.

'INDOOR SOCCER.' There are many balls on the market that are soft enough so they won't do too much damage to the house. If you have a den or a hallway, let your children kick around in the house.

BALL NET. Get your child a ball net. It's virtually guaranteed that a child holding a ball in a net on a string will kick it about, which means she's developing a feel for striking the ball.

To tap the ball in the air over and over means you're learning to hit the sweet spot. Juggling with feet and thighs trains players to be comfortable with the ball and develops striking and trapping skills. Besides helping with foot-eye coordination, juggling is a great way to work on balance. It also develops the weak foot.

Coaches and parents can motivate players to juggle on their own by offering small rewards when they reach certain levels, for example, soccer-ball stickers for 5; soccer-ball key chain for 10, etc.

It's difficult at first, so have them let the ball bounce in between. Ask them to drop it on their thigh or foot once, then catch it. Then go for two, and so on. The more they advance, the more fun it gets, and the more they juggle.


MINI-GOALS. Nothing's as exciting as shooting a ball into the net, so set up some small goals in the backyard.

Find a field on a Sunday morning, set up a couple of goals, and gather children of all ages. You're setting up the pickup game that kids of yesteryear created on their own. Don't coach! If adults play along, do so as teammates, not as instructors.




(This was excerpted from an article that first appeared in PLAYSOCCER, the Magazine of the American Youth Soccer Organization, courtesy of AYSO.