Down fall of American Youth Soccer (applies to other youth sports)

I'm a little confused on why there is a "U4" soccer league.  Whatever happened to letting kids at that age just play and be normal kids?  That is as much of a problem with youth sports as what this guy is complaining about.

Local youth leagues such as AYSO and local little league should be about fun. Everyone plays, everyone gets a trophy, etc.

Youth travel leagues and high school sports should be where things get more serious, where playing time restrictions and awards only for winning should exist.

wrote a 1500 word piece on a 4 and under soccer league.

I didn't and still don't mind participation certificates. I felt good about myself playing soccer starting as a third grader even if we didn't finish at the top of the standings and I think the participation certificate was just an extra reminder of that. Not that participation certificates are at all necessary or would be missed.

Maybe it's just that I had a good dad who taught me to be humble and that no matter how good you are there will always be someone better than you in the world so to not get arrogant. Taught me to also win and lose graciously.

Seems adults are so worried kids can't learn to lose properly nowdays. If I never lost or was always getting atta boys I would have never had any reason to try to get better.

LOL U4...are you kidding me? I'm all about teaching kids that age basic skills but how about we just let them have some fun...

Youth sports has been FUBAR'd due to a lot of factors:

1. Meddling parents
2. AAU/Travel
3. The internet/You Tube
4. ESPN
5. Rivals/Scout/247

There are so many reasons that contribute to the lack of  proper development that it's discouraging at times.  I say this as a dad of two high school athletes, a former athlete myself, and a current high school coach.

My take is that the kids are 3 years-old. Team activities at that age help children learn to socialize, play well with others, develop coordination, and to have fun. They can barely count, much less actually keep track of a score or care at all about who wins a game. That's probably why the league didn't have the children playing actual games. Let them start competing around 7 or 8, when they're old enough to appreciate that they are in a competition.

There'll be plenty of tema to instill a competetive drive in kids, teach them about winning, reward accomplishment etc at the older levels.  At U4 ( or really, anything under 7 or 8) it needs to be about getting the kids interested in the sport so that they are still playing when they get older... otherwise your little Johnny all-star won't have anyone to play against.  

The guy you are linking to is a total jerkoff.

The guy was complaining about the pussification of preschool soccer.

The same guy wrote that he had his 4 y/o daughter with a 102.5 degree fever out on the field playing (the fever was just an excuse for how poorly their team played).

The league was supposed to be practice only, but some stupid parents thought "why don't we have them play 'real' games". Now he's complaining that these kids are being coddled too much.

While the article was likely intended to spark a debate on the subject in general, I certainly do not have any problem with treating a 4 year old with kid gloves and letting all the players score.

have been "Downfall-ing" since forever....also, i'm pretty sure that once I received participation and sportsmanship trophies at the age of 3, i've expected them the rest of my life. just yesterday, i was bummed out I didn't get the "Showing Up To Working On Time" trophy.

Tomorrow is game number one for my daughter's U8 soccer team, of which I am the coach.

Of the 13 girls on the team, 8 of them had never played soccer before.

My goal is to keep these girls playing the game over time, in order for my local area, my state, heck, the nation, to have a larger pool of interested, quality soccer players. How do I do that if I'm demanding they win at all costs in an UNDER EIGHT game? Kids just want to play.

In my league, we don't keep score (the author of that article would also be wise to know that the Dutch do not keep score in their games until the U-14 level). I play each girl an equal amount of minutes. They play all the positions.

I couldn't care less whether they win or lose the game. What I do care about is that they love playing, they are happy "Coach Jason" brought the Freeze Pops for after practice and games, and 100% of the girls I coached last year, in my first year, are still playing.

Let me get this straight.  This is a U4 league (the "U" stands for under in case you don't realize it) which is not unlike Gymboree and you are upset because they are actually babying babies, correct?  I agree, when is this society going to stop treating 3 and 4 year olds like they are babies?  The kids whose parents can't afford soccer should be working in the mills like the other kids their age!

For god's sake. These kids are so young. This isn't the time to build a ton of competitiveness into them. 

You know why the countries that have great soccer training programs have those programs? They don't even play games with full teams (at a high level) until close to teenage years. At most they're playing scrimmages, but really they just drilling the crap out of skills. This is true in the Netherlands, Italy, Spain, Brazil and other countries I'm sure. Once that base is there, they begin to teach positional awareness etc in games at age 12 or so.

They start playing hard games in England from the beginning and look what that's gotten them. Gritty players, sure, but it's hard to argue against the idea the English national team, which matters so dearly to them, is missing something.

This has little to do with a soccer coach bitching about the lack of competition in a game among 4 year olds except this: these games are not important. These games are not important. These games are not important.

There's no reason to start drilling competitiveness into children (which will happen naturally almost certainly among many kids, no need to drill it) until they're at least into the double digits in age. 4 years old? Just get the kid running around and if they wants to go pick flowers and jump in puddles behind the goal then try to at least get them on the field. That's about the extent of it. Get them interacting and running around and forget about it.

Do I think it's ridiculous to have every kid score? Sure. But the underlying idea behind this blog post is insane.

The number one reason Americans have so few creative mid-fielders at the highest levels is that individual (selfish) play is not taught at the lowest levels.  Stop teaching kids how to pass the ball and start teaching them how to beat other players off the dribble!  Starting kids in organized soccer below age 10, in my opinion, robs the game of its creativity. 

Obviously this guy is an idiot for bemoaning the practices of a U4 soccer league. On the issue of "participation awards" though, I think that its not necessarily a horrible thing. If a kid is motivated to become good at something, he is going to work hard for it regardless of whether everyone is rewarded equally. Some people have a drive to succeed and others don't, I don't think "participation awards" change that.

The downfall is crazy parents who worry too much. Kid's toys have to be educational, cartoons bilingual, and all of their food organic. I was no doubt brought into this world by a Doctor smoking a cig, played dodge ball, and ate pesticides by the pound. By all accounts I turned out to be a healthy and productive member of society against all odds. 

As far as this soccer thing goes, the kids are 4 years old, they are not playing soccer anyway. It's just a bunch of little kids running around kicking a ball and parents willing, having fun.

is what is wrong with youth soccer and other sports.  No one should care about the cometitiveness of a U4 league, regardless of sport or gender. 

I work with a women who has three kids that all play youth soccer.  All three have practice 4 days a week plus games and tournaments.  They play year round, indoor and outdoor, and really never get a break from the sport.

This may all be fine and dandy if you your kid is a superstar and close to college, but her oldest kid is like 12 years old. 

Let the kids learn how to play, and learn sportsmanship and teamwork while they don't even have pubes.  If you want to take it serious after that, go for it, but remember...your kid is not as good as you think he/she is.

While the article wasn't as bad as I was anticipating, it was still ridiculous. Does he complain about t-ball because every kid has the opportunity to hit a stationary ball instead of a moving pitch? Or little leagues that allow the entire lineup to bat each inning? While I don't think the league should allow every kid to score - especially if they're only playing 15 minute games - he shouldn't be making such a big deal about it. Everything doesn't have to have a competitive nature at that age.

I agree with many of the sane posters above about the basic value of involvement in U-4 soccer... and it has nothing to do with wins or losses or goals scored.  It's about involvement and participation in an activity, whatever sport that may be and having fun.

One of the main problems with American "Youth" sports is crazy parents like this guy, setting their sights on the USWNT or bust.  I've seen so many great athletes burn out because of their overly zealous parents trying to live vicariously though their youth.  If this is his frustration level at U4, he'll probably stroke out by the time high school comes around and his kid is sick of soccer.

I coach, U5 and U8 currently, I've played... though college, and this guy is just the typical club soccer freak that will be buying his little Susie a new pull over/jersey if she scores 8 goals in the tournament this weekend, at the expense of the team actually winning, but that’s OK because she played with a 102 fever, and was the best player on a losing team. 

At this level especially It's about fun, and staying active until the child and the parent decide to pursue the club level.  And of course you teach the fundamentals of the sport, and sportsmanship, they don’t even need to realize they are doing this while they are just enjoying playing the game.  And handing out participation medals to give them something to be proud of and to hang on their wall, there is nothing wrong with that for developmental level youth sport.

Had to create an account to give my 2cents on this one… guys like this is the reason I’m coaching my kids!  Love the Mgoblog community, find the information and the community very insightful, been a fan for a long time… 

The is U4 soccer.

They are 4 or younger.

There are no "teachable moments". There are no lessons. These kids like running around on a field. Just let them do it.

If we're talking about teenagers, I may agree.

I actually just found a box with my old grade-school soccer trophies while I was cleaning my basement.  There were a few achievement-type trophies but mostly just "you played on the team, you get a trophy".  Somehow I managed to develop a normal sense of competitiveness and a reasonable understanding on life's rewards regardless, and when I was a kid they were actually neat to have.

There was also a medallion with a soccer ball hanging from a red, white, and blue ribbon.  It wasn't marked, so I'm not sure how I got that.  I decided to convert that into the "I ate all my dinner" medal... my daughter gets to wear it for the evening if she eats all her dinner that night.  Incidentally, she's 3 and a half years old, so just the right age for a U4 league.  She definitely does not need to have competitiveness forced on her at this point, we're working more on the abilty to share and play well with others.  Seems like those are more important skills to master first.

When I get older and have kids, they're going to be training under Barwis. They're going to be the best damn U4 soccer players this world has ever seen!