I'm pissed about the soccer loss, and this is a rant.

Pastor · Jun 13, 2006

After the game, Bush made a second phone call to say, "You're doing a heck of a job, Brucie!"

Madhavok · Jun 13, 2006

Twoback said:

ServeItUp said:

Hack-n-Flack2 said:

I worked with a brit once at a summer camp. One day he lamented that the American kids he's seen are as fundamentally sound as anybody. They can kick, trap, head, tackle and mark as well as anybody. The problem is that once the ball is on their foot they don't know what to do with it, except look for an open man or try to run some sort of diagrammed play. We don't encourage improvising or passing into space and we criticize people for being ballhogs if they try to dribble past an opponent. Do you think anybody ever called Ronaldihno, Henry or Sevchenko a ballhog? This comes from the lack of a sandlot soccer culture, if you will. No creativity, no imagination, no intuition. Unfortunately our culture of over-coaching has breeded a kind of soccer that is too structured and too disciplined for our own good. The predictability gets exposed against the top-tier teams in international competition.

The Brazil soccer article in ESPN Magazine provided a pair of illuminating points, at least to me.

1. There are about 200,000 pro soccer players in Brazil. Most just play for food, but it's their job.

2. Youngsters in Brazil are taught the individual skills and encouraged to improvise from a young age. It isn't until much later that the concept of teamwork is introduced.
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These two posts have made so much sense, given that I've covered high school soccer over the last few years. The sad thing is this: what makes soccer a beautiful game is the spontaneity, the creativity it encourages. And American youth coaches coach that right the hell out of their players. Maybe the Brasileiros and their five Cups have it right — let the kids be creative, and THEN round it into a team concept.
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You know, the more I think about this, the more I think it's crap.
On the one hand, Landon Donovan certainly is a creative player. In fact, one knock on him is that he won't shoot because he's always trying to invent something.
On the other, Cristiano Ronaldo, who is not American, frequently is criticized for trying to be too cute on the field.
So you can't have it both ways.
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I've had the pleasure of watching quite a few soccer matches early in the spring; they're youth matches, but soccer nonetheless. So anyway, my sister (age 12) plays on an under-14 regional team and can pretty much dribble circles around everyone and score at will. She was averaging around 2 goals a game for four or so games. However, she hasn't scored in two games and has pretty much passed the ball when she's on a scoring chance . After her game on Sunday, I asked her how come she doesn't drive to the net anymore. She said her coach told her to pass the ball more because parents were complaining that she kept scoring and was a ballhog!!

Is the 'everyone-is-a-winner' mentality that seems to be taking over youth sports?

Twoback · Jun 13, 2006

Now, that, I can see.
You know, there's never been a Baby Boomer who had a child that didn't deserve to be a superstar.

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I'm pissed about the soccer loss, and this is a rant.

Pastor Active Member

Madhavok Well-Known Member

Twoback Active Member

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I'm pissed about the soccer loss, and this is a rant.

Pastor Active Member

Madhavok Well-Known Member

Twoback Active Member

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