How soccer happened in our family

Like most dads in their 40's, I didn't play soccer growing up.  There was no rec soccer in my hometown in the 1970s and 80s.  We had school soccer, but I guess that was a best efforts thing, and the coaches probably taught athletes of other sports how to play.  I played baseball for a while, then tennis for a longer while.

When my daughter turned 6, my wife insisted that we sign her up for rec soccer.

"Soccer's boring", I said.

"I played soccer in school, and I want her to play", my wife said.

So we signed her up for 4-6 year old soccer in our local rec program.

Yikes.  Ever watch a group of 4-6 year olds play rec soccer?  It ain't pretty.  It's what we like to call "the bee swarm":  One kid gets the ball, breaks away from the pack, and dribbles as far down to the opponent's goal as possible, maybe even scoring.  Every kid on the field follows him/her, until they lose the ball.  Then they go in the opposite direction, and so forth.  No passing, no strategy, nothing.

But she loved it, so she kept playing.  She eventually stopped, because she loved dance more, and she had to miss a lot of spring games to go to dance competitions.

My boys are younger, but they both started playing when they were 4.  Luckily for all of us, they both were on Coach Corey's team.

Coach Corey is possibly the best adult with kids that I've ever met.  And, he also grew up playing soccer.  So he successfully brought that knowledge and love of soccer together with his love of kids, and taught them the basics of soccer.  This included positions and PASSING!

Coach Corey retained most of his kids until they were 12-13 years old.  Our teams weren't always the best teams, but they were the most well-trained and the most fun.  Coaches would marvel at our passing, saying, "I wish my kids would do that."  Well, they didn't teach them to.

Both of my boys played for Coach Corey, with me as assistant for a few years.  Both played all positions, but Beck was mostly a striker/wing and Wyatt played forward, back and keeper.  Both showed an aptitude for the game, eventually outgrowing the rec league and moving on to club soccer when Beck was 11 and Wyatt was 9.

This is absolutely true:  If we hadn't had Coach Corey and his love for kids and soccer, we never would have kept playing.  He taught these three things:

Passion:  If you don't have a passion for something, including soccer, then don't do it.  My boys and a few others showed a passion for the game that carried over to me.  They love it so much that they got good at it, and mover up to the next level.

Technique:  Passing, defense, shooting:  all taught by our rec coach.  You'd be amazed at the volunteer coaches who not only don't teach this, but get mad/frustrated at the teams that do.

Hustle:  Not everyone is fast, but everyone can hustle.  Play aggressively.  Leave it out on the field.  All of our players didn't do this, but almost all of them played to the best of their ability.

So that's how soccer happened in our family.  My love for the game came the best possible way:  by watching my kids.  Then, I grew to love the pro and college game.  There is no other sport I'd rather watch, any time, ever.  But I'd still rather watch them play than anyone else.

Do you love soccer because you love watching your kids play?

Do your kids have passion for soccer?

Have they outgrown their rec league and want to move up to the next level?

If the answer to these three questions isn't "yes" then club soccer may not be for you.

-Eric