This Article is from my friends at footblogball
Have you ever gone back to a place where you played football as a kid ?It could have been a playground a field, a back garden, and somewhere in your distant memory you recall how vast this surface was how endless amount of children would gather just to expecience the freedom, the fun and joy of kicking a ball……..and now as an adult you stand there looking at what was once your Maracana, Wembley, Old Trafford and you are shocked at how small it is and you wonder how the hell did you all fit in there. You got plenty of touches of the ball and as the the famous games, legends and myths race through your head, you are smiling now as you were smiling then.
Despite boundaries imposed on us (many self imposed through conditioning) we, even in our adult world host an inner longing and desire to PLAY. This desire burns even brighter and stronger in our children. New pathways through sensory systems are opened as signals are sent shooting around the body. Harmonic rhythms and new patterns of movement are formed, co-ordination and balance are developed.
Nowadays the focus seems to be on restricting the kids enviroment and playing conditions through a constant focus on results and the application of adult expectation which in itself can result in many young children been pushed aside.
The adult football coach has a responsibility to remember why he is there. To provide oppurtunities to play football and when needed to give support and encouragement without interference. Allow the kids to play the game they love, because that is how they learn best.
A person only plays when he/she, in the full meaning of the word is a human being, and he/she is a complete human being only when he/she plays :Frederich Schiller (The ethical development of the human being 15th letter)
PLAY, DEVELOP and be INSPIRED.
By the footblogball
