Soccer is a team sport that is an excellent addition to a child’s life, so it’s great when your son or daughter says they want to play. Not only will this mean that there might be some extra free time in your day when you aren’t responsible for making sure your child is entertained, but it also means they will be starting one of the most valuable experiences of their life. Team sports can create an excellent foundation for basic concepts that are needed throughout the rest of their life, like working together in a team, organization, strategy and bonding with your teammates.
If you really want to encourage your kid to enjoy the sport, it is important to keep a few things in mind. The first thing to keep in mind is that you want to be supportive, but not overbearing. Pay attention to how they are acting; be ready to step back and allow them to attend practices without you if you notice that your presence is distracting them. It may become obvious that you are unintentionally distracting them because they are concerned about what you’ll think of them; don’t take it personally, just let them have some practices where they can concentrate on what they’re doing.
Another thing to think about is how you react to the games or practices that you do watch. You can always be enthusiastic, of course, but if a child sees their parent become angry or disgusted by how their game is going, it could seriously undermine any joy your son or daughter receives from the game.
The most important thing is to try to keep things regarding the sport fun. Yelling at a kid because they don’t kick, trap or head the ball correctly will only serve to reduce their own self confidence in their abilities. If they don’t seem to be doing a move properly, the best thing to do is take them aside and demonstrate how it’s done, maybe explain to them why it’s done that way and so on.
Above all, make sure that all the criticism given is done in a positive and constructive way with an attitude of teaching, whenever you or anyone else is helping your child with their techniques. Sometimes it is enough to just explain to the child why the move is supposed to be done as it is being taught, so they have a clearer understanding of what they need to do.
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