Why soccer is the best sport for kids

[daryn]

so do all of these kids soccer leages not keep score anymore? i'm not THAT old am i? but when i played we kept score, kept records, had playoffs, championships, trophies to the winners... what the hell happened?

[4_2_it]

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so do all of these kids soccer leagues not keep score anymore? i'm not THAT old am i? but when i played we kept score, kept records, had playoffs, championships, trophies to the winners... what the hell happened?

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From my experience (FL and PA), the U-8 (7-8 year olds) is where they starting keeping score. The 4-6 year olds just go out and kick the ball around with no goal keeper and no 'official' score keeping (of course each kid knows the score and the team record)..

I have a 14 year old daughter who plays on a co-ed rec soccer team and the parents are very cool. Everyone knows each other and there are no issues even though the games are very competitive with an average of someone getting a yellow card every other match (usually for rough play).

My other daughter plays on a club team that is a bit more serious, but the parents are no where near as bad as some of the Pee Wee football and Little League parents that I saw when I played close to 30 years ago.

[pvn]

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so do all of these kids soccer leages not keep score anymore? i'm not THAT old am i? but when i played we kept score, kept records, had playoffs, championships, trophies to the winners... what the hell happened?

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Scoreless leagues are mostly for *really* young kids. I have a three year old in a "micro soccer" league. It's four players on a team, they just kick the ball around. It's awesome. It's also, incidentally, the best way for kids to learn the game. what most people think of as "good practice" is actually incredibly ineffective in building useful soccer skills compared to just playing pick-up games with minimal rules or officiating.

http://www.npr.org/templates/story/s...toryId=5428473

[kidcolin]

kids start leagues that young? I just ran around my neighborhood like crazy when I was 3-5. Don't think I started little league until I was 6.

[IrishHand]

I don't know anyone with kids who would suggest any sport other than soccer. It's phenomenal physically - building both coordination and fitness levels (the latter probably more important for most American kids).

The fact that soccer parents tend to be less intrusive and inappropriate is just a bonus, really.

[Triumph36]

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kids start leagues that young? I just ran around my neighborhood like crazy when I was 3-5. Don't think I started little league until I was 6.

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I don't think kids are allowed to run around anymore without a minimum of three people watching them.