When it comes to youth soccer, clubs and teams have a bad habit of adopting a “win at all costs” attitude. While there is nothing wrong with a desire to succeed, the true purpose and value of the organization is often lost in the hunt for the next tournament trophy or state cup championship. Clubs must realign their focus on instilling passion for soccer from the outset. This starts with the recreational program.
Recreational Soccer is the foundation of club soccer. With 99.9% (not an official stat) of players kicking their first soccer ball during recreational competition, the importance of this program is undeniable.
A recreational program must foster a love for the sport. This soccer passion can be developed both on the field as well as off. On the field it is the responsibility of the coaches to provide a fun and educational atmosphere for a child to develop athletically and socially. Off the field it is the responsibility of the club administrators to infuse a desire to be a fan of the game.
There are tons of ways you, the soccer administrator, can help develop a love for the game of “footie”. The best method for infusing this passion is to open your recreational player’s eyes to the world of soccer. This is where your website comes into play.
Step 1: Create an “In-House Only” section of the website. Your recreational players need a digital home that they can call their own. This way the club can speak directly to these players with news, stats, and updates that apply specifically to them.
Step 2: Introduce your players to the world of soccer. Drama, controversy, and confrontation abound on a daily basis, and your players will get hooked! With the help of soccer RSS feeds your recreational players can stay up to date with the latest soccer news, keep track of soccer stars, and learn about “The Beautiful Game”.
Step 3: Its all about community! Now that your club’s recreational players have fallen head first into soccer nirvana, its time to let them interact. Within the “In-House Only” section of your club website, create a “Soccer Fans Forum” and “Recreational Weblog” (blog) so your players can share their thoughts and express their opinions. These forms of Web 2.0 technology are immensely popular with young players and interest will ignite like wildfire.
A club’s recreational program must embody the true meaning of youth soccer. The game should be played for fun first and silverware second. If your organization can successfully instill a love for the game in its recreational players, then the club has done its part in helping the development of its growing players.
The Administrator wants to know what your club does for its recreational program. Also, how has a successful recreational program helped the club as a whole? Post a comment below, send an email to Jon@bluesombrero.com, or call 404-835-0305.
Unfortunately with our club developing a passion for soccer comes in last.
Winning the hardware at all costs seems to be the common theme here. Much of this is pushed by the parents whom pressure the kids and coaches to win no matter what. Its very sad. Select teams seem to have this issue more than Rec. However it still occurs in Rec. Select parents seem to demand winning since they pay higher fees.
Our club also continues to grab younger and younger players away from the recreational program in order to push them towards select as early as possible. A player never gets to develop a passion for the game as they are placed in competitive pressure select programs earlier and earlier.
The club does hold a Recreational tournament in the spring in which all players receive an award.
Posted by: Docguru | December 07, 2007 at 02:34 PM