When I was a kid, it was common for me to spend most of my time out of the house playing in the neighborhood. I spent the majority of my time playing games, making up games, and just playing with other kids in the area. Everything from baseball, basketball, football, roller hockey, skate boarding, riding bikes, every tag game you can think of, and of course, soccer. We were just always looking to play. There have been plenty of articles written about the importance of “play” for kids and how that seems to be missing from the daily lives of today’s child. I do not know what specific benefits I gained from my experiences playing in the streets with my friends, on our own, with very little adult supervision (for better or worse), but I am positive it played an important part of my development as a soccer player and young person. As the world has changed, and it is not as feasible and safe for kids to spend hours unattended outside, so kids have lost the opportunity to play like I did when I was a kid. This is why “organized sports” needs to be called on to fill that void.
The problem is well documented that kids do not play on their own as much anymore (if at all) as in the past. It is not just a soccer related issue, but a wider issue for kids. Everything, from the start of their day, to the end of their day, is often adult driven. When kids are around other kids, most of the time it is under direct adult supervision and control. The adult is controlling what the kids are doing, how they do it, how long they do it for, and if what they are doing is RIGHT or WRONG. When kids play on their own, they decide all of that.
Many sport organizations are beginning to make a transition to help fill the void of “play” in kids’ lives. Within the context of organized sports, they are creating “unorganized” opportunities for kids to be kids and enjoy games in their purest, backyard, grassroots, form. These might be events the organizations hold or just how the coach approaches a practice session or part of a session.
Open Fields and Pick Up are becoming more popular. Soccer clubs and facilities provide days for kids to come out and play without any adult interference. The kids pick the teams, type of game, and the rules. Everything is in control of the players. The game starts and ends when the players want it to, they play for as long as they want, they add players to teams when needed or take turns playing. It gives control to the players and lets them play freely. They can experiment, try things on their own, joke around as they are playing with friends and teammates, and no one will correct them. No one will tell them something was done well or done wrong.
Some coaches include this type of format within their training sessions. When players arrive at practice, they are told to begin playing. As players arrive, they form teams and play. Again, very little guidance from the coach in regards to what type of game to play, who is on each team, size of the field, how they score, so the kids just decide on their own. For the first 15 minutes of practice or until practice is scheduled to start, the kids play on their own. On teams that do this, I have heard of players begging their parents to get to practice 30 minutes early so they can play more.
By play, it does not always have to be an actual game with two teams. It can be any type of game between a couple players or a whole group. Sometimes there can be several different games going on at the same time. A couple players could be trying to hit a tree from different distances, while two others are trying to keep the ball from one another. Another small group could be playing keep away or a game. No matter what they are doing, they are playing and having fun with one another.
Another good idea is having team events where soccer is not even involved. The kids get together and play other games or sports. They play but not the game the group normally plays together. This incorporates more of the free play benefits as now the kids are interacting and playing games they are not as familiar with. The kids can show each other different things they are good at and teach each other. This is similar to what would happen in the neighborhood growing up. One kid may be a really good basketball player, and we would all play with him. As we were playing, the kid who was a little better would help the kids just learning or we would try to make the teams fair based on the one kid who was much better than everyone else. By watching and playing with other kids who were good at different things, I got better at those activities as well.
Although these are not truly “free play” as in the context of what it was like when kids just played all day in the neighborhood moving from house to house and backyard to backyard, there is still an “organized” piece to it, it is closer to that play experience that kids do not get as much anymore. It provides those opportunities to be around games and sports without a coach or without a purpose, other than to play. When kids play, they are not doing it to improve a skill or get better at something. They just do it because it is fun. They are interacting with other kids, making friends, making memories, and again, having fun. When you remove adults from the equation, it allows the kids to have more freedom of what they can do. Often, the kids can figure out and imagine things that are no longer as available in our adult mindsets. Kids see the world differently, and when allowed to play on their own, create the games they want to play.
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