How to Foster a Love of Soccer From an Early Age: 7 Tips

If you love soccer, you probably hope your children share your passion for the sport. There’s nothing wrong with passing on the family tradition.

That said, you want to fan the flames, not douse them with a bucket. It’s smart to temper your enthusiasm with fewer demands and more fun.

Here are seven tips for fostering a love of soccer from an early age.

1. Act the Part

If you shout at your child to hustle constantly but do little more than the couch-potato shuffle yourself, you won’t make the impression you want. Kids tend to imitate what their grownups do regardless of what their guardians say.

What if your life is so busy, you don’t have time to spend hours in the gym. Have you considered combining your workout with your commute or taking your kids with you when you exercise? Seeing you hit the gym hard will inspire athleticism in them. If they see you value fitness, they’ll get into sports like soccer.

2. Make Practice Accessible

It’s 2020, and restrictions abound. If you want to foster a love of soccer, your kids need a place to practice drills.

You can transform your garage into a four-square court — this game helps build hand-eye coordination necessary for goalies. If parks near you close, investigate nearby green belts and open spaces. Give your children room to run.

3. Sign Them Up Early

If you want to foster a love of soccer from a young age, the best way is to sign them up for the sport. Make sure you choose a compassionate coach who is experienced in working with younger children.

Children as young as two-years-old can learn to play the sport, but you have to start at their level. Seek a daycare that offers soccer as part of the physical education curriculum. As soon as your child reaches the age of eligibility, investigate youth leagues in your area.

4. Attend Games

You don’t have to get your tickets for the 2021 Major League Soccer season just yet. However, do take advantage of any opportunities to watch folks play the sport live.

Find out when local leagues have matches and make plans to attend. Since the pandemic continues, be sure to bring your mask and hand sanitizer, even to outdoor events. While the risk of transmission goes down outside, you can still get sick.

5. Watch Matches on TV

Another way to introduce soccer love to your children is to stream games on TV. Fortunately, with the advent of an app for everything, you don’t have to pay a small fortune in cable upgrades to do so. Nor do you need to compete with their Saturday-morning cartoons.

If you have a smart TV or device, download one of the most frequently used streaming apps for soccer fans. Put on a game whenever you have your kids as a captive audience — such as when they play games on the living room rug in the evening.

6. Encourage Cross-Training

Soccer qualifies as full-body exercise, but you don’t want your kids to focus solely on fitness for sport. You want them to move their bodies because it feels good — and fosters a lifelong active lifestyle.

Therefore, encourage cross-training. If your child cries to take ballet lessons, sign them up if you have the means. Those graceful pirouettes will help them manage the rapid-fire turns and twists on the soccer field with ease.

7. Ease Off the Pressure

Newsflash: If you belittle your child from the stands when they make an error on the field, you could crush their Olympic hopes before they arise. Think about it — when your boss humiliates you on the job, it doesn’t boost your morale much, does it?

Likewise, if you force your child to practice too much, they will resist. Such opposition isn’t obstinance — it’s sticking up for their physical and mental health needs. Children aren’t immune to pressure and undue stress.

Encourage your child, but if you want to foster a love of soccer, never force them to participate. Remember, your little one is a unique human being, not your clone. If you love the sport so much, but they actively dislike it, you can always join a recreational league yourself.

Foster a Love of Soccer From an Early Age With These Tips

If you want to foster a love of soccer in your children from an early age, use the seven tips above. You can share your love of the sport and encourage their active lifestyle.

Author Bio:

Oscar Collins is the managing editor at Modded. He writes about cars, fitness, the outdoors and more. Follow @TModded on Twitter for more articles from the Modded team.