Tom Turner - Deconstructucting Small Sided Games

"In street soccer cultures, children as young as five can be found playing with their peers and
older "friends" in ever-varying configurations of games. Two or three players are enough to start
the days' play and, on occasion, the numbers may swell to resemble small mob scenes… Young
children now come into organized soccer at the suggestion or urging of their parents; ironically,
children repeatedly cite adult pressure as one of their main reasons for quitting organized sport."
Thomas W. Turner, Ph.D., Director of Coaching and Player Development
Ohio Youth Soccer Association North

Our thanks to Dr. Tom Turner and the Ohio Youth Soccer Association North for their permission to reprint this article and link to their web site.

Juergen Klinsman: "Ozzie, how is it that in Argentina you keep producing such wonderful, creative young players year after year?"

Ozzie Ardilles: "I think it is because we are too unorganized to be organized!"

While the wording may not be entirely accurate, the sentiment was heard loud and clear at the 2002 National Soccer Coaches Association of America (NSCAA) Convention in Philadelphia when former German striker, Jeurgen Klinsman retold this conversation in part response to the question, "Will the USA (men) ever become a top six nation?" We live in a country where adults dominate youth sport. We live in a country where free play in soccer has never existed, except with the immigrant populations and those lucky enough to grow up with them. We live in a country where precious player resources are often cast aside or wasted with wanton disregard for present enjoyment or future potential. While some with an old school mentality would claim that America is all about toughness and social Darwinism and that formative and formal competitive experiences are natural and desirable, I would strongly argue that this mentality should not be inclusive of the youngest members of our soccer populations. I would also argue that, in their current forms, much of the structure and many of the principles underlying organized youth soccer in the United States are damaging to our long-term growth and development. At the very least, the current structures do very little to address the children's love for "play" on their own terms; one example being the requirement that recreation level programs provide for only a minimum of 50% playing time, when 100% is not only more desirable, but eminently doable.

This article suggests ways to restructure entry-level and early experience youth soccer programs based on the needs of the children. It does not seek to reinvent street soccer, but it does seek to offer a balance between the ideals of street play and the realities of the over-organized youth sports world in which our children find themselves. At its core, is the belief that adults should not be partner to the "JonBenet Ramsey Phenomenon" of dressing children up to participate in miniature versions of professional sport.

Children and Play

Fascinating rules emerge in the streets and parks and sandlots and alleyways when children are left to their own devises in sport. In Shane Murphy's excellent and insightful book, The Cheers and the Tears: A healthy alternative to the dark side of youth sport today, four basic principles were reported in describing the ways children govern their own organizations during free play. These four principles, Action, Involvement, Excitement and Friendships, are briefly described below.

Action. Games must be motivating, and children always seem to find ways to structure play into "competition" when they are left alone. Competition is fun, so long as the rules make sense! Mostly a set score determines the winner, sometimes a mealtime. Children never line up to practice a drill when play is an option; hence, "scrimmage" time is taken for granted. Older children will eagerly wait on the sidelines until a game ends for the right to play the winner and attempt to hold the field against the next challengers. Children often know intuitively what game numbers create the best balance for competition, and they will create multiple teams when space limits the option to play multiple or larger-sided games.

Personal involvement. The following question has probably been offered to thousands of children over the years: "Would you rather play on a team that may not win very often, or sit on the bench for a team that wins all the time?" The response is always the same. Children would rather play and lose than sit and win. One of the compelling features of youth sport, from the youth's perspective, is participation. For athletes of every age, there is very little enjoyment in watching someone else play, and very little learning takes place without the opportunity to participate directly; most commonly, everyone plays! Children will often modify their rules to allow the weaker players second chances at success; more importantly, this practice also served to reduce the risk of embarrassing their weaker peers.

Excitement. Blowouts are no fun for children and characteristic of youth orchestrated play is the need for excitement and challenge. Ironically, while being the last player picked from a group can often be embarrassing, the practical outcome of this age-old tradition is relatively balanced competition. No youth sport contest begins with the two best players starting out on the same team. If the sides turn out to be uneven, either the game is concluded and new sides picked, or players trade places and new hope is given to the trailing side. Young players often modify their rules to accommodate imbalance or inequity and, particularly in lopsided contests, "next goal wins" serves to produce the required adrenaline rush in pursuit of last-minute glory.

Friendships. Young children enjoy being with their friends. They enjoy competing against them and competing with them. They also enjoy meeting new friends through sport. Social order is often created through sport, with the bigger or older kids appointing themselves as captains, picking the teams, settling the arguments and setting the rules. The first real sports heroes many of us remember were often the older, bigger or most advanced players involved in our daily games.

View the rest of Deconstructing Youth Soccer.