Bedford Youth Soccer Philosophy and Goals
Philosophy
Youth soccer should be fun and rewarding for all participants. It should teach teamwork, sportsmanship, personal development and physical fitness. Ideally, soccer is a personal growth experience that becomes a lifelong source of community, fun and fitness.
Bedford Youth Soccer strives to teach soccer to the widest group possible and to keep children involved for as long as possible – hopefully through high school, college and adulthood. By keeping kids playing soccer for as long as possible we believe children benefit emotionally and physically. They develop self confidence, an ability to cooperate and work for shared goals, and an appreciation of healthy physical activity. It is a sport they can continue playing throughout their lives, whether they choose to play competitively or for pure fun, and eventually share with their own children.
Goals
· Fun – If children have fun, they will continue playing and learning for years. Programs that stress competition at the expense of fun lose more children.
· Age appropriate skills in an age appropriate way – Kids learn differently at different ages. It is important to constantly tailor their experience for their changing abilities.
· Variety of play– Week to week and season to season, children learn more from practicing and playing with and against different children with different skills. The variety builds soccer abilities as well as group skills, flexibility and problem solving.
To help meet these goals, we provide opportunities for children of all skill levels to learn and play the game in a positive coaching environment that encourages teamwork. We also strongly encourage “positive spectatorship” by asking parents and all spectators to show respect for the game, the referees, the coaches and players on all teams.
Q: My child is extremely timid. Will he be able to participate successfully?
The program encourages all kids to participate and attempts to make them successful. Both intramural and travel soccer have an equal playing time policy so that no child is excluded. Starting in third grade children may elect to play either intramural or travel soccer based on their preferences. Intramural meets less frequently and is a less intensive program than travel soccer.
Q: How do girls benefit from playing soccer?
Studies show that girls who play team sports tend to have better self confidence and self image. In their teenage years, girls who play sports seem to have a lower incidence of depression and self-destructive behavior. These benefits may be true for boys to some degree.
Q: Do we rank teams in Bedford?
Since children develop at widely varying paces, we endeavor to postpone ranking children until the developmental disparity lessens around age 11. However, we recognize that even after that age there may be significant changes in skills relative to their peers. Starting with the U11 age group, we combine coach skill rankings with those of an independent, professional organization that conducts yearly field evaluations. These two separate sources help us to make teams that best serve the group dynamics.
Q: What does “variety of play” mean?
Playing soccer is the best way to learn soccer. Playing lots of soccer in lots of different situations with different children tends to build smart and adaptable players. It also helps children learn to cope with varying group situations as well as winning and losing gracefully.
Q: My kid is a top level player, how does the program handle that?
The Bedford soccer program attempts to involve the broadest group of players possible but does not specifically cater to any one type of child. Our goal is not necessarily to build the best soccer players possible but to build many important skills. We encourage any child who would like more challenge to consider complementary soccer activities around the region.
Q: My child has other activities which sometimes conflict with soccer. How does Bedford Youth Soccer handle that?
We recognize that children and families are often busy with many activities so we endeavor to be flexible and accommodating. However, we also ask that children keep in mind that they are making a commitment to their teams and teammates and hope they make an effort to participate in practices and games.