Pick Up Soccer

The Missing Element in Youth Soccer Today?

The benefits of pick up soccer directly address the deficiencies of the current youth soccer program in America today.  The two most common complaints regarding youth soccer in the United States are 1)  the pay to play model and 2) the overly structured nature of that play.  The highly structured nature has led to allegations that American players lack individual creativity on the field.  In simplest terms, pick up soccer and its culture helps develop those individual ball skills in a smooth, non-mechanical way, skills that the club or personal training just can’t instill.  This post will focus on pick up soccer as a way to destructure the experience and lead to more creativity on the field.  Please see some of our other articles on measures to mitigate cost (and donate to support a local girls team in San Clemente).

What is pick up Soccer?

In its simplest terms, it is just free play soccer that the kids just compete against each other without authority figures directing the event.  In the 1970s and 1980s it was very common for groups of kids to just get together and play.  Without parental involvement, the kids would find a park, a yard, or just a patch of grass, pick some teams and play.  This was not unique to soccer as free play for kids in all sports was more common.  Over scheduling makes free play difficult. Often it is the parents scheduling pick up games and not the kids on their own.

Suburban culture has also made pick up soccer more difficult.  The over scheduling of children today leaves little to no time for pick up games.   There are very few moments in a child’s day that are unscheduled, so finding time for pick up soccer is not easy.  Additionally, families that are not historically soccer families may not understand or value the benefits of pick up soccer.

Benefits of Pick up Soccer

The true benefit of pick up soccer is individual player development. Players at all ages and levels of play benefit from pick up soccer.  For players struggling to keep up or trying to catch up, pick up soccer provides a vehicle to gain quickly on peers not playing pick up.  For top players, they get to experiment with things on the field, that they may not be comfortable trying during a competitive match.  Any player that is struggling with fitness will benefit from the non-stop action of pick up soccer as players are running the entire time and the games are usually small sided.

Touches 

Touches are extremely important to player development.  The more touches a player has, the more opportunities that player has to develop.  The unstructured nature of pick up soccer typically means a lot of small sided games and small sided games increase the number of touches per player. Structured practices and games limit touches and often force players to play from the same positions.  Only participating in structured play can lead to players becoming stagnant in their growth as they are only asked to do similar things with the ball.  Attempting new and different things with the ball is not rewarded.

With these additional touches, players’ confidence and ability on the ball will grow. The additional touches in small sided games will help players with their control and ability on the ball.  The unofficial nature of the game also allows for tricks, showmanship and creative ball skills.  This free flow of the pick up soccer games encourages this type of play and creativity.   

Freedom

Pick up soccer, while being competitive, brings freedom to players to try new things with the ball.  The penalty for failure in pick up soccer is minimal, perhaps a little embarrassment but that is about it.  Players experimenting with new ideas don’t have to worry about a coach or other authority figure being critical of the decision.  Typically, pick up soccer is played by a semi-consistent group of individuals and a small tribe begins to form.  As the players become comfortable their freedom continues to grow and the experimentation can lead to some extraordinary new skills to use during that structured play.

The game now becomes the teacher.  Players quickly learn what works and what does not work.  They will no longer be looking to the sideline for coach or parental approval for their actions, the game tells them if they have done something good or bad.  This independence will make them better players when they get back to the structured environment of club soccer.

This freedom also translates to an experience that’s more fun for the kids. Fun matters to the young players, as a lack of fun is the number one reason players quit playing.  So keeping it fun, will keep more players in the game.

Leadership

Removing the structure of club soccer also allows players to express their leadership without adult authority figures present.  Young players get a chance to work things out on their own and sort through things normally left to coaches.  Things like formations, direction to other players, playing time, and figuring out how to get out of situations now fall on the individual players.  As players learn to communicate without coach interaction, new lines of communications between players are created.

Players will begin to learn how to support, transition from attack to defense and create attacking movement from any position on the field.  Additionally, primarily attacking players are forced to defend and defenders need to attack.  The transitions in small sided soccer are ideal for helping attackers understand that they need to help out on defense when they lose the ball.  If they don’t help out or are incapable of playing defense, they will be called out by their other teammates. Everyone has to play both ends of the field, that translates to success in those one v one mini-battles occurring during official games and practices.  

Are there pick up games to play?

Pick up games are out there, but they can be hard to find for young players.   If you can’t find a pick up game, then just start one!  All you need is a few families, some goals, a patch of grass and a regular schedule.  The group does not need to be big, you just need to get to playing on a regular basis.

Additional pick up game information may be found on a podcast linked here.

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