SHOOT THE BALL!! Why can't control your youth players like you do in FIFA

 Back in 2017, Atlanta United played their first season and there was great concern that like past professional teams in hockey and soccer it would burn brightly, taper out and then go away. Growing up in S. Florida, I was a Dolphins and Heat fan and thanks to Ted Turner’s Superstation, I was an Atlanta Braves fan. When I moved to Georgia, I never changed allegiances on any of those. Having said that, I also never owned a jersey, t-shirt or other merch from any of my favorite teams in adulthood. Atlanta United was different. I bought merch before the first season and made it a point to attend games. Once I did attend games, I was hooked and even my daughter and wife are fans as well. The experience is simply fundamentally different than at other events and it’s something that we all enjoy. 

Having a background in soccer definitely helped me, but where did all of the other fans come from? It turns out that video games like FIFA were a big source of fans not only for AUFC, but for many of the teams in MLS. Americans were already big on video games and titles from the NBA, NFL and college football all contributed to people being willing to pick up FIFA. 

The most appealing aspect of playing FIFA is your ability to control all of the players on the field. You can be Ronaldo or Messi on any of thousands of great players and take advantage of their skills to win matches. You are in control of the action and the players do what you want them to do. 

I recently attended an AUFC game against Toronto. We had spent the entirety of the ‘22 season watching our team lead the league in shots, only to have a REALLY low conversion rate because most of the shots were from distance and didn’t trouble the defense most of the time. This season, the team has worked hard on improving shot quality which meant that they tried to work it in closer to goal before shooting. We sat in front of a gentleman of limited soccer experience who grew frustrated that we simply didn’t “SHOOT THE BALL” (expletives deleted). He was vociferous in his disdain for our tactics as we chased the game. 

I had a similar experience at a U8 game this weekend where both coaches and parents were screaming at their team to “SHOOT THE BALL” (thankfully, no expletives). Their efforts were not rewarded when shortly afterwards, a groan erupted. Later, I had a conversation with Coach Nate who has three kids in our program and I was sharing with him my experience with the U8 game. He said that as adults we have difficulty with the fact that we can’t control the players on the field with a joystick like we can in video games. I thought that was a great analogy. As I said in my essay on “calming your inner voice,” we all want to feel like we want to do something to help our kids. If we can’t actually do something, we want to say something. 

The other thing I saw from this weekend’s games was a classic example of us as adults reinforcing behaviors that will not lead to better player development. In U8, 10 and 12 games I saw a ball roll to a defender who didn’t have anybody nearby. In this situation the most skillful action is to control the ball, change the direction of the ball and then either dribble or pass. Instead, the player kicked the ball as far as he or she could. The immediate response from the sidelines was a cheer. Regardless of the age, players hearing this response from the crowd are more likely to exhibit the behavior in the future. If I was to ask you as a parent or coach to change one behavior during the game, not cheering this action would be it. 

Getting back to the idea of doing something to help your child during the game and to encourage them to exhibit skillful behavior, I’d ask you instead to look for instances when your child (or anyone on the field, honestly): 

• controls a ball 

• moves the ball away from pressure

• shields and turns with the ball 

• attempts to dribble past an opponent

• makes an intentional pass

• Makes a pass that creates a scoring chance

• wins a challenge for the ball

• makes a save

• Makes a good throw in to a teammate

• On a goal kick, makes an easy pass to a teammate

If you see it, maybe say YES or GOOD or GOOD JOB or some other positive comment. Anything to reframe the picture to focus more on skillful play. 

Personally, seeing players exhibit skillful behavior brings me joy. Part of that is I feel I might have had something to do with it and part of it has to do with seeing them grow. I’ll leave you with one final anecdote. I had to coach a U8 game because their team lost the coach and I needed to get some parent volunteers to be more comfortable in the situation. Our team only had 5 players and they played the entire first half. At half, I asked the other coach for a couple of volunteers. One of them was a player I had known since U5. Every season I worked with him, he delighted in never dribbling, but instead kicking the ball with his toe. Yesterday, he worked hard to get to balls, attempted to both dribble past defenders and made intentional passes to teammates. At the end of the game, I told how impressed I was with his play and thanked him for volunteering to play with my team. He was happy with his performance and excited to tell me how hard he was working. 

See you on the field.