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Your kid probably isn’t going to be a professional soccer player.
It’s just math.
You don’t even need any fancy statistical formulas (I hated that class anyway…), just a bit of quick division and multiplication. Here, let me show you:
Most sources estimate that there are approximately 275 million registered soccer players in the world. Of those, approximately 130,000 are professionals.
So, take 130,000 professionals and divide by the 275,000,000 players in the world …
Take that number and multiply by 100 to get the percentage probability that a soccer player is a professional…
And what do you get?
Well … basically 0%
Now, I’m not pointing this out to be rude. I’m not even saying they shouldn’t try to go pro.
I’m just saying it’s most likely not going to happen… and you know what? I truly believe that’s OK, and I think you should too.
In today’s post we provide a list of skills and benefits your child is likely to receive through their participation in youth competitive soccer– and hopefully, convince you that while a professional contract is highly unlikely, those skills will help improve your child’s life beyond the pitch and long after they’ve hung up their boots.
Physical Fitness and Health
In a today’s increasingly sedentary society, childhood obesity rates are rising sharply. As a competitive soccer player, training and playing games multiple times per week can improve your child’s overall health and help prevent the health issues associated with a sedentary lifestyle.
As I transitioned from being an athlete to just another guy working an office job, I was astonished at how many people I met that didn’t even know where to start when it comes to exercise or maintaining healthy lifestyle.
Building habits like being active, maintaining a healthy diet, and getting enough sleep are all needed to perform as a high-level athlete– but they are also important for overall well-being and health in all aspects of life. These habits established during childhood can have long-lasting effects, helping to prevent chronic health conditions like heart disease, diabetes, and certain types of cancer later in life.
Teamwork and Collaboration
At thirty three years old, I have been able to find relatively accelerated success in my corporate career. I attribute that success largely to my willingness and ability to effectively in a team.
Whether you’re on the pitch or in a board room, having the capacity to communicate, cooperate, and lead groups of people towards achieving a common objective is essential.
The skills that I learned through my years of playing youthcompetitive soccer have been invaluable to me in the workplace, where I’m ableto work well under pressure, handle challenges and resolve conflicts in aproductive manner.
Mental and Emotional Well-Being:
Let’s face it. Life can be hard.
With mental health issues like anxiety and depression on the rise, particularly among children, it is important to develop a sound process and support system for handling life’s difficulties.
Playing soccer can be a stress-reliever for both children and adults. It can also provide invaluable opportunities to form lifelong social bonds. To this day, some of my best friends are guys I played with when we were 10 years old.
Additionally, throughout your player’s youth soccer career, they will experience success and they will experience failure. Having these high and lows, and learning to deal with them effectively early in life will help to build self-esteem and confidence that they’ll carry with them wherever they go, for the rest of their life.
A last word
As we wrap up, I’m sure some of you hyper-competitive types are ready to head back to the comments and blast me for looking to hand out “participation trophies” or having a “loser mentality” … you either play to be the best or don’t play at all, right?
Well, you’re misunderstanding me.
I’m as competitive as anyone you’ll ever meet, and I always strive to be the best.
Your child should aim to the next Lionel Messi or Alexia Putellas – and they should train everyday with that goal in mind. It’s just…they probably won’t ever be, and that is perfectly fine.
The skills that they’ll acquire in pursuit of the goal,whether they achieve it or not, will help them become winners in the much moreimportant game of life.
