Creative Problem Solving: The Benefits of Learning Soccer the International Way

International Model of Learning Soccer Breeds Different Type of Player***

Jacob Donnelly (NCC News)

Auguest 11, 2009

SYRACUSE, N.Y.-- The United States will play Mexico tomorrow at Azteca Stadium, a venue where the Yanks have never won. As every international match-up does with the U.S., the game will display players who learned the game in two very different manners.

Two Different Models

The American model of learning soccer is very regimented. Children play in recreation leagues and are sent to soccer camp in the summers. It is a very organized way of learning where the focus is on the fundamentals of the game. The organized system is similar to the manner that other sports are played in America. So why the big uproar over the difference?

Simply put, when it comes to soccer, America does not have the same type of success it experiences in other sports. The two biggest names in American soccer in the past 50 years have both been imports, Pele who played in the now defunct North American Soccer League and David Beckham who plays for the Los Angeles Galaxy of the Major Soccer League (MLS).

Many think the lack of enthusiasm and success is because Americans learn soccer differently than the rest of the world. The international style of teaching soccer, or futbol, is by letting the children play. It allows for the children to experience the games for themselves as opposed to telling them how to do it.

Creativity & Problem Solving

The international model compels young players to think on their own when it comes to the "how to" problems they face on the soccer field. "They should discover the game in a free play atmosphere, which, in my opinion, makes them better problem solvers for when they get older," said Syracuse University Head Coach Dean Foti.

What the Future Holds

People are starting to change their thinking in America and it is becoming more and more popular to hear of children simply picking up the ball to play and learning the game on their own. After all, not everyone hones their craft in rec leagues; some still mold their skills out in the sandlots and brick-top courts of America. They are out there. Children who still learn the game in the same manner that their fathers and grandfathers learned the game, by just picking up a ball and playing.

Either way, when the Americans face off against Mexico tomorrow, it will not be who learned what how, but the final score that will matter most.

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