Last Updated on March 16, 2024 by Ali Hamza
There are so many beneficial lessons that a child can take from football training. As we watch Argentina lift the trophy in the 2022 World Cup, more and more families have reflected on the togetherness and sense of community that football brings to many. Introducing children to football training, perhaps through teachings at a football academy for kids can teach them so much more than just the sporting techniques.
This article explores the key 5 lessons your child will learn from football training.
1. Fitness
Football is a high-energy, contact sport.
Children are encouraged to exercise regularly, for fitness but also to encourage other healthy living habits that they will take with them into adulthood. Encouraging fitness in children can host a variety of benefits for not only their physical state but also their psychological development. Engaging in exercise, especially in classes from a young age, can enable a child to understand the importance of an active lifestyle and the benefits it can cause to their overall health and wellbeing.
2. Discipline
It’s important for children to acknowledge that to become legends like Lionel Messi and Harry Kane, they need to learn discipline. Football is a sport that requires commitment and a solid work ethic.
Teaching a child the disciplinary attributes of football will have a knock-on effect on their wider lives such as at home and school. Showing up to practice on time, following coaches rules and playing to the footballing guidelines are all ways in which attending a football academy can instil discipline in a child.
Learning discipline through football from such an early age can in fact enforce these habits in their adult lives, affecting their career and family life positively.
3. Goal Setting
Like so many sports, football is fuelled by statistics. Whether it be goals scored, yards covered or the number of passes. With the help of coaches and teammates, a child is able to set goals for themselves and the wider team when it comes to football.
Allowing children to understand accountability and how they play a role in achieving goals can, as with many of these lessons, continue into their later lives. Understanding how to set goals and overcome boundaries is an essential part of children’s football training and can play a crucial part in a child’s development outside of football.
4. Success and Failure
Again, something we all experience in our lives. Allowing a child to understand the highs and lows of both success and failure is one of the most important lessons when it comes to football training and possibly has the largest impact on their emotional and mental development.
Experiencing success and failure allows a child to regulate emotions and has a direct link with goal setting. After a success, they set a goal to succeed again, after failure they set a goal to adapt their play and succeed in the next game. It’s important to encourage children to experience failure as it is very unlikely that the true legends when it comes to football remain undefeated.
The lesson of success and failure builds strength, confidence and resilience in a child.
5. Teamwork
It goes without saying that encouraging your child to attend a football academy and take part in football training will provide a huge lesson – how to play as part of a team.
Playing as part of a team teaches so many more lessons, respect, cooperation and focus. Children are taught that they cannot beat a team alone and that they need to rely on other members of their team to help them succeed. Being respectful to their teammates and other teams is crucial when it comes to learning good sportsmanship and how to be a likeable and respectable football player.
Conclusion
There are so many important lessons that football training for children can bring – these five are merely the tip of the iceberg! Football is a brilliant sport for children to engage with no matter their age. Offering important lessons that they can use in their lives when it comes to school and home life is one of the key ways in which football can have such a positive impact on a child’s development.
Football academies across the country offer these lessons to children through their teachings of the sport and its techniques.
