Playing sport from a young age helps children to develop some essential life skills. This article looks at how playing soccer can help players to grow up, develop and gain confidence.

What are life skills?

A life skill can be described as something that is necessary or desirable to get the most out of everyday life. It’s important that people develop them from a young age because it can prove harder to develop certain skills to a proficient level as life goes on.

It’s also true that young people will no doubt develop these skills as they grow up and move through the different schools, colleges and universities. But why not give them a head start and instil good practices and behaviours from an early stage to allow them to become the best that they can be in all walks of life.

These types of skills can sometimes be hard to learn in the classroom, therefore it’s in other social situations, such as being in and around football, where young people can really start to develop their core life skills.

How can football help?

Football is such a fantastic place for young people to thrive, make new friends and learn more about themselves. Simply being part of a team and playing the sport will help young players to learn key aspects about how to behave socially, here are just some of those skills that they will develop:

  • How to make new friends
  • Ability to work with others and in a team
  • How to communicate with others
  • Ability to listen better and take on instructions
  • Better confidence
  • Ability to control their emotions

How can parents and coaches help?

Good guidance and support from both parents and coaches can also help to develop certain key skills when young players are in the football environment. They should be taught about the importance of discipline and respect which will then feed into other aspects of their life, here are some more of those skills that can develop as a result:

  • A good work ethic
  • Acceptable behaviour at all times
  • Good sportsmanship
  • Gracious in victory and defeat
  • Overcoming challenges

As players get older and mature there is another set of life skills that football can further help them to develop. For instance, if a player has been in a team for a while then they will start to learn about leadership, taking responsibility for their group of players, having respect for their club and the ability to make better decisions. Again all of which will help young people as they move through their lives.

How can TopTekkers help?

Not only does TopTekkers help players to develop their skills and technical ability on the pitch it can also help young players to develop important life skills.

As players practice their skills on the app and earn trophies through the challenges they will climb the global leaderboards. The leaderboards function is a great way to introduce a form of healthy competition which can then further help them with things like determination and work ethic.

Download TopTekkers today on Apple or Android so players can continue their overall development in football! 

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