My husband always says to the kids: to play soccer, you need to have the heart for it. I did see kids from recreational soccer teams that were really playing hard and were crazy about scoring goals. My kids were not that type. Both of them stayed behind. How to build passion into kids' hearts?
One thing I notice is that whenever my husband is present to watch the game, my kids are more engaged in the game. Otherwise they don't seem to care much. As boys, they are probably more eager to impress their dad than their mom. There is notion of soccer moms. Moms are primarily the ones that drive kids to different activities, such as soccer practice and soccer games. When my husband eventually made adjustment to his work schedule so he can come to the kids' soccer practices and games, he noticed that he saw many soccer moms, but not that many soccer dads. He commented that for the boys to play soccer well, the soccer dads need to be more engaged. He also mentioned that he noticed sonehow more soccer dads show up for the girl soccer teams.
Besides training the kids and going to their practices, my husband also bought some soccer movies and books for the kids. I don't remember much about the books. But the kids watched each movie many times. I also watch the movie with them. Some of them are very inspiring and some are really funny and the kids love them a lot.
Here is a list of the movies we watched.
Victory (1981),
This is a classic soccer movie. It is very inspiring. Though it is old, it is very cool to watch. After this movie, Alexander practiced a lot doing a Rainbow and finally was able to do it after 1-2 months. Pelé played in this movie as well.
Goal! is a story how an immigrant who has talents in soccer eventually became a professional soccer player.In Goal 2, the story continues as the soccer player became a star, he also goes through some trials. It is good that this movie was made after the first because no matter what, the kids have dreams of becoming a soccer star. But the second movie can teach them to be careful when fame comes otherwise life can easily stumble.
This is a fun soccer little league movie. It is good for young kids. There was a boy in the movie that was able to kick the ball high in the air and catch it with his back. After watching this movie a few times, Minglun started practice on that move. It took quite some time and he was finally able to do it before he turned 8. That was one of his cool moves. Not many kids at that age is able to do it. Nowadays, he is able to do it easily and combine that with some other moves.
This is a comedy movie played by Will Ferrell. It is hilarious.
This another inspiring soccer game movie.
This movie is a story about girls playing soccer. It is nice movie to watch. My kids like to watch US Women soccer to play. They gave high credits to their skills and ability to win the game.
As I mentioned in earlier post, my husband was using the youtube channel at Victorio Texas to post kids videos. He has been searching good soccer videos on youtube and add them as Favorites. The kids watch those videos at spare time. My husband took the kids to watch MLS soccer games at FC Dallas stadium. But he encourage the kids to watch those soccer videos on youtube to see how people play soccer outside Untied States.
The kids watched a lot of soccer videos of Messi, Cristiano Ronaldo, Ronaldinho, Maradona, Pelé, etc. Nowadays, they know a lot about famous soccer players and world cup history. Alexander often says that he has a soccer library in his head. Sometimes he asks me to question him about soccer and he will give a detailed answer about a player or a soccer team.
Recent years, they watch the newer soccer movie about Messi and Cristian Ronaldo.
The Flea - The Amazing Story of Leo Messi
Cristiano Ronaldo The Rise of a Winner
