1. Teamwork

Soccer requires a great deal of teamwork. Each player has a different, important role to play: the defenders stop their opponents from scoring, the midfielders back up the defenders, spread play and serve as a link to the attackers, whose main role is to score goals.

2. Discipline

At any level of play, soccer requires discipline. A player’s self-control must extend beyond the physical requirement of passing accurately, controlling the ball and working for good field position. Hostile opponents, rough tackles, a biased referee… there are hundreds of emotional challenges in every game, and a player’s emotional control can be the difference between winning and losing.

Alongside teamwork, soccer teaches that the only sure path to success is through hard work. This is especially true at local league and professional levels, where players frequently have to work very hard – and often in unfriendly conditions – in order to reach the goals set by their trainers and coaches.

There are a lot of things soccer players do that can be measured. And where there is measurement, there is a sure chance of improvement. Setting goals helps achieve that improvement.

Soccer provides an enormous number of challenges that test and help build perseverance. Losing a big game, being cut from the first team, missing or conceding a goal that costs the game – all these and many other challenges constantly pick at a player’s confidence and tempt him or her to quit.

Like all good sports, soccer provides an avenue for healthy competition. It’s true that winning matches is much nicer, but players learn not to react badly, regardless of the outcome. As they say, “it’s the taking part that counts”.

With its long history as both a pastime and a professional sport, soccer is much more than just a simple game. If the positive lessons it teaches are taken to heart, children can get much more out of soccer than just a bit of exercise.