Getting Their Kicks

Bruce Williams calls youth soccer the "anti-X-Box" - an antidote to the trend of too many youngsters spending too much time sitting in front of a television or computer screen, exercising little more than their eyes and fingertips.

Williams is president of Coosa Soccer Association, one of at least three organizations that have had young people kicking this fall.

The numbers are impressive. Williams said 598 children played in CSA this fall, and about 75 were involved in Gadsden American Youth Soccer Organization, said Shannon Cavender, commissioner of Gadsden AYSO, which also in its first season of play.

Bill Martin says about 800 children were playing on Etowah Youth Soccer Association teams. Martin is director of coaching for EYSA, which has been organized in Etowah County for about 20 years.

Martin, who grew up playing soccer and other sports in Gadsden, said the numbers are a big change in a relatively short time. When he took over EYSA in 1998, he said, there were about 52 children involved. As he recalls, it was the only area soccer league operating then. There was a lull in participation in the sport for a while, but he believes interest is growing as parents who played as children are introducing their children to the sport.

Whatever the reason, there were far more than 1,000 children getting out and getting in better shape this fall on soccer fields.

"There's no standing out in left field picking daisies with this sport," Williams said. "If players are on the field, they are almost constantly on the move."

"I tell kids if you don't like running, soccer may not be the sport for you," Martin said.

It's estimated, he explained, that in a 90-minute game - the length of high school or college games - most players run five or six miles.

Youth soccer games are shorter (for example, under-8 teams play four 12-minute quarters), but so are the players. Even with shorter games and smaller fields, the youngest players of get a workout.

And in soccer, play can start really young. Most organizations have teams for children 4 to 14 or 18. For the younger children, there's a focus on recreation, Williams said. For older children who are more involved in the sport, there are traveling teams that focus more on being competitive and playing against competitive teams from cities within the East Alabama Soccer League, Williams said.

And CSA offered a Soccer Tots program this year for the under-4 set. Williams said about 40 children were involved in the program, which was organized after those involved in youth soccer watched little brothers and sisters hanging around the soccer field, anxious to play. It's a less demanding game, he said, but the tots get a uniform and get accustomed to a soccer ball.

"Soccer," said Rob Bowley, who handles public relations for EYSA, "is not so hard on little kids. It's strictly a positive sport."

Cavender said AYSO had VIP teams that included children facing challenges such as Down syndrome or autism. She said it has been a rewarding program for the children, and many already have signed up to play in the spring.

There is a place for almost everyone who wants to play, and in these organizations, a guarantee that they will play. Bowley said everyone gets to play at least half a game with EYSA. Other organizations echoed the 50 percent rule about playing.

With CSA and EYSA, there are co-ed teams and some all-girl or all-boy teams.

Joseph Bright, 9, played on a co-ed team last year and an all-boy under age 10 team this fall. He liked playing on both teams.

"Girls and boys both can be good players," Bright said.

And soccer, he believes, is a good sport and good experience for children of all sizes.

"I just like to kick it and try to slam it in the goal," he said. "I like it for the pressure."

For parents, they find less pressure involved in soccer, and that's an attraction.

"I just want him to learn how to be a fair player and to be respectful of others," Kim Campbell said of her son Elijah, who played soccer, along with her nephew Maliq Croft, on an AYSO team this fall. She said he had been involved in some activities where she felt there was too much emphasis on winning.

"It takes a lot to learn to lose and to keep trying after you lose," Campbell said.

Which is not to say children and parents cannot get intense about soccer.

Heidi Alvarez said it's what her 11-year-old son Gabriel lives for. He's been playing for five years.

"I just like moving down the field kicking the ball," Gabriel said, "and scoring goals - that's fun. You can really get into soccer."

Mariana Alvarez, 8, agrees. "It's a good team sport, and it's fun."

"You get a bunch of exercise and stuff," said 6-year-old Miguel Alvarez. "And you get to hear everyone screaming."

The upsurge in the number of children playing also brings a demand for practice and game fields. EYSA has an arrangement with Gadsden State Community College use fields there. AYSO works with Gadsden Parks and Recreation for access to fields, Cavender said.

Williams said when CSA representatives went to local city governments about the need for space to play, and showed the numbers of children playing and parents volunteering, city leaders were impressed and gave their assistance.

Each of the soccer organizations locally hopes to grow.

Williams said the association is working with local schools to try to get junior varsity soccer programs in middle schools so that children who play youth soccer can pursue the sport continuously through high school.

Cavender said there's even been talk of trying to start an adult soccer league. She said one parent joked that you could play soccer "from 4 to 104." Cavender said she told that parent "fine, if you want to break a hip ..."

But where children are concerned, she said, organizers don't want this sports experience to be a broken one. The emphasis is always "kids first."

"If the kids aren't happy," she said, "we have to fix it."