Young Footballers

Thought this subject would be appropriate for my blogging debut.

Was at the pub the other night with an old friend. We used to play pro together.
We both now have two young kids and have done some coaching.
He thinks fathers should coach their sons' teams up to a certain age,
while I don't think they should at all. I believe that the coaching can
occur at home, 1v1, but despite your high level of expertise should not
include coaching the team.

I also said that my son had already been exposed to a tremendous amount
of football given my playing and coaching career and that I thought that it would
be wise for me to hold back and not over-expose him to football. The next day I
read this quote in BBC Football from Japp Stam:

"Starting late can be a good thing. Some kids who start early get bored...
I had my youth - having fun, drinking beers, blowing up milk cannisters. It sounds
strange but it's a tradition where I grew up in Kampen - and I had done all the
things I wanted to do."

And that for me is the essence of the Beautiful Game--playing football and
doing everything else that is interesting, adventurous and beautiful in life and on the pitch...