Soccer: Practice for the goal of self-improvement

Michael Moore

PSY 200

Gregory Williams

April 6, 2005

Soccer: Practice for the goal of self-improvement

I have a son who is nine years old. For the most part Caleb is a well-adjusted kid, with few behavioral problems. One of the areas that Caleb does have a hard time with is self-confidence. Caleb probably shares some of my traits, among these, the opinion that whatever he attempts needs to turn out better than anything anyone else is going to do. I speak from personal experience when I say this can be somewhat debilitating, as oftentimes you want to put off doing anything at all until you are sure that what you are going to produce will turn out perfect. It’s taken me several years to mature to the point that I realize that something is better than nothing. Caleb, I fear, still has a long way to go before he fully understands this. So Caleb will sit in class and think about his assignments long after the other kids have started working. This leads his teachers to assume that he is refusing to do his work. I believe that Caleb is just afraid that what he produces will not be good enough.

There is one area in his life; however, where this fear seems to disappear, and where he begins to appear at ease and comfortable with himself. This is at soccer practice. Caleb plays defense, and he plays it very well. He’s not afraid to lay his body out in order to keep the other team from scoring. Watching Caleb on the soccer field is one of my greatest joys, because of the transformation from unsure, timid little boy, to a confident and motivated team player. It happens without fail on the soccer field, and it has also happened in other athletic venues which he has participated. When Caleb was younger he used to do Tae Kwon Do. They say that martial arts build self-confidence, but I don’t think this observation should necessarily be limited to martial arts. From observing Caleb’s pattern of behavior while engaged in any kind of physical activity, I would say that all physical activity builds self-confidence, and is an integral part of raising a well-adjusted child.

The effects of Caleb getting out and running around linger long after he has left the field, the dojo, or whatever area it is that he is playing in. He becomes more talkative and open, he seems more alert and perceptive, and in general is a more enjoyable person to be around. Contrast this with the time that he spends playing his handheld video games, when he becomes withdrawn and sullen, making any kind of meaningful conversation all but impossible, and I am left with the conclusion that exercise among young people is an important part of life that our society should place a greater emphasis on.

I think this conclusion could be confirmed by the study of social psychology. If I were to delve more deeply into this phenomenon, I would start with reading whatever applicable literature and studies I could find on the topic. Further, I could observe large groups of children in order to form a more complete understanding. I could have three groups: one group which spent a large amount of time playing outside in physically demanding ways, one group which spent the majority of their time in front of television or video game consuls, and a last group which didn’t necessarily sit in front of television and video games all day, but still did not receive adequate exercise. I could measure their performance at school, their relationships with friends and family, and possibly come up with a survey that attempts to gauge their self-esteem. I would go into this testing with certain expectations, among these the expectation that the more active group would interact more comfortably with each other. I would attempt to avoid bias and ethical dilemmas by stating my expectations at the outset, by having a control group, and by assuring that my survey was not biased. In this way I would make my results more applicable and easier to repeat than if I let my bias interfere with the data.

I feel that this is an important area of research, as increasingly our society seems to be moving away from accepting the importance of play time and exercise for young children. This shift is understandable, especially as school’s struggle to meet testing requirements mandated by the government. Teachers and school administrators naturally are concerned that any time they dedicate to athletics during the school day will deduct from time which students could be preparing for the never-ending torrent of assessments which bombard students each year. Perhaps if kids were allowed this free time and more strongly encouraged to get involved in sports and other physical activities, they would end up scoring better on their tests anyway, as their increased self-confidence would compensate for a few hours of missed rote memorization. In addition, the classroom might become a less intimidating place, as children might start to feel more comfortable opening up and sharing their opinions, as my son does when he is flush with the afterglow of strenuous physical activity. When children become more confident and more at ease, I believe that their performance in every area of their life will improve.