Roanoke Times
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: SUNDAY, June 10, 1990 TAG: 9006100054
SECTION: SPORTS PAGE: D8 EDITION: METRO
SOURCE:
DATELINE: LENGTH: Medium
My friends in the Roanoke soccer "establishment" - Richard Cook, Steve Bodley, Mark Feldmann and Danny Beamer - are fine gentlemen and talented coaches. My daughter has played fall, indoor and spring soccer and profited greatly from her association with coaches such as Sharon McCulley, Heth Thomas, Mac McCorkle and Mike Flannagan.
On the other hand, while coaching basketball in the middle of winter, I have had players miss practice for indoor soccer. This season, my daughter is playing baseball, and I have heard her coaches lament the ubiquitous nature of soccer. One boy on her team is concerned about missing a game because it is the same evening as tryouts for select soccer.
Certainly, soccer is not the only culprit. If a young athlete becomes involved in Roanoke Stars basketball, he or she may end up playing nine months of organized basketball. Many swimmers with the Roanoke Valley [Aquatic Association] Gators swim all year.
Local coaches in more than one sport advance the argument that, to compete successfully at the college level, our Roanoke players need to develop their skills year-round. I would urge those coaches to be alert to a "truth-in-advertising" notion: Realistically, the percentage of high school athletes who go on to play in college is very small, even when those athletes have been in youth programs developing their skills since age 6.
I also think every parent must answer the question: Whose dream is that 8-year-old budding superstar chasing? Kids in the 1990s still need time just to be kids.
A sense of humor is important in all of this; thus, the reference to the year-round procession of "can't-miss" weekend soccer events as monthly World Cups. Nevertheless, perhaps the most appropriate word for 12-month soccer is "overemphasis."
PETER WONSON\ ROANOKE
by CNB