Awesome 4 year old!

4 year old loves soccer/football. Hope this video reflects her love for the game and show natural talent, but also hard work. Please like and share! Thank you!

She's good...sure..and better than the majority of rec U5 players, but can't say significantly better than quite a few U5 players I've seen. About the same.

Love the cow pasture they are playing on...she dribbles and the ball jumps 2 feet in air on a bump....

boilerjoe_96 wrote:She's good...sure..and better than the majority of rec U5 players, but can't say significantly better than quite a few U5 players I've seen. About the same.

Love the cow pasture they are playing on...she dribbles and the ball jumps 2 feet in air on a bump....

I agree, although it is fun to watch kids that age play. The trick is not to watch the "awesome 4 year old", but focus in on the competition. Only one of them ever even gets in front of her. The rest just kind of jog around looking for the next cricket that might hop onto the field. The boy with the red hair usually seems to be oblivious that the ball is meant to be kicked.

A fun age for sure. Enjoy. Great socks!

Meh... The term "awesome" is thrown around too easily. Be a proud parent, but this video should be saved for your Facebook account.

Videography is excellent. What are you shooting with - a dslr?

Loved it. She does have some good touches. Can anybody say "Espy"?

Anyone else notice how she is about a foot taller than everyone else? Can anyone say, "Early bloomer?"

I hope this girl plays up where there will most likely be players her size and possibly faster/stronger.

When you do that, then come back and post those videos. You may find that when the athleticism of early bloomers is not a factor, then they might not be as successful.

Good luck though! I hope she finds some good competition to challenge her and she keeps having fun.

Coach&Ref wrote:Anyone else notice how she is about a foot taller than everyone else? Can anyone say, "Early bloomer?"

I hope this girl plays up where there will most likely be players her size and possibly faster/stronger.

When you do that, then come back and post those videos. You may find that when the athleticism of early bloomers is not a factor, then they might not be as successful.

Good luck though! I hope she finds some good competition to challenge her and she keeps having fun.

Then again, you'll see that a lot of the early bloomers are still studs when they are 17.

i dont know most of you guys, but I know Unc...I know his daughter, and I know mine. Mine is a keeper now, but at that age...she got $1 per goal. Regularly would go home with $5 to $9 from just paw-paw. Pretty sure Unc could recount the same story. you can tell very early-on who has "somethin" and who are the "roys".

BigBoy wrote:i dont know most of you guys, but I know Unc...I know his daughter, and I know mine. Mine is a keeper now, but at that age...she got $1 per goal. Regularly would go home with $5 to $9 from just paw-paw. Pretty sure Unc could recount the same story. you can tell very early-on who has "somethin" and who are the "roys".

How much does she get for assists? Aren't they just as good as goals?

I ALWAYS encourage my parents to NOT pay for goals. It encourages ball hogging and not making the right decisions in order to just make money. Plus, what about the defense? How do they earn money?

If your daughter hustles, has fun and plays hard, just get her some ice cream on the way home.

Coach&Ref wrote:

BigBoy wrote:i dont know most of you guys, but I know Unc...I know his daughter, and I know mine. Mine is a keeper now, but at that age...she got $1 per goal. Regularly would go home with $5 to $9 from just paw-paw. Pretty sure Unc could recount the same story. you can tell very early-on who has "somethin" and who are the "roys".

How much does she get for assists? Aren't they just as good as goals?

I ALWAYS encourage my parents to NOT pay for goals. It encourages ball hogging and not making the right decisions in order to just make money. Plus, what about the defense? How do they earn money?

If your daughter hustles, has fun and plays hard, just get her some ice cream on the way home.

That's a great idea. I'll start bribing my kid with ice cream. Maybe a juice box, if she really tries hard. Or maybe a tank of gas or a car wash. Or a prom dress.

Uncle Numanga wrote:

Coach&Ref wrote:

BigBoy wrote:i dont know most of you guys, but I know Unc...I know his daughter, and I know mine. Mine is a keeper now, but at that age...she got $1 per goal. Regularly would go home with $5 to $9 from just paw-paw. Pretty sure Unc could recount the same story. you can tell very early-on who has "somethin" and who are the "roys".

How much does she get for assists? Aren't they just as good as goals?

I ALWAYS encourage my parents to NOT pay for goals. It encourages ball hogging and not making the right decisions in order to just make money. Plus, what about the defense? How do they earn money?

If your daughter hustles, has fun and plays hard, just get her some ice cream on the way home.

That's a great idea. I'll start bribing my kid with ice cream. Maybe a juice box, if she really tries hard. Or maybe a tank of gas or a car wash. Or a prom dress.

I have an 02 daughter( and a 20yr old) and ice cream is still good enough for her. (although I must say the incentive went up a tiny bit during the LHQT. Lol). We often will say if the team plays well we will all go for ice cream and then I will discreetly ask each parent if they can meet us at nearest place. She is part of the team and as a team member it is her job to support, prompt and sometimes guide her teammates if they are struggling. Thus if the team does well she gets rewarded along with whatever friends from the team that are able to join us.

I am wondering, when your daughter is 16 will you need to buy her a lap top, a car, $100 per goal (because they won't come as easy as they are now) what will it take to satisfy her and for you to get the outcome you feel you are paying for. Stop the spoiling now and keep it simple or perhaps things will be more important than teammates, the team or even friends someday.

**one more thing to think about, what if she is not the better forward on the team someday and coach thinks she is better defender? Will she want to quit, how will you reward? On a good team you play where the coach says, not where you have been developing her for or even where you think she should be**

By the way your daughter is very good! Most kids will catch up to her but for now she is very good! One thing that I caught is "I like to play soccer because I score a lot of goals" will she like it when she doesn't. By the time she hits 10 and higher many games don't go past 1 or 2 goals total.

No insult intended but as this girl gets older she will find the competition is tougher. There are well over 10,000 girls playing U-5 rec soccer in DFW and surrounding areas. U-11 LHGCL has 30 teams, apx 500 players who advanced out of the 10,000 from their age group. Most, if not all, of those 500 players chewed up the competition on Saturday mornings playing U-4/5/6 and could have put together similar videos. My advice is to build her confidence but not over inflate her ego to the point that she becomes frustrated as she gets older and things don't come so easy. Have seen more than 1 player with talent lose their love for the game and walk away when they realize they are no longer the 1 and only superstar on the team.

As for financial rewards I came up with a developmental scale with my 1st (of 3) soccer players. Don't put so much emphasis on goals that the young player does not develop other aspects of their game. $3 per goal, $2 per assist, $1 per shot, $1 per header, $1 per 1v1 move (stepover, dummy, helicopter, etc...), $1 per successful tackle, $1 per won 50/50 ball, $0.50 per positive/tactical communication, etc... Find what your player needs to improve and put extra emphasis on that area. Can be a lot to keep up with but can help develop a well rounded player.

Bicycle Guru-NOT wrote:

$3 per goal, $2 per assist, $1 per shot, $1 per header, $1 per 1v1 move (stepover, dummy, helicopter, etc...), $1 per successful tackle, $1 per won 50/50 ball, $0.50 per positive/tactical communication, etc...

Damn...I'd have to sell the boat.

Gunner9 wrote:

Bicycle Guru-NOT wrote:

$3 per goal, $2 per assist, $1 per shot, $1 per header, $1 per 1v1 move (stepover, dummy, helicopter, etc...), $1 per successful tackle, $1 per won 50/50 ball, $0.50 per positive/tactical communication, etc...

Damn...I'd have to sell the boat.

With a kid in select I am amazed you have time for a boat. Besides, I just made up the figures, my scale is somewhat less. I just didn't want to sound cheap.

I'm just impressed she can put her shin guards and shoes on.....I'm going to shown my 5 year old the video just for that!

justsayin02 wrote:

Uncle Numanga wrote:

Coach&Ref wrote:

BigBoy wrote:i dont know most of you guys, but I know Unc...I know his daughter, and I know mine. Mine is a keeper now, but at that age...she got $1 per goal. Regularly would go home with $5 to $9 from just paw-paw. Pretty sure Unc could recount the same story. you can tell very early-on who has "somethin" and who are the "roys".

How much does she get for assists? Aren't they just as good as goals?

I ALWAYS encourage my parents to NOT pay for goals. It encourages ball hogging and not making the right decisions in order to just make money. Plus, what about the defense? How do they earn money?

If your daughter hustles, has fun and plays hard, just get her some ice cream on the way home.

That's a great idea. I'll start bribing my kid with ice cream. Maybe a juice box, if she really tries hard. Or maybe a tank of gas or a car wash. Or a prom dress.

I have an 02 daughter( and a 20yr old) and ice cream is still good enough for her. (although I must say the incentive went up a tiny bit during the LHQT. Lol). We often will say if the team plays well we will all go for ice cream and then I will discreetly ask each parent if they can meet us at nearest place. She is part of the team and as a team member it is her job to support, prompt and sometimes guide her teammates if they are struggling. Thus if the team does well she gets rewarded along with whatever friends from the team that are able to join us.

I am wondering, when your daughter is 16 will you need to buy her a lap top, a car, $100 per goal (because they won't come as easy as they are now) what will it take to satisfy her and for you to get the outcome you feel you are paying for. Stop the spoiling now and keep it simple or perhaps things will be more important than teammates, the team or even friends someday.

**one more thing to think about, what if she is not the better forward on the team someday and coach thinks she is better defender? Will she want to quit, how will you reward? On a good team you play where the coach says, not where you have been developing her for or even where you think she should be**

Spot on. Uncle is just being an idiot.

0407GDad wrote:I'm just impressed she can put her shin guards and shoes on.....I'm going to shown my 5 year old the video just for that!

isn't that the truth!!

Coach&Ref wrote:

justsayin02 wrote:

Uncle Numanga wrote:

Coach&Ref wrote:

BigBoy wrote:i dont know most of you guys, but I know Unc...I know his daughter, and I know mine. Mine is a keeper now, but at that age...she got $1 per goal. Regularly would go home with $5 to $9 from just paw-paw. Pretty sure Unc could recount the same story. you can tell very early-on who has "somethin" and who are the "roys".

How much does she get for assists? Aren't they just as good as goals?

I ALWAYS encourage my parents to NOT pay for goals. It encourages ball hogging and not making the right decisions in order to just make money. Plus, what about the defense? How do they earn money?

If your daughter hustles, has fun and plays hard, just get her some ice cream on the way home.

That's a great idea. I'll start bribing my kid with ice cream. Maybe a juice box, if she really tries hard. Or maybe a tank of gas or a car wash. Or a prom dress.

I have an 02 daughter( and a 20yr old) and ice cream is still good enough for her. (although I must say the incentive went up a tiny bit during the LHQT. Lol). We often will say if the team plays well we will all go for ice cream and then I will discreetly ask each parent if they can meet us at nearest place. She is part of the team and as a team member it is her job to support, prompt and sometimes guide her teammates if they are struggling. Thus if the team does well she gets rewarded along with whatever friends from the team that are able to join us.

I am wondering, when your daughter is 16 will you need to buy her a lap top, a car, $100 per goal (because they won't come as easy as they are now) what will it take to satisfy her and for you to get the outcome you feel you are paying for. Stop the spoiling now and keep it simple or perhaps things will be more important than teammates, the team or even friends someday.

**one more thing to think about, what if she is not the better forward on the team someday and coach thinks she is better defender? Will she want to quit, how will you reward? On a good team you play where the coach says, not where you have been developing her for or even where you think she should be**

Spot on. Uncle is just being an idiot.

I'm the idiot? I have never bribed my kid with anything and she's turned out pretty well. I think she should want to score for her team.

Uncle Numanga wrote:

I'm the idiot? I have never bribed my kid with anything and she's turned out pretty well. I think she should want to score for her team.

+1

OK, so my question in general is, why does one need to bribe a player to do well? I thought (maybe foolishly) that a player plays because they love the sport. That being said, even my dd gets a little burn out now and then, but she doesn't quit because ultimately she loves the game. If they are in it for the bribes, just where does it stop? And if we bribing them to play the game, is it for her or for us? I admit that I get withdrawal come July and August. But is my need to watch her play important enough to bribe her to play? No matter how wonderful I think my dd is (and I do) if her heart isn't in it enough to do her best without a bribe, then what is the point in her playing? Does this carry over to everywhere elese in her life? Do I need to bribe her to get good grades? Do I need to bribe her to clean her room? Do I need to bribe her to be nice to her siblings?

Sorry for the rant, but this idea of paying a player to score does exactly what was mentioned earlier, causes ball hogging and lost opportunities. It makes team mates resent the player. And, it also tells other teams just who to target because the ball never gets to anyone else.

I don't think rewarding after the fact is bad at all. I take my dd to a special lunch when she plays exceptionally well, but I don't promise it before hand. And I don't do it after every game. If she played a good game, I tell her so and tell her how proud I am of her. If she played well above her normal game that is when I try to think of something special to do after the game. I don't plan it ahead of time or tell her ahead of time. That way, it is a reward for her own efforts and because she went beyond. sometimes it is a reward for aiding other team mates rather than scoring. I want her to know that there is as much valor in an assist or a great pass or protecting a player as there is in actually scoring.

I just know that I can't follow her around for the rest of her life bribing her to do the best at her job, as a wife or mother, etc.

Sorry if this was too preachy, just a bit of a sore spot.

InaB:

While I don't disagree with your post... are you talking about a 4 ro 5 year old?

I guess it depends on your situation. In mine, I have 2 older daughters than my now U6 soccer player. When she began as a U4, her sisters..shall we say..didn't work too hard in their respective sports. I don't know they knew how to work hard. I was trying to motivate. First game offered up a milkshake after the game if she scored. Little did she know she would have gotten it anyway. She scored...and has in every game in her 2 years. Doesn't matter if its 13 goals or 2.. I did raise along the way to 2 goals as she showed that she has desire and skill to avg 8 or so a game as a U5.

Does a 4 or 5 year old play for the true love? I don't think they know true love of a sport at that age. My DD just wanted to play something, but still she didn't really know what playing a sport was at that age(3 1/2 when fall U4 started). Saw local rec just started a U4 soccer league, she didn't even know what soccer was(not a soccer family back then) but wanted to compete at something.

Paying based on stats could be over the top at U8 or U9, but again, to each his own. We are all in differnt situations, what may be right for that family is not for us.

Maybe my DD would have still atill averaged 8 a game as U5 had I not offered up motivation... or maybe she would be done with soccer already, who knows. I am certainly not regretting my decision to reward a goal with a milkshake.

InaB wrote:OK, so my question in general is, why does one need to bribe a player to do well? I thought (maybe foolishly) that a player plays because they love the sport. That being said, even my dd gets a little burn out now and then, but she doesn't quit because ultimately she loves the game. If they are in it for the bribes, just where does it stop? And if we bribing them to play the game, is it for her or for us? I admit that I get withdrawal come July and August. But is my need to watch her play important enough to bribe her to play? No matter how wonderful I think my dd is (and I do) if her heart isn't in it enough to do her best without a bribe, then what is the point in her playing? Does this carry over to everywhere elese in her life? Do I need to bribe her to get good grades? Do I need to bribe her to clean her room? Do I need to bribe her to be nice to her siblings?

Sorry for the rant, but this idea of paying a player to score does exactly what was mentioned earlier, causes ball hogging and lost opportunities. It makes team mates resent the player. And, it also tells other teams just who to target because the ball never gets to anyone else.

I don't think rewarding after the fact is bad at all. I take my dd to a special lunch when she plays exceptionally well, but I don't promise it before hand. And I don't do it after every game. If she played a good game, I tell her so and tell her how proud I am of her. If she played well above her normal game that is when I try to think of something special to do after the game. I don't plan it ahead of time or tell her ahead of time. That way, it is a reward for her own efforts and because she went beyond. sometimes it is a reward for aiding other team mates rather than scoring. I want her to know that there is as much valor in an assist or a great pass or protecting a player as there is in actually scoring.

I just know that I can't follow her around for the rest of her life bribing her to do the best at her job, as a wife or mother, etc.

Sorry if this was too preachy, just a bit of a sore spot.

Exactly! My two desires for all of my kids before they play are to hustle and have fun. That is the only thing I tell them. They may have a bad game, just like everyone has a bad day now and then in life, but if they hustled and given their all, then I am proud of them. It has helped a LOT with their enjoyment of the game, since they know they won't "lose" any money opportunity if they don't do something.

There are two types of motivation: extrinsic (external) and intrinsic (internal). Parents who pay for things when raising their kids in order to increase performance such as good grades, sports performance, etc. will find that as soon as that extrinsic motivation for the kids goes away, then performance will drop again. Encouraging kids to believe in themselves and work hard for their own sake in order to help drive that intrinsic motivation, will find that those children will have happier lives. They will understand that accomplishing goals for no other reason than to see the fruits of their labors will lead them to be much happier in life.

If you look at all of the soccer players in the world, I can pretty much guarantee you that they never had to be paid as youngsters in order to go practice by themselves in the backyard nor even ordered to do so. You always saw them with a ball at their feet and couldn't even get them to come in the house nor find where they even were because they were always desiring to get better and practice on their own or with friends.