What is (was) street soccer?




I was born 1946, an age toatlly different to that experienced by today’s children, I grew up in the
days when children had space and parents that cared but that did not have to
watch over their off spring every waking hour. 

Turn the clock back to the mid-
fifties. The streets did not have cars in them; families could not afford them.
Children played in the streets & parks until dusk, after tea they played
floodlit games under streetlights until dragged in by their parents. They had
creative childhoods. Without television or computer games to distract them they
interacted & socialized with each other outdoors. My family were the first
in the street to get a television. I will always remember the Day, Coronation
day 1953; our living room was full of visitors to marvel at the new magic box.
Children’s programmes were limited to 1 hour per day at teatime! No
‘Neighbours’ or ‘Home & Away’ to watch. Kids played all hours in the street
using any size football that the one kid with a ball happened to possess. If
they did not have a ball they improvised with a tin can or any object that
could be kicked. They organized themselves, parents never got involved, they were
too busy working, father in useful employment & mother at home washing,
cooking & all the other household chores mothers did to make a home. When
they went home they new mother would be there.

 StreetSoccer
kids were competitive but fair. Teams were picked evenly, ‘if you have him then
we want those two’. The distance between the goal posts would vary depending on
the size & ability of the goalkeeper. An older brother may play, but only
if he used his weaker foot & did not score. Three new lads would arrive
‘can we play?’ ‘Of course you can.’ We’ll have you two you have him. Teams were
always being equalized. Games were stopped if they became uncompetitive!!
Today’s youngsters play in organized leagues before they are out of nappies,
cheered by proud parents that enter delirium as their side wallop less skilled
opposition.

 StreetSoccer
kids learned their skills through the greatest of teachers ‘self discovery.’
With no televised football or computer games to keep them at home: Street
soccer Parents lost their children to the streets; safe in the knowledge they
would return when hungry. The long hours they played unwittingly gave them
super fitness, strong aerobic capacities, and natural skills & techniques
today’s coaches & sports scientist can only try to emulate.

 Len
Shackleton, Billy Wright, Bobby Moore, George Best, Ton Finney, Stanley
Mathews, Dennis Law, Jimmy Greaves, Rodney Marsh & the Charlton’s. Where
does the list stop? They were exciting players that could ‘lift’ &
entertain a crowd – they had character. You travelled to see them knowing that
they could excite you to the point the hairs on the back of your neck stood up
when they attacked they turned it on.

 What happened to StreetSoccer?

Cars
became affordable, but unfortunately people lived in terraced houses without
garages and only street parking; consequently families did park the new status
symbols in the street. Cars gradually choked the streets forcing parents to
stop children playing in the streets for their safety.

The car
gave families freedom to travel but at the price of robbing kids of their
natural habitat.

 Has StreetSoccer been replicated in the late 20th Century?

Not in
the UK, but we have learned from it and mixed it with the best of modern
coaching. Ajax FC of Holland is accepted as the first club to recognize the
loss of StreetSoccer and the subsequent decline in standards and to replace it
with structured coaching. After early random success Ajax produced a production
line of classic footballers. This production line was funded by German &
Italian clubs awash with money willing to pay a king’s ransom to their less
wealthy neighbours for their ‘finished product.’ As clubs have imitated Ajax
their influence has diminished but not the respect for their pioneering work.
Ajax & the Dutch national side are the only European teams to be accorded
the glowing respect we have for Brazilian soccer where StreetSoccer still
exists and players are not rushed during their football puberty.

 Can StreetSoccer be re-invented?

City
developers have destroyed the natural habitat of children and StreetSoccer,
which said everything, is not doom & gloom, we can mix StreetSoccer and
utilize it with the best of our modern coaching skills. Parents & schools
can encourage children back to the parks & greens to play small-sided
games, organizing themselves, arguing, resolving disputes without adults to
mediating. Today’s children need to be out in the fresh air, just as
StreetSoccer kids did, practicing, playing, juggling, or just passing a ball
against a wall.

Yes because Futsal, the game dominated
by Brazil, is becoming established in the UK. Futsal has all the ingredients of
StreetSoccer and more.