The most valuable thing about the sport of soccer, however, isn’t solo practice. Soccer is an excellent team sport because cooperation is fundamental to the game. Soccer teams are large: where basketball teams feature only five players playing at any given time on one team, soccer features eleven. In order to succeed in soccer, a team simply must work together and communicate. I personally feel that children who participate in soccer at an early stage have the opportunity to develop vital teamwork and collaboration skills that will help them immensely later in life.
Children who play soccer learn to exhibit decorum, manners, and gentlemanly or ladylike behavior on the field and in every day life. Respect and comprehension are lessons everyone needs to learn, which can be learned by understanding the rules of soccer and following them respectfully. The rules of soccer are easy to learn, but in the heat of the moment it may require discipline and highly developed character to follow them to the letter. In soccer, those who do not follow the rules are penalized, and the rule-breaker quickly learns the value of playing honestly and with integrity.