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It is the differences in the sports. When little kids play football it looks like football. They know where they are supposed to be each play and basically and what they are supposed to be doing. It's harder for them to get the big picture in soccer. It requires a fair amount of skill and knowledge before they can really play what resembles real soccer. They have to be able to dribble the ball, make a move and get around somebody. They have to be able to kick the ball hard enough and accurately enough to pass it, and to be able to stay in their positions as they move the ball down the field so that there will be somebody in the right place to accept a pass. I've got 8 and 9 year old girls now and a few of them who have been playing a few years are really starting to get it. It's exciting to see them figuring out the game finally. They're staying in their positions pretty well, moving the ball up the field with passes, centering it in front of the goal like they are supposed to do, and we're getting to the point where the center striker knows where she needs to be right in front of the goal when the ball is centered. My defenders are starting to pass the ball to my strikers rather than just kicking it away. I've got the team dominating the league now though, and of course some parents think we've stacked the deck because none of the other teams are playing at our level yet. That always happens. We haven't stacked the deck though and really it's not my coaching skills. I've just got a few athletic kids with experience and knowledge of the game. And for some reason on average mine seem to be a little bigger than the kids on the other teams, luck of the draw. At first in soccer that's what it's all about. If you have bigger faster kids you will win. They run around in a big mob and the ball ends up getting kicked out of the mob and then the fastest kids get to it first and get it down the field, not so much by dribbling, just by kicking it out in front of them and running to it faster than everyone else. They'll get more shots on the goal, and some will go in. It's really exciting to see real skill and knowledge coming into play with my kids now. That's the great equalizer in soccer. As they get older and learn the game and develop ball handling skills size and speed will still matter, but not nearly as much as it does for the little ones.