Macon Soccer Club hopes to keep kids busy with its 6v6 Summer League
"It gives them something to do during the summer other than just being at home and being on the couch most of the time or on their phone."
MACON, Georgia (41NBC/WMGT) — The Macon Soccer Club is hosting its 13th annual 6v6 Summer League for rising sixth-graders to outgoing seniors.
“The most important part of your career and your season is the offseason,” said academy director Adrian Juarez. “Summertime is the offseason. Many players go to summer camps here in town or other places. But this league, what it offers is continuity. So they can continue playing all year long for those that desire to do so. And it gives them something to do during the summer other than just being at home and being on the couch most of the time or on their phone.”
So besides keeping kids busy during the summer, how does 6v6 soccer help prepare the student-athletes for their real seasons?
“Our fields are about 60 by 40 yards, so pretty small considering if you look at a high school age kid. So there is a lot of high pressure on the teams. There are a lot of turnovers because teams want the ball really quick and score goals. So it really helps them on sharpening their decision-making skills. Thinking faster, being proactive, so they have to think about what they’re going to do with the ball before they even receive it. So it really helps the game on a different aspect that 11v11 may not cover,” said Juarez.
Giving kids a platform to stay busy and improve is great. But there is one aspect of the game, not just in soccer but in almost all sports, which is currently lacking: referring.
“I believe it’s really parental related and how the referees have been treated lately. The lack of respect sometimes towards referees has driven them away from doing something that they don’t really do because of the money aspect of it. They do it because they want to help the game. Without referees, we can’t play games. So they ask the parents, and I wish they would listen most of the time, is just let the referees referee, let the coaches coach, and let the players play,” said Juarez.
