10 life lessons watching soccer can teach your child

Does your child love watching soccer?

For some parents, the thought of allowing their children to watch hours of soccer on TV or YouTube creates feelings of guilt and goes against all good parenting advice. However, this can be a golden opportunity to bond with your children while teaching them some valuable life lessons.

So, how can watching soccer benefit your child? We take a look:

1. Always be proud of yourself and stand tall regardless of your past. You have the power to change your future.
2. Having a winner’s attitude is coming second and not feeling like a loser. There can only be one soccer world champion team, but there are a lot of individual champions in every team.
3. Perseverance and hard work are what make you successful.
4. Being a player on a team is like being part of a family. All players have to work together exercising cooperation, patience, initiative, and control to achieve a goal.
5. Rules in soccer, like the laws of a country, have to be respected so that others are not harmed or exploited.
6. We are all part of a global community. Being tolerant of others shows courage and wisdom. Knowledge is power. Learning about other nations helps us to know more about ourselves and challenges our preconceived ideas.
7. Participating in sport and shouting for our favourite team are good ways to deal with stress and frustrations.
8. Being on time and keeping commitments shows others that you are considerate and reliable. Time in a soccer game creates order, boundaries, and ensures that the players don’t overexert themselves.
9. Grown men do cry and expressing emotions – no matter your age – is healthy and acceptable.
10. A good sport does not fake an injury or walk out on a game, but continues to the end of the game despite disappointment. They also acknowledge the other players who have won.