We’ve all heard the horror stories of parents and coaches who take the fun out of youth sports by shouting at players, complaining about coaches, and even starting fights, in rare occasions.
But what if you took the adults out of the game?
That’s the idea behind a new soccer tournament at Life Time Sports in Eden Prairie this weekend.
The tournament will include 15 teams of boys and girls age 10 to 12, but instead of standing on the sidelines, all adults, including coaches, will be asked to stand at least 30 feet from the field.
The tournament is fittingly called "The Freedom Cup."
“The whole idea is we’re empowering these kids and we’re giving them the freedom to be creative, the freedom to make their own decisions and the freedom to just play the game of soccer,” Life Time Sports President Stephanie Hu says.
The tournament will be co-hosted by the Minnesota Youth Soccer Association, which is also on board with the idea of giving the game back to the kids.
“To almost watch it as a “petri dish,” if you will. Let’s watch the kids play without instruction, without direction, without high pressure, and just let them play,” Cam Stoltz of the Minnesota Youth Soccer Association says.
Organizers say the main goal of the tournament is to change the overly competitive culture of youth sports
“We’ve really taken the game away from the kids,” Hu says.
A recent survey from the National Alliance for Youth Sports shows 70% of kids quit sports by the age of 13 and never come back.
"And a lot of the reason is there's too much pressure being put on them," Hu says.
Parents are still encouraged to cheer on their kids during the tournament but are simply asked to keep all “sideline coaching” to themselves.
“We don’t want them to give their kids direction,” Hu says. “Even when you have the best intentions we as adults can get carried away.”
Christie Jansen is a parent and coach for one of the 15 teams in the tournament.
She loves the idea of keeping the adults out of the game.
“It’s just putting the fun back into soccer,” she says. “You hear the stories where parents maybe are yelling, and coaches are yelling. This will give the kids the opportunity to just play the game.”
Jansen’s excited to see what her players will do without having a coach on the sidelines.
“It will be fun to see what they come up with,” Jansen says. “I’ll probably give them a pep talk and get them their starting positions and see how they handle substitutions and things like that.”
Organizers say the tournament will still be competitive.
They'll have referees, keep score and crown a champion at the end.
They're hoping the idea catches on and gives parents and coaches something to think about.