In the United States, kids do not play "street soccer" as often as they do in South America or Europe. Because the "suburbs" are spread out across a broad area, it may be harder to get together with your teammates to play or get yourselves to a soccer field. But there are ways to get together for a pick-up game if you put your mind to it.

For example, Tab Ramos, a national team member who is now retired, grew up in Kearny, New Jersey, which is a soccer hot-bed in America. Tab had less trouble than kids have nowadays finding a place and a time to play soccer. There always seemed to be a friend around in his neighborhood who wanted to play. However, there wasn’t always a field to play on. So, Tab and his friends improvised, and you can too.

You don’t need a ton of kids to play a pick-up soccer game. Even with only four total kids playing, you can still get a decent game of 2 v. 2 going (think of all the touches you’ll get on the ball!) If you have the same problem that Tab had and there is no soccer field around your house, you can improvise-- just like he did.

In Tab’s neighborhood, soccer ruled over all other sports, but there was still a lack of soccer fields. The kids used the hockey parks as soccer fields, and when the hockey parks were full, they took over the basketball courts. You may wonder how they played on a blacktop without any goalposts or nets. Well, they came up with a new way to score-- instead of kicking a ball through a net, they scored points by kicking the ball against the pole holding up the basketball net.

Even if there is a soccer field near your house, you may want to consider playing a little "basketball" soccer-- this way, you don’t need to play full-field with a limited number of players, and you don’t need to bring cones to shorten the soccer field. Sometimes, it may be better to stick to the courts-- in trying to hit the pole, you are practicing aim, and by playing on an unfamiliar surface, you are forced to play more spontaneously. Give it a shot. You may learn more than you would at an organized practice!

If you live far away from your teammates or other soccer-playing friends, try having a few friends come over after school every week to play soccer somewhere. Enlist your parents’ help-- ask them if they will drive your friends home in the evenings after you play (you may want to offer in turn to do the dishes more often than normal or to help with other chores). If your parents see how important soccer is to you, they will want to help.

Playing soccer does not have to be limited to practices and game time. A big reason that European and South American soccer players are so good is because they grew up playing soccer "on their own," in the streets, without coaches putting them through drills or supervising them all of the time. Therefore, these kids are more prepared to improvise on the field during game time. The kids then turn into confident, capable players when they hit the professional ranks. American players have the athleticism, strength and the gumption to compete professionally and to win at the highest levels. Perhaps to make that final step towards the international championship, we just have to get a little more creative ...