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24

Lessons

October 1, 2025 by Tim

At the younger levels of soccer I noticed the kids were often just waiting for their turn to get the ball, or for the ball to come their way, and it occurred to me that we’re basically trying to get them to unlearn some stuff we’d spent the first five years or so teaching them.


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Philippe Marbaise
Philippe Marbaise
21 days ago

So true. Most parent spend lots of time to have their baby walk and talk just to tell them later to sit down and be quiet.

Noah
Noah
21 days ago

Just buy every player a ball. That way they don’t have to fight over it. This goes for all professional sports as well. They get paid millions and they can’t buy their own ball? Silly. And hey… sew up the hole in that basketball net too. Has nobody noticed that? Sports are silly.

Last edited 21 days ago by Noah
Gamer
Gamer
18 days ago
Reply to  Noah

We should give everyone a ball by FORCE!

Ste
Ste
21 days ago

Panel 2 is still tamer than the usual “Smash him! Break his legs!” That I hear at football stadia!

Flanker
Flanker
21 days ago
Reply to  Ste

Yepp, I what you cited is among the lighter verbal offenses 😀

A different Tim
A different Tim
20 days ago
Reply to  Ste

Is this for professional sports, or like 12-year-olds in this comic?

Pajuka
Pajuka
20 days ago

Yes

TomB
TomB
18 days ago
Reply to  Ste

Hockey parents…. not to be scorned, esp the hockey moms….

Had a friend in high school. He got up every day at 05:30 to get to the rink (hockey goalie). He ate the right things. He never got a rest. And his dad wanted him to be a Chiropractor (professional) and to get a shot at professional hockey.

He didn’t really seem to want to get up that early every day and he seemed lukewarm.

Always felt his wanted to live through his son….

foducool
foducool
21 days ago

that’s because you go from playful activity to competitive sport where winning is more important than your life

Diogo Salazar
Diogo Salazar
20 days ago
Reply to  foducool

the way some coaches go, losing is worse than living.

TomB
TomB
18 days ago
Reply to  foducool

I thought the real important thing in men’s soccer / fitba was making the best dives to draw cards for the other team and exaggerated injury to justify underwhelming performance….

(The gals just get up, get back playing without the drama)

Digi
Digi
21 days ago

Hindsight. Gotta love it. 🤣

Curtis
Curtis
21 days ago

To me, the difference is one they are playing together and the other they aren’t. I generally don’t teach my kids to “wait their turn” when it comes to play. I teach them to play together wherever possible.

Dorander
Dorander
21 days ago

I’ve always greatly enjoyed the fact that we teach children that it is wrong to lie, only to force them into an adult world that couldn’t function if people told each other the truth all the time.

Sayer
Sayer
21 days ago
Reply to  Dorander

Oh God, this so much. Everything is lying.

Eldest Gruff
Eldest Gruff
20 days ago
Reply to  Sayer

No, that only one guard. The other guard only tells the truth.

You have one question.

Terrycloth Monkey
Terrycloth Monkey
19 days ago
Reply to  Eldest Gruff

What would Eldest Gruff tell me to do???

Gamer
Gamer
20 days ago
Reply to  Dorander

I disagree, telling the truth is the most powerful thing you can do as an adult. The best people I know dont go around lying to people about anything. Telling the truth does make you enemies, but the sort of people who’ll only be your friend if you lie for them or to them arent people you want in your foxhole when the going gets tough, because they’ll get going.

Dorander
Dorander
19 days ago
Reply to  Gamer

Buddy, if you think there are people who don’t lie about anything, I fear you’re a little gullible. Whether it’s white lies or lies of omission, everybody lies, because people cannot stand hearing the truth all the time. I’m not talking people who’ll only be your friend if you lie for them, that’s a contrived example. I’m talking about the dozens if not hundreds of people you know, who aren’t helped in any way by hearing everything you think of them, or vice versa. I’m talking about telling someone something positive when they’re happy with something they got, even if… Read more »

Gamer
Gamer
18 days ago
Reply to  Dorander

not telling somebody something that will hurt them if its true, does hurt them more than not knowing it. If they do know it, then telling them how to resolve the situation or outlook is the solution, not lying about it or around it. I dont think I’ve ever had a situation with an employer where I’ve hated their guts or didnt respect them and remained employed with them. If you dont respect your boss, then why are you working there? Why are they in charge of you if there isnt something somebody found worth respecting? If your boss will… Read more »

Dorander
Dorander
16 days ago
Reply to  Gamer

It’s telling that you wrote so much text arguing that you simply don’t count things as lies if you think they serve a social purpose, which entirely proves the point. Let me put this in no uncertain terms. The moment you are not honest, you are by definition lying. The fact that you need to distinguish between an ‘autistic info dump’ and some other form of truth, means that you have just classified lies as truthful because that suits you better. Whether or not something is a lie isn’t a matter of consequence, it is a matter of the statement… Read more »

Tales
Tales
19 days ago
Reply to  Dorander

Is that because people don’t want to accept responsibility for their mistakes/issues and get upset/violent when somebody elae points them out?

Dorander
Dorander
19 days ago
Reply to  Tales

Not exactly, it’s because you don’t need to turn pointing out a mistake into a personal attack. Amongst lots of other things, of course.

WAhydrohead
WAhydrohead
21 days ago

Life. Always trying to get you to unlearn the lessons you already learned.

Gamer
Gamer
18 days ago
Reply to  WAhydrohead

less so “unlearn” and more so “layered understanding”

NoThru22
NoThru22
21 days ago

Holy shit, someone on the internet spelled “Psych” correctly. This is truly the endtimes.

VibrantEvolution
VibrantEvolution
21 days ago

My kids (9 and 12) always make a lot of noise when going downstairs after waking up early and I always beg them “can’t you just sleep in!” knowing that in a couple of years I’ll be yelling “IT’S 11AM GET OUT OF BED YOU LAZY KIDS!” 😅

Silo267
Silo267
21 days ago

I mean it is from an outside perspective ironic. However in context one kid is playing by himself with a ball. In the other the ball is being used to play a sport.

Ron
Ron
21 days ago

I coached 4-10 year olds in football (soccer) for years. Teaching them to not be afraid of the ball and to kick with a purpose was always lesson 1.

Richard Weatherfield
Richard Weatherfield
21 days ago

So when do we get back to Analog and D-Pad? Not that I don’t enjoy these strips, but I’m really chomping at the bit to find out what happens to Lucas and Ethan next.

Pulse
Pulse
20 days ago

that applies to far too many lessons in life

Giggity Goo
Giggity Goo
20 days ago

Isn’t that how it goes with learning? We learn one thing, then expand on it in a way that sometimes seems counter-intuitive. I’d view it as the first panel being someone playing a solo campaign, (step two would be playing a co-op campaign), and the final panel is vs.

Andi
Andi
20 days ago

Isn’t soccer turn based?

MarthKoopa
MarthKoopa
20 days ago

Is teaching kids about context difficult?

Gamer
Gamer
20 days ago
Reply to  MarthKoopa

Teaching kids the concepts of sharing, and giving way to others is important at the right age, otherwise they become poorly socialized for collaboration, and become socially ostracized by other children because they lack the social graces to be likable. This can create a negative cycle of continued negative social behavior that spirals. Its extremely important to teach children the correct social lessons in the correct order. Thankfully, we have a rough instinctual understanding of *when* this is required, but there are whole libraries written on the subject of child rearing. Additionally, men and women will have alternative instincts for… Read more »

jjX___
jjX___
19 days ago
Reply to  MarthKoopa

Sure, I’ll bite.

Yes, it is literally difficult in every way.

Gamer
Gamer
20 days ago

First you teach the concept of sharing and collaboration, then you teach competition. The first is required so the shared agreement to the rules of the game are accepted. You want to play the game, and they want to play the game, you want to win, they want to win. You have to learn that collaboration must exist to have the game be played, otherwise you will not get to play the game. Properly socializing children for shared activity then allows for them to have the proper tools to process how to engage with a competitive game with Grace. Life… Read more »

Sunbeam
Sunbeam
20 days ago

I have coached my kids in 4-6 soccer. Every kid wants to run to the ball to go score, but when it’s time to defend…yeah this is the problem. “Don’t let them shoot take it from them!”

CTOWNS
CTOWNS
19 days ago
Reply to  Sunbeam

At that age, being able to even kick a ball hard and accurately enough to roll into the goal zone is a complex achievement on its own.

Mael
Mael
14 days ago

There is a big difference: In the first case, it is a question of consent. In the second case consent was given automatically by joining the game.