OFF THE BENCH is a series of contributions from the Soccer in the Streets’ coaching staff. First up is Andrew Asemota. Andrew joined Soccer in the Streets during his time with the CREW Teens program and now coaches at Drew Charter School and other locations in metro Atlanta while attending Georgia State University.
Video games are a huge part of the lives of kids, not only in the US but most of the modern developed world. However, few games have the ability to impact an entire culture . I believe there’s one game that could potentially change a population. The game I’m referring to is the EA Sports’ FIFA franchise. I feel that this game can turn kids who grow up with little to no soccer knowledge into avid soccer fans.
As a kid in Atlanta, I grew up watching baseball and football. I had an above average knowledge of soccer in relation to my peers, but I was not a fan by any means. Despite that background, today I am quite the soccer fan and now I even coach the sport. Video games have played a huge part in shaping me into the soccer fan I am today. Playing soccer video games can engender a love for soccer in three unique ways: 1) it creates familiarity with the sport, 2) it teaches the technical side of the game, and 3) it creates fandom.
FIFA can help to acquaint kids with soccer players and clubs. If one were to go into a random school or community within the United States and ask students to name soccer teams, what answers might you get? You’d get perhaps Brazil, Argentina, and a host of other national teams. What if you were to ask about specific players? You would then hear the likes of David Beckham or perhaps Pele. The point being these answers reveal a very limited knowledge of the game. Now if those kids were to play FIFA for a given amount of time, how do you think the answers would change? Instead of hearing Brazil for team names you may hear Chelsea or Real Madrid; as for players you may hear of Cristiano Ronaldo or Lionel Messi, and others. This may seem insignificant but it is a big step in helping kids learn the game.
Soccer video games also teach the technical side of the game some may argue perhaps even better than some coaches can. For example, the concept of offsides is a fairly simple aspect of the game to avid soccer fans but it may be hard for someone not familiar with the game to grasp. Playing a soccer videogame would adequately and effectively instill this law of the game into that individual. Further, as a coach I often find myself referencing concepts in other sports when my players find something difficult to understand. For example, I liken a counterattack after a tackle or an interception and the subsequent gaining of possession to transition basketball after a rebound or a steal. This is usually effective, but I believe that actually seeing it in a video game will better assist young soccer players in learning this skill.
Finally, the FIFA soccer videogame will create fandom for certain players which will enrich their interest in the game. Take myself for an example, one of my favorite soccer players is German midfielder Bastian Schweinsteiger. How can a kid growing up in Atlanta be a fan of a German soccer player? Again, the answer is videogames. Schweinsteiger became one of my favorite players because I had great success with him while playing FIFA. This further prompted me to watch him play in real life which ultimately lead me to become a fan of his team Bayern Munich.
With youths playing soccer video games, soccer won’t just be another sport in their seasonal rotation but instead it will be a game they love year round. Sure it’s a tad absurd to think that kids in the US will start choosing to play soccer over football and basketball because of videogames, but it certainly won’t hurt those chances. All in all, I believe that playing FIFA and games like it can be a “secret weapon” of sorts in the mission to make soccer popular within the United States.
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