Palisades Program Teaches Tots Soccer Basics

YMCA soccer coach Jesse Poller has his work cut out for him.

His players sometimes lie down in the grass and refuse to get up, they play in the dirt when they are supposed to be scoring goals, they wander off the field never to return and occasionally, right in the middle of practice, they just start to cry.

Of course Poller makes some allowances for their unsportsmanlike conduct since the players are a little younger than your average pro.

“These kids are only 1 and 2, so what are you gonna do? I just try to be as patient as possible—I mean, I’m not going to scream at these kids because they’re crying. I understand when that happens and it’s fine,” Poller said.

Poller coaches the ’s Toddler Soccer program that meets Saturday mornings at Simon Meadow in Temescal Canyon. The six-week league focuses on teaching the toddlers the basic fundamentals of soccer while improving their coordination and large motor skills.

“We’re mainly teaching coordination more than anything else because they’re so young,” Poller said. “I don’t think they could really pick up the real rules of soccer at this age, so we teach them to pass and kick and have them run up and down the field.”

That is, when Poller can keep them on the field. Unfortunately there are so many other fun things in Simon Meadow to distract the young minds.

“They lose interest very fast at this age, so it’s kind of difficult to keep them going but we do our best,” Poller said. “There are just so many other very colorful things here, so the kids like to run around and play with things like the swings or the seesaw and all the things that little kids with big imaginations love to do.”

When that happens, Poller counts on parents to supervise their wandering toddlers while he works with those who can keep their eyes on the ball.

Daniel Morrison, 2, was one tot who stayed on the soccer field while most of his teammates explored other activities.

“Daniel likes to play on the airplane and he likes the zip line and those other things, but he still spends most of his time out on the soccer field,” said Peter Morrison, Daniel’s dad. “He kicks the ball and scores goals and runs around. It’s been great.”

The most important thing is to just get outside and exercise while interacting with other kids, and if Daniel learns the basics of soccer while he’s at it then that’s really just a bonus,” Morrison said.

“He’s making friends, learning a little bit about soccer and being out in the beautiful Southern California sunshine. So it’s kind of a win, win, win for everybody,” Morrison said.

For information about Toddler Soccer or other YMCA programs, call 310454-5591 or click here.