Carey Schumacher is a soccer mom & photographer from San Diego, California.

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The photos used for this post have been provided by Carey. Make sure to visit her sites.

The journey of soccer can be thwarted with uncertainty, issues, problems, confusion and indecision. The sport at times can even make you feel powerless.

To try and give you a solution to these feelings would be ludicrous and to some extent naïve. It breaks my heart when I see young players with all the potential and natural talent give up.

Too often young kids give up.

Too often situations in soccer appear insurmountable and the easiest thing to do is give up. If I can stop one kid from quitting the game through this post then I’d be extremely happy.

The simplest advice I can offer to any young players is this,

“Do not give up”.

Most kids and teenagers these days give up because they succumb to many pressures that are related to competitive sports. If a child feels like he’s a failure, chances are he will quit. If the player feels inadequate and below par then the quest for that elusive contract becomes a faded memory.

Success in soccer is not always about that elusive full time professional contract. Success is not about the money you make or the team you play for. Success is not about the amount of trophies you have in the trophy cabinet.

So what is soccer success? Who defines soccer success anyway?

When times are tough and your form has deserted you, turn to your friends. Focus on the friends and teammates around you and live in the moment. Stop contemplating future contracts or lack of them and enjoy the moment.

All the worries and pain you are going through will allow you to grow as a player. It will allow you to build character and develop an understanding of who you are. It will give you a sense of belonging if you have the ability to turn to your teammates and close friends.

Chances are if you’ve played soccer from a young age most of your best friends today would have been a part of your junior team. Trust the soccer path because it will lead you to where ever you are supposed to go.

Trust in Soccer and your friendships (teammates). Know that if something is meant to be, it will be.

Although I use this site to motivate all players, the truth is not everyone is destined for the big time.

But having said that, making the big time doesn’t necessary mean you have succeeded either. Soccer shouldn’t always be about success and failure, winning and losing.

Appreciate soccer; know that it’s a precious gift and a great way of life.

In my life I’ve come in contact with some great people through soccer. My best friends today have been my friends since junior soccer. These friends have been in my life for decades. The trust and love we have for each other can never be replaced with a trophy, with money or even a full time contract.

These guys would take a bat to anyone’s head for me and I would do the same in a heartbeat. Could you ever put a price on this friendship?

Playing soccer I didn’t have to work until the age of 27 and got to travel the world. The roller coaster ride of soccer was just that, a roller coaster.

Did I retire a millionaire?

Did I eventually play for a big club?

No I did not.

When I did retire I was left with 2 badly injured knees with arthritis. Getting in and out of bed these days is a struggle.

But would I change it?

Some wisdom from the Greeks,

“he who has found a best friend in life has found the rarest treasure in the world”.

Through soccer I’ve found a handful of treasures.

People talk about friendship without knowing what it stands for. True friendship is one where formalities are not maintained.

Friendship is the situation when the person you are talking about is counted as one of your family members.

If you don’t correspond for sometime, your friendship remains unscathed. Best friends do not have to meet up to make sure the friendship remains.

The little guys I played soccer with over 30 years ago are the treasures I’m talking about. They are my best friends, my treasures.

So my question to you is this,

Did I succeed in Soccer?

So before you decide to quit the game, look to your left and right because you could be surrounded by the shiniest of treasures.

Growing up meant alot of different things for me in the late 70′s and early 80′s. Watching shows like Leave It to Beaver, Mr Ed and the Wonder Years were common practice. Falling in love with the characters and idolising characters like the Fonz from Happy days and the Dukes of Hazard were standard amongst all the youth. Think for a moment.

For those that grew up in this era you’ll know exactly what I’m talking about. Can you remember this time?

Where were you living back then?

What were you like?

Who were your friends?

Did you have any hopes or dreams?

If someone had asked you 10-15 years ago where you would be today, could you answer? Did it work out the way you planned? I hope so! A decade can pass by quickly, can’t it?

The point I’m trying to make is this,

How are you going to live the next ten years of your life? Are you going to train hard? Are you going to give Soccer a real crack? What does the word soccer really mean to you?

If you grew up during my wonder years, chances are you would have retired by now. But that does not excuse you from this post. Are you coaching? Do your kids play soccer?

The questions I’d like to ask everyone is this,

What is important to you or your kids today? What has soccer got installed for you in the long run? Will you or your kids greet the manager that will inevitable hand you a 5 year deal worth millions?

You see, 10 years from today will surely arrive like it did for my generation. The question is where will you be? Who will you be playing for? How will you live? The best bit of advice I can give anyone is don’t take soccer for granted. Soccer, just like any other sport is here today…………..gone today. You’ll remember me when your knees no longer bend due to arthritis.

Think about this for a moment. Is there a difference between being interested in soccer and being committed to it? You better believe it! Many parents are proud of their children and rightly so. All dream about their kids playing on the big stage. Some have even predicted it. My son goes to this clinic, my son plays for…….., my sons coach thinks he has great potential.

Without sounding too harsh, let me give you some more advice. The word potential gets thrown around a lot in this world. Can someone tell me what the word “potential” means in relation to soccer?

Stop guessing here it is,

A soccer player that has potential is a soccer player that hasn’t made it yet. That’s it.

What ever you do, don’t find comfort in the word potential because before you know it, your wonder years will have slipped you by. So get off the sofa, switch off the PlayStation and commit to soccer before it’s too late.

The youth of today are bombarded with computers, video games, foxtel and the Internet. The big companies continue to manipulate the young minds with hyped up marketing and continue to drive them into the world of cyberspace. What is cyberspace anyway? What happened to the good old days? When I was a troublesome youth, the Internet wasn’t even discovered. Apple meant you were eating fruit and television only came in two colors, Black and White. Ipods, Xbox and PlayStation had not been discovered and the streets were a buzz with fights and sports.

I can see you looking at the monitor and double checking to see if this is still a soccer site. There is a point to my opening introduction. When I was growing up each kid had an ambition, a goal to be the best player in the street. Whether this meant the best soccer player, cricket player or simply the toughest kid in the suburb, it was a driving force that inspired us. The fire in the belly and the sparkle in our eyes is what made us tick back in the days, not computer games.

To be the best and to never surrender especially to those punks that lived nearby was our motto. How many kids have this competitive edge today? A snapshot of today’s youth will have them eating in McDonald’s or playing Video games. They will have an extensive selection of toys and have all the latest gizmo’s that money can buy. The streets have been deserted for years and the level of sporting activity has declined significantly.

Does anyone recall this saying, “the simple things in life are often the best”. What would happen if the internet, computer games and the giant food companies were taken away? Children would return back to the basics. Riding bikes, playing in the street and digging out the gravel that has been lodged in their knee since the morning slide tackle would return. Kids would become active again and learn the trade of the street. How to survive, how to compete and how to conquer. In order for a kid to be healthy and fit he needs a big dose of competition and I’m not referring to the highest score in a computer game.

Let me give you a scenario. For this example I’m going to use two different kids from two different backgrounds. The first kid is Luke and the second kid is Gabriel. Luke comes from a wealthy family and is provided with everything he needs. He has every new toy imaginable and his bedroom resembles that of a toy store. Due to excess and the abundance of money, Luke has become overweight and doesn’t exercise at all. He indulges in take away and most of his time is spent in his room playing video games. His social life has suffered because of this.

Gabriel on the other hand lives in Buenos Aries. He lives a life of poverty and barely has enough food to eat. The only thing of value Gabriel owns is a soccer ball and the two knees that bend that allow him to play soccer. Gabriel has an army of friends who have been together now since birth. They have a soccer ground which is in the form of an alley way found behind the local liquor store. Gabriel and his friends dream of one day playing for the biggest clubs in Europe and providing for not only their families, but for the whole village.

Let me now ask you a question, who has the better life? Which life would you choose?

Soccer gives you the ability to dream and to have hope. Everyday when I get to look at my old scars from the battles I’ve lost and won, a warm sensation feels me to the point where I smile and remember the old street gang.

Don’t buy your children PlayStations, buy them a soccer ball and give them a life. Give them dreams and fuel the fire that burns within us all.