The message from Paul Bayly
MIFC Director of Soccer
Let’s put the Fun back into playing soccer!
We strive to make the MIFC experience something integral to our sense of community and personal development, and wish that this extends to our kids as they play soccer and represent the real subject of all our efforts.
Before we start kicking a ball around the field and signing your child up to play the game with a club, it is best to ask ourselves why we play sports and what experience and environment we would like to help benefit the player’s overall development as a person physically and mentally.
The players' experience of the sport does not happen just at practices and games, it also happens before and after. What we wish for your kids is that they have fun, and thanks to that they keep playing and growing in a healthy way, to become active positive members of our great Islander community.
If you are faced with a decision about your child’s participation, think about why you signed your kids up.
It is rare that this has anything to do with being on a great team, it’s about just being on a team, learning about winning and losing, and playing well with others especially if these are their friends and classmates.
Don’t dissect games or practice on the way home: you might be tempted to comment on a particular play after a game or practice, but it’s better not to say anything at all.
Ask your child whether they had fun and then move on.
Remember to enjoy the games, be proud and support your player, open the door and allow them to walk through it. When you need to reset, ask yourself WHY did I sign my player up to play this sport?
Wishing everyone a great holiday season, yours
Paul Bayly
