Soccer has grown a lot in the United States and it has become a great opportunity for young people to try a sport. This is why Clague has intramural soccer, for people like Clague sixth grader Matthew Bezas. He is playing intramural soccer this year and has had a good experience with it. 

“I chose to play (soccer) because I’ve been playing soccer for 8 years and have always liked to play,” Bezas said. 

People of all skill levels and experience can join intramural soccer and the coaches will assist people from where they are. 

“It didn’t help me a lot with my skills because of my experience but for some of my friends, it helped them a lot,” Bezas said.

Even though it isn’t advanced soccer, it can still help people improve on basic skills or give good reminders. 

“It was very welcoming to everybody and the seventh and eighth graders were very nice,” he said. “I became friends with some of them.” 

This can be a great experience for many people with little to no soccer experience. Participation in youth sports has shown to result in more personal responsibility and self control, along with the chance to make lifelong friendships and memories. 

“I play on 3 different club teams (Michigan) Tigers, Crush and jags (Michigan Jaguars),” Bezas said.  

Even though there are many great things that can come from playing a team sport, there can still be some negatives. For example, youth soccer can get very competitive at a young age and that may be too much for a child to handle. This could result in the child experiencing an injury or overtiredness. One difference sixth grade sports has from seventh and eighth is the game.

“I think they should let us actually play games against other schools to show what soccer is like,” Bezas said.