"Please Lord, please give us a goal!" The unspoken, but fervent chant by soccer fans during boring, scoreless games.

In how many ways can you shoot a sport ha the foot? Youth soccer is coming up empty with a strain of S.A.R.S.G.--Shooting Aversion Resulting in Scoreless Games.

It is what happens when teams try to win with a dull and graceless style of play--playing a "half-court defense" and waiting for the other team to make a mistake, and when it happens, to capitalize on that error with a goal, and then closure defending for the rest of the game.

Final score: 1-0.

Such games are becoming commonplace, producing very boring spectacles. Witness last year's USYSA National Championship game, in which average teams and players focused simply on covering up the cracks, or weaknesses.

Over the short haul, such teams may achieve some success. In the long run, the games and the players are big-time losers.

Ask a group of average sports fans for their opinion of soccer, and you will get the same answer: "It is boring. It needs more scoring."

Coaches who promote such play don't understand the damage they are inflicting upon a great game. They are reinforcing the anti-soccer lobby who like to point their fingers at those ugly stop-start games of free kicks for petty fouls, passing around the back forever, and generally putting the fans to sleep.

Rumor has it that these games are attracting a new kind of fan--the insomniacs looking for a pill for sleeplessness. Such games can put you to sleep within minutes.

Whenever I see a team play this kind of game over a prolonged period, I know it is in trouble. Whenever both teams resort to the counter-attacking game or half-court press, the fans are in for top-class boredom. On an "exciting" day, you might see a total of five or six shots--and no goals. Talk about watching paint dry!

There are a number of factors that might influence a coach to play that way, such as tournaments that pack two to three games into a sweltering, summer day. You cannot fault the coaches for protecting their players. But you have to wonder what induced the administrators to expose the youngsters to the vagaries of the weather.

Sitting in the shade of a tree or under an umbrella, they somehow fail to notice that the players are totally exposed to the heat--which will be repeated later that day.

USYSA and State Associations have to rethink the structure of these competitions. If they do not understand the physiological stress involved, they should check out the countries that: (1) permit only one game or two shortened games per day, (2) make sure games are played early in the morning, (3) have recesses between 11:30 am and 3: 00 pro, and (4) schedule other games in late afternoon and evening to avoid the midday heat.

The end result of over-scheduling is a devalued level of play favoring the fittest and more physical teams. Skill and player development loses out again.

Notice to coaches who enjoy flaunting the boring "half-court defense" game as their mantras: Please, gentlemen, go ruin somebody else's game!

We need positive play, be it attacking or defending attitudes from top to bottom of the sport.

We need to feed the great American habit of going for the goal--it breeds the most positive forms of attacking play.

Lothar Matthaus, after years of playing in Europe for Bayern Munich, Inter Milan, and winning the World Cup with West Germany, spent a season in MLS. He thought the attacking mode was refreshing in soccer as well as in basketball and American football.

In Europe, they often play not to lose, which breeds caution and playing defensively. In the USA, the enthusiasm to attack is part of the culture and is promoted as often as possible.

The USA is the only country I know in which youngsters talk about "shooting goals" or baskets. This mindset has to be nurtured and encouraged. Where skill is king, great players are produced. We need this spirit in soccer, especially at junior levels.

Many of the elite countries in Europe encourage its youth programs to play a positive game. They know that winning alone is a poor substitute for developing talent.

Look at countries like Denmark and The Netherlands. They see the game as an educational vehicle first and to win when it matters. The tactic of prolonged defensive play is actively discouraged. They know it produces only negative play and low standards. The coach wins and the players lose.

Hopefully, both administrators and coaches will look at this problem long and hard, as too many games are winding up 1-0, 0-0, etc. Let's stop this disease before it becomes an epidemic. Let's think of ways to force teams to play positive soccer. It's our future we're dealing with and not next week's tin trophy.

What can we do to change this mindset? Years ago, the North American Soccer League (NASL) experimented with a 35-yard off-side line that did open up the game. To my mind, this would do wonders for the youth game, as it promotes space in the midfield and helps players, coaches, referees, and fans learn more about the sport, such as off-sides and zones--defense third, midfield, and attacking thirds.

Another way of fostering attacking play is by simplifying the tie-breaking procedure: the team that scores first is declared the winner if the game ends in a tie.

And how about borrowing a scoring system from basketball--awarding two points for any goal scored from outside the penalty area. That would encourage a skill we desperately need--quality long-range shooting, especially with those lightweight balls that bend and dip.

Why can't we encourage a few budding Roberto Carlos's to ply their lethal trade? It would not only make the sport more exciting, but would open up the inside game. For soccer, that's more space in the penalty area.

POSTSCRIPTS

What will happen if we don't do something about these things?

1. The games will get slower and more boring to watch.

2. We may increase the danger of playing too many games in hot weather and of incurring more injuries. (See "The Effects of Tournament-Play on Elite Youth Players," Victorian Institute of Sport, Australia.)

3. Coaches and administrators must become more broadly versed in the safety of the players. Too many tourneys are more interested in making money than in improving the welfare of the youngsters. They have to adapt to meet the needs of the players--ensuring greater downtime between games, playing early in the day, avoiding the mid-day heat, and starting up again in late afternoons.

4. Physical regeneration and excess injuries are in dire need of review. So is the promotion of skillful play, which can get lost in the obsession over big tournaments and the sponsor influence. This is not just a problem at youth levels. It goes right to the top of the game to World Cup--too many games and too little rest. It often takes months for players in the top leagues to recover from excessive stress.

Are we smart enough and do we care enough to learn all these lessons?

Any questions? Try [e-mail]

Graham Ramsay

Director

Maryland State Youth Soccer Assoc.