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For several years now, it has become increasingly rare to find children playing football in the street — a problem bigger than it might first appear. Throughout the last century and into the early years of this one, streets, pitches and courts were routinely filled with young people enjoying a kickabout with their friends — something that has changed significantly.
Street football culture is fading, slowly but surely, and this brings with it a range of consequences. Street football provides creativity, cunning and excitement, among many other qualities — qualities that are essential to the game and that are increasingly absent from professional football, making it more artificial and less anarchic by the year. Many of the game's legends grew up playing in the street, where they forged their competitive character and honed their talent — the kind of talent that makes us leap out of our seats when we see a dribble or a piece of control that moves us.
At school, every child's greatest excitement was the moment the bell went for break so they could play a match with their classmates and friends. Now everything has changed. Javier Clemente once said: "Children today don't play football in the playground because they'd scuff their shoes." The street doesn't distinguish by age — playing against older or younger people is key to socialising and shaping your personality from a young age. Technology and social media play a fundamental role here; young people have completely changed their habits and the way they relate to each other. The ball used to be a child's best friend.
Nor should we forget the obstacles young people now encounter if they want to play football in the street or the park…
A few years ago, seeing those kinds of signs would have been unthinkable. Banning children from playing football in a public space is completely unnatural and harmful to them. All of these factors mean that, as time goes on, professional football is gradually losing the magic and the essence that made us fall in love with it in the first place.
For one reason or another, the youngest generation is being deprived of a fundamental stage of their childhood — something that will have repercussions for their future. If you're reading this, you almost certainly look back with nostalgia on the memories you once shared with friends on those joyful football afternoons, where the ball was the true star. You'd probably love to go back to those moments when all that mattered was saving a penalty or scoring the winner — to feel, just for an instant, like Maradona, Ronaldo, Arconada or Quini. Let's do our best to make sure that the youngest among us, if they want to, can enjoy sport to the full — without limits and without obstacles.
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