New Soccer For Fun & Skills; Play Like a Soccer Legend

Soccer fever is growing in America, and two new titles offer training tips for aspiring players.Produced by Dale N. LeFevre, author of the bestselling book New Games for the Whole Family, the low-budget New Soccer for Fun & Skills features Coach Darwin Dallas introducing a series of 15 new soccer "games" meant to enhance dribbling, kicking, and heading skills. For the most part, the "games" are actually drills, and while the camerawork which follows the youngsters demonstrating the drills is watchable, the production values are low, with faded video, background audio noise, and an occasional glitch. Soccer is a popular subject, and one obviously well suited to video instruction, yet the presentation here is too amateurish.Play Like a Soccer Legend, on the other hand, would be a boon to players and coaches alike. Focusing on the Coerver Method (developed by coach Wiel Coerver), the program uses the medium of video to break down the favorite moves of great players to demonstrate why these moves are consistently effective, and how relatively simple they are to practice and learn. Soccer greats' Michelle Akers-Stahl, Gordon Banks, Roberto Rivelino, Kristine Lilly, and the legendary Sir Stanley Matthews pass on tips and techniques to viewers, and coaches Charlie Cooke and Alfred Galustian work on footwork, simple cuts, dribbling, shooting, heading, and effective goalie play with young boys and girls. In addition to the fundamentals the coaches also demonstrate a number of special moves from World Cup contenders. Although there are some billboards of Proctor & Gamble products, the commercial aspects of the video are pretty low-key. Too, it's much less bothersome when the sponsor and the activity have little in common (i.e Pampers and soccer). An excellent program.New Soccer for Fun & Skills is not recommended. Play Like a Soccer Legend is highly recommended. (R. Pitman)