Socrates; “Beauty comes first. Victory is secondary. What matters is joy.”

On December 9, 2011

He played the game at the highest level and played in a way that made football beautiful.

He was a part of the Brazil 1982 World Cup team – one of the best teams to ever grace a World Cup, yet Socrates never won football’s most prized competition.

“At least we lost fighting for our ideals”, he said after his team were beaten by Italy in 1982.

“To win is not the most important thing,” explained Socrates. “Football is an art and should be showing creativity. If Vincent van Gogh and Edgar Degas had known when they were doing their work the level of recognition they were going to have, they would not have done them the same. You have to enjoy doing the art and not think, ‘will I win?’ ”

Why Kids Play Football

In the world of professional sports winning and losing can seeminly be everything, but at youth and grass roots levels it’s about so much more than that.

Throughout the summer the FA ran a series of ‘Your Kids Your Say‘ roadshows and the below video shows a group of young footballers telling us why they play the game.

One word you hear in the below video more than any other is ‘fun’ and it’s clear to see that Socrates was right; “What matters is joy.”

‘Fun’

Whilst results may matter to parents, coaches and spectators, the kids number one priority is having fun and playing the game they love.

As adults we need to take a step back and look at sport from a kids point of view; we need to let them play, help them to learn and develop as athletes, but more importantly help them to develop as people too.

Winning isn’t everything; “What matters is joy.”