On the day that the U.S. men’s soccer team was eliminated from qualification for next year’s World Cup, inciting an array of condemnations about how the sport is taught at a youth level, a new Kickstarter campaign launched that aims to use technology to encourage more children to play soccer and have fun while learning fundamental skills.
Dribblers FC is a proposed mobile app that will guide parents through coaching children ages 3-to-5 through simple drills with animal-themed cartoon characters guiding the exercises and a rewards system incentivizing participation.
“It’s a topical issue now given the discussions around youth soccer in the States, and I think what’s happening is they’re not taking the right first steps in soccer,” Dribblers FC founder Ian Campbell said, noting that the timing of his launch was coincidental.