Lukas Podolski Quotes

Young boys and girls should be given the chance to play football.

You hear peewee coaches teaching the 'trap'. What the heck are we doing teaching the 'trap'? Let the kids go, let them have fun; that's how you improve.

I'm from a council estate myself, and the biggest release we had as kids was football. That's where all the great players learn their trade - as kids having a kickabout.

A strenuous effort must be made to train young people to think for themselves and take independent charge of their lives.

Kids can really get better quickly. Here's another thing I would like to say: Kids should never be coached by their parents, ever. They should be as natural as possible.

Everybody recognises that giving young people competitive outlet through sport is a very good thing.

My dream is to get the young people off the streets, to make it possible for them to play football in the stadium instead.

I see it every week - parents shouting and screaming at kids. My dad was the same. He was always there, but he never interfered. Ron Greenwood, who was the manager of West Ham when I was a kid, wouldn't allow any parent to shout from the touchline. He thought players should be allowed to think for themselves.

I've watched what coaches do for young people in our country.

The quality of our academy system is very high, as good as anything in the world. Around the country, lots of people in youth development are keen to get together and find a solution to that 17-to-21 age bracket and how we get those players playing.

Development is not that you make bridges, buildings or put marble floors in your house. Real development is building moral character of youth.

I am not a supporter of juniors increasingly going to top clubs.

I began my journey as a 16-year-old boy at the Arsenal's academy, trying to one day become a first team player, going out for evening runs in East Barnet with Jack Wilshere.

Sports will equip kids with the necessary tools to face academic challenges, and provide all-round development.

Mostly as a No 10. When I was really young, I played as a striker, but I grew a lot when I was 15 or 16.

When you're young, stay active no matter what you do, and look up to positive role models.

When you're growing up, you have your heroes, and you hear about people going off to other countries to play football, but when you're so young, you're not thinking about that. You just play. No referee, no rules.

I played for Middlesbrough's youth team. At the age of 16, I went into a shed at the training ground and was told that they weren't signing me on, so that was the end of that dream. Football was my life. I played football when I got to school, football every break and football as soon as I got home.

I was released by Chelsea at 14 years old. I remember it, a Tuesday night. On the Wednesday, I was training with Fulham, five minutes from my house, and then on the Thursday, I was training with West Ham. After one session at both clubs, they both wanted me.

Until I read Neill's book, 'Summerhill,' I thought there were only two ways to bring up children, either with authoritarian discipline or with permissiveness. Either way, hopefully, applied with love. Now I know there is a third way: teaching a child self*regulation, not by coercion or by abandoning discipline, but by freedom with responsibility.

As a kid, my parents told me I always seemed to play football with older people. As a boy, I always trained in the age group above, and even kicking about on the street, I'd play with the bigger ones.

Children can become self-reliant and self-disciplined by being free to do what they want to do.

My father believed young people are among our nation's most valuable resources, and so we should ensure that every child - including children and youth returning from the justice system - have access to the opportunities we would want for our own children.

My parents were great at making sure I got out of bed when I needed to play football on a Sunday morning and that I was ready after school to go to training on a Tuesday and Thursday. But it was never forced upon me or rammed down my throat. If it had been, I could have ended up hating sport.

I think soccer kept me off the street.