Hungarian football became famous by the achivement of great individuals. These individuals were developed on the play grounds.

One of these individuals was Imre Schlosszer (68 appearance in the national team and he schored 60 goals). He wrote this in his biography: I thank everything to the ragball, which I used to learn how to pass, to shoot, and to dribble with. I wonder if there is any player here in Hungary or around the world, who did not go through the shchool of ragball. If there are, I am sorry for them, because they lost such part of their youth that can only be understood by those who experienced it, like us.” (Imre Schlosser and 35 years of Hungarian football, Budapest. 1934)

We can also mention the thoughts of a recent international player: „I can be seen with a ball on most of the photographs taken when I was a child. As soon as I learned how to walk, I started using the ball.” – said Olaf Thon. (Ch. Kruger – K. Roth: Soccerschool Dialogue Campus 2002)

The fact of the disappearing of the playgrounds – not just in Hungary, but also all over in Europe – brought a change and restructuring of the system of youth development. It is recommended for every child to play with a ball before entering a club. We must teach children how to play with abandon. It doesn’t matter what size of ball they use, just make sure that there is one close to them. They can kick it or throw it, the idea is to learn how to play by playing. The quality of the relationship - between a child and a ball - developed at the early age of the child will determine the quality of the child’s movement and learning.

We have to elevate the „school of ball” to the level of everyday activities. Besides the relationship, a child can acquire the right interpretation of certain game situations and can learn the rules that apply. The basic principle is the „let him play” idea. We as adults have to provide the conditions for children so they can play individually or collectively.

Children can reach the point by the age of 6-7 where we can direct them towards a certain sport, in our case soccer, in a club system. At the same time we shouldn’t deviate from the original goal that is the 3-4 years development of the art of handling – with hands and feet - the ball.
Unfortunately the situation in Hungary is tragic. Competition became more important than the development itself during this age period. On top of this, we can see trainings where children only touch the ball at the end of their session during the match for 10-20 minutes. Trainings are long and boring.