It’s not just fancy footwork and fashion tips kids steal from their heroes - it’s underhand tactics too
Elbowing a defender from the opposition, number seven falls down feigning injury before seeing his act hasn’t been noticed and dashing over to the ref to shout and swear in his face.

No, not the English Premier League or an important international match, but a fun Friday afternoon in Safa park.

With the World Cup just weeks away, hundreds of budding Rooneys and Kakas will be inspired to don their football boots and go for a kickabout.

Indeed, shouts and screams of children playing football will become the norm.

Sadly, so will cheating.

According to a new survey by The Cricket Foundation and England’s Marylebone Cricket Club, more than half of eight-to-16-year-olds see bad sportsmanship every time they play a team game, with 73 per cent witnessing cheating.

Among the examples of gamesmanship children gave were diving to win penalties, arguing with referees, headbutting, punching and even swearing.

But who’s to blame for children breaking the rules?

Parents surveyed admitted they felt responsible for their kids’ unsportsmanlike behaviour, a view shared by parenting coach Sue Atkins.

She says: “I actually think it stems from the values of the parents, and values have shifted a little bit.

If you’re passing on that whole concept of being honest, truthful and kind, then it shouldn’t be a problem. Also, in football, children are seeing people like Thierry Henry handling the ball and going through to the World Cup and that’s a value that needs to be nipped in the bud.

Because sportsmen are all role-models to kids, aren’t they?”

Former Scotland international and TV pundit Derek Whyte says footballers may make mistakes on the pitch in the spur of the moment but children then copy these tactics thinking it’s the way to play professional football.

“I’ve seen games where kids have copied the wrong kinds of things the footballers do - feigning injury, arguing with refs, having a go at the coaches,” he says.

Nevertheless, Whyte believes there is plenty youngsters can learn from their heroes.

“Children should think more about copying the good things footballers do such as practicing all the time - at the end of the day that’s how you become a footballer.”

The danger is that if cheating is not caught at an early stage, it could continue into adulthood, Atkins adds.

“If you start to cheat in the small things, you get used to cheating. It builds up and you think of it as a way of life.

So then you cheat your mortgage, or you cheat on your wife. I know it sounds a bit dramatic, but it’s a mentality.”

Whyte, who coaches football at the Royal Meridien Hotel during summer holidays, says it’s up to coaches to continually teach
children to respect their fellow players and learn they can’t win a football game on their own.

“Sometimes when kids are playing they’ll shout at another kid for making a mistake or not having their eye on the ball but you have to keep telling them everyone’s human and can make mistakes.

You have to keep trying to get that message across all the time that it is first and foremost a team game encourage them rather than criticise if they do something well encourage it and if they do something bad advise them how to do it better the next time.

“If I’m doing a coaching session I’ll stop the game and come on to the pitch and tell the kids, he may have made a bad pass but don’t give him a hard time’.”