When a soccer game is just a game

Is this really what David Beckham would do?

We can tell kids to eat healthy food and exercise, we can even set a good example by doing so ourselves. But what will truly motivate them is ... a hand-held video game! So seems to be the premise of an interactive soccer game from MatchMaster, which comes with the imprimatur of the David Beckham Academy.

A couple of the new games landed on my desk this week, with marketing material boldly announcing the introduction of "an interactive game that combines fun with fitness." Fitness? About time.

But "fitness," it turns out, is used in more of a theoretical sense. The hand-held game stresses the importance of training, eating right and rest by ... making it important for the virtual player. Great! The imaginary players in kids' backpacks or pockets will be fit as a fiddle.

Your kids?  Well, perhaps one more repeat of the "eat right and exercise" mantra is just what they need. This time, they'll take it to heart.

Want kids to get off the couch and figure out that moving around can be, I don't know, kind of fun? That junk food might not enhance their performance? That practice makes them better? That they won't play very well if they didn't sleep well the night before? Sign them up for the real thing. Start with the American Youth Soccer Organization (honestly, it seems to be everywhere anyway) or your own rec league or school.

I've nothing against video games, but let's not kid ourselves that they'll make kids healthier.

-- Tami Dennis

Photo: Shaun Botterill / Getty Images

Comments

[the Truth]

what kind of journalist are you when you don't recognize the real story of their collaboration? the David Beckham Academy is not the one who's selling the game, they are just collaborating with MatchMaster in providing the healthy program in the game while at the same time they can promote their academy to the kids through the game by putting their name in it!! it's that simple! if Beckham really wants to give advice through the game only...then what's the point of him setting up the academy?? you must not forget...he is a successful walking billboard and ambassador for anything and he is a successful person in marketing...so this is just one of the ways for him to promote his academy! trust me...eventually this collaboration will bring success in promoting his academy and more and more children will go and register with his academy and hopefully more and more children will be healthy.