The worst shot is the one not taken

That, however, doesn’t bother me. My issues with soccer, especially the World Cup, are two-fold. One, it appears there is a hesitancy to shoot the ball, and two, it drives me nuts when a team takes a short corner kick — one in which a pass is made to a teammate mere yards away from the corner flag.

Let’s address the second part first. In a game that can be devoid of scoring and even significant scoring chances, I don’t understand why any team would willingly give up an opportunity to get a ball on frame, regardless of the odds. Send a cross to the front of the goal and see what happens.

Granted, a short corner can also result in a dangerous cross, but it has been my experience that those kind of set plays rarely work. It’s more common to see a potential cross knocked down by a defender who is aggressive closing down the opponent with the ball than it is to see it turn into a dangerous scoring chance.

Now, about the reluctancy to shoot. No matter what a team’s ranking may be, every team in the World Cup is comprised of elite players and those players are not going to idly stand by and let an opponent get into a better position to shoot.

Here has been a every-game example: a long through ball into the penalty box, right on the foot of a striker, with a defender on his hip. Instead of shooting the first time, the attacking player decides to try some kind of cut back move or pushes the ball into more space, in the hopes of finding that perfect shooting opportunity.

By the time the forward pulls the trigger, the defense has recovered and oftentimes blocks a potential shot.

It goes back to the old saying of 100 percent of shots not taken are missed. Sure, players may not be in the optimum position, but even a lower-percentage shot is sometimes better than trying to line up the perfect attempt and then not getting a ball on goal at all.

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Despite concerns about the sport, youth football — both traditional and the flag variety — continues to grow, especially on the Peninsula.

This fall, the Bay Area Warriors will move to the central Peninsula and use San Mateo High School as its base. Formerly known as the San Francisco Warriors, the Bay Area Warriors got its start in the north part of the county, but is now expanding and hoping to draw players from throughout the Peninsula.

The Warriors are part of the Northern California Youth Football and Cheer League and assign kids to teams based on age — not weight — so bigger players will stay with their age group. The Warriors offer four age groups: U8, U10, U12 and U14. Six-year-olds are eligible to play, but must go through an evaluation process first.

All coaches for the Bay Area Warriors are “Head’s Up” certified, meaning they have been trained to coach players about how to tackle properly by limiting, as much as possible, head contact.

The Bay Area Warriors are currently holding sign-ups for the upcoming season. Training begins this month and runs through November. For more information, go to www.bayareawarriorsfootball.com.

Nathan Mollat can be reached by email: nathan@smdailyjournal.com or by phone: 344-5200 ext. 117. He can also be followed on Twitter @CheckkThissOutt.