Soccer in the US may not yet have the same cache as baseball, but here in Newton, girls soccer is huge. This spring 1100 girls will be involved in the Newton Girls Soccer program. It’s one of the biggest programs in the state, if not the country.

My daughter is involved, and I am too as a coach. When I first tried to get my daughter involved in soccer she wouldn’t do it on a mixed-gender team, but loved doing it as part of an all-girls program. It’s not that she minds playing with boys (she dribbles circles around them on the playground) but playing with girls is different for her than playing with the boys. I guess two older brothers will do that to you.

It’s obvious to me, coaching girls is different than coaching boys.

Now enter Ralph Ranalli, current president of Newton Girls Soccer. He joined up with the Boston Breakers to create a DVD about positive, girl-centered coaching techniques and injury prevention. The Breakers loved the idea, but didn’t have the budget to do it themselves, so Ralph created a kickstarter project called Beautiful: Teaching Soccer the Boston Breakers Way. Check out the video below, which is not only made up of all Newton girls, but also includes my daughter.

It’s now in the home stretch and he’s still looking for backers. The various levels offer some good incentive, including tickets to a Breakers game. Frankly, if you haven’t been to a Breakers game you should go. My daughter has been a few times and likes it better than watching the Red Sox. That’s not just me blowing smoke, she really can’t relate to the Sox in the same way that she does to seeing women playing on the field. The fact that she can meet the players after the game adds to the excitement.

Check it out!