Fourteen-year-old Willie Udofia Jr. has one word to describe French World Cup captain Zinedine Zidane's behavior during the tournament's final match: "Stupid."

"It doesn't matter if somebody says something to you, you should walk away, show them by scoring a goal and doing your best. ... tell the referee if something was wrong," said Willie, who lives in Atlanta.

Soccer associations, coaches and parents this week are hoping other kids feel the same way about Zidane's head butt to Marco Materazzi in the game's final minutes. The outburst earned Zidane -- a respected three-time FIFA Player of the Year who was even voted best player of this year's tournament -- an ejection. Now some coaches plan to use the incident to demonstrate to young athletes that bad sportsmanship has consequences.

"All sports are about competing hard, competing fairly and being a good sport," said John Burrill, executive director of the Massachusetts Youth Soccer Association, who called the incident an "absolute total disgrace." "Whether you win or lose, you are expected to act responsibly. When you don't there's penalties involved. In Zidane's case he was thrown out of the match. This certainly tarnishes whatever image he had."

But in instances like this, kids can ignore consequences, said Brian Shulman, founder and CEO of Learning Through Sports, which develops educational software to teach sportsmanship to kids in grades K-12. He said research shows that kids learn by observing, which means seeing the incident might encourage them to try head butting in their next soccer game.

"I'm watching the greatest soccer player of the world. When I get frustrated, that's what I should to do," said Shulman, imagining the thoughts of a youthful player. "Unfortunately, ESPN is going to show this scene over and over again. Even if they talk about how bad it is, all that boy or girl sees is that constant behavior. Kids don't really listen as much as they observe."

Soccer has seen fast growth in the United States during the past few decades, with more than 3 million children and youths age 5 to 19 now registered to play in leagues that are members of the national umbrella organization United States Youth Soccer.

Bob Singer, president of the North Carolina Youth Soccer Association, said his organization spends plenty of time teaching kids and encouraging parents to reinforce the message that soccer is about character and self-discipline, while understanding that there's no such thing as perfection. Some people are calling what Zidane did a tragic mistake.

"We teach our kids that type of conduct is wrong," said Singer. "Having said that, each of us involved in sports is a human being and we don't expect perfection whether it be a 5-year-old youth player or a 34-year-old professional player. But there are consequences to misconduct."

But how do you get that message across to children?

Shulman said parents, associations and coaches need to start teaching kids from an early age that the true meaning of sports involves respecting the game and your opponent. Good sportsmanship should be part of practices, he said.

Soccer players also need to realize they are role models, even if they don't want to be.

"We have to teach our kids at a very early age and it has to be a constant never-ending story," said Shulman. "Use this incident to explain not only that he wasn't there to kick the penalty kick, but he embarrassed himself, his family, his team. If you want to play and help your team win, don't do stupid things."

Danny Mielke, a professor of physical activity and health at Eastern Oregon University, said coaches and parents should also talk about dealing with frustration.

Willie, who has been playing soccer since he was 8, learned good sportsmanship from his father, Willie Udofia, who was a professional soccer player in Nigeria. His father coaches adult and youth soccer.

"The first thing I talk about before I start coaching is discipline and respect," said Udofia "There's no violence in playing sports."