Every child can score big with soccer. A fun and exciting sport, soccer can help your child improve coordination, develop social skills and have fun doing it! Children’s soccer leagues are available through recreational and independent programs. There are also two national soccer leagues for children, the American Youth Soccer Organization (AYSO) and US Youth Soccer. Both are headquartered in the United States with the AYSO expanding into Moscow, the U.S. Virgin Islands, Trinidad, and Tabago. These national and local soccer league organizations are dedicated to bringing each child the opportunity to learn and play soccer.
Let’s Have a Ball! It’s important for young children to have a ball! Most children play sports for fun, and fun is largely what it’s all about. Learning a new skill, developing friendships and improving physical fitness is what every parent wants for their child. Parents should encourage young children to have fun and stick with their chosen sport. Starting a pre-school aged child in soccer can be tricky, but well worth the effort. Most young children enjoy kicking a ball and soccer is an easy sport for a three year old to participate in. Ron Preece, Program Manager for a Youth Recreation Center, states that “the season for three to four year olds is often called the watch season. We just want to get them kicking the ball and going in the right direction. Sometimes a child will start crying and whining. This in turn can lead to a frustrated parent.” Preece emphasizes the importance of parental encouragement. Help your child have fun and keep playing through the ups and downs of the game. Lay positive ground work for your child’s future sport experiences.
Three Important Concepts
Listening, learning, and participating are three important concepts of learning how to play soccer. Preece comments that, “From the ages of five to six, a child will grasp rules and concepts and the goal of actually getting the soccer ball into the goal.” Six and eight year olds have the option of moving on to more competitive soccer or continuing to play for recreational fun. As a child matures, more soccer drills can be introduced as well as more strategy. Volunteer coaches can assign positions and expect an older child to play a position with more aggressive skill. Defensive and offensive positions should be well defined in older age groups and a child should be able to understand the principal of sportsmanlike competition. “Nine and eleven year olds are really my favorite group to coach,” says Preece, “it’s because they have developed coordination and can really do a lot of different things.” Eleven to twelve year olds can focus on advanced technical skill with drills designed to improve every player’s game. Teenagers and young adults can continue to play competitively and participate in high school and city leagues. Soccer is a sport that a child can grow into as it has something for every age group. Playing the Game
Knowing some basic rules about soccer can help a parent to offer instructive encouragement on the field and between games. The official soccer rules are often referred to as “Laws of the Game” and are revised annually by the FIFA, the organization that manages the soccer rules. The official rule book contains 17 sections and is over 70 pages long. That’s much too much information for a busy parent to absorb. A basic idea of how the game is played is all that is needed to help your child have fun and play a good game. Soccer is basically a hands free game. Players can kick the ball with their feet and even bounce it off their heads. An official soccer team usually consists of 7-11 players including a goalie. The goalie’s job is to defend the goal from any incoming kicks. The goalie is the only person on the team that is free to use their hands to block a kicked ball. Players kick the ball and try to get it into the other’s team goal while the goalie and other players guard the goal. Individual team positions include: Forwards, Fullbacks, Half-backs and Mid-Fielders. All are positioned on the field to guard the goal in a specific area. Many youth organizations adjust the rules based on the size of the field and how many players per team. For example; Preece’s recreational organization offers what they call “short sighted soccer” with 6 on 6 players and a season of seven games. Player Positions such as full back and half back are assigned by the volunteer coach. For more information on the official “Laws of the Game,” and other soccer information, be sure to check out the links below.
Playing soccer is so much more than just getting your child to and from the games. Ron Preece adds that “The number one reason to play sports and games is fun. It really is the influence of coaches and parents that take it to a different level.” Encouraging a child to have fun while learning to play soccer can help make the experience of a lifetime.
More information on the AYSO organization . Look for a local AYSO team in your area!
More information on the US Youth Soccer organization. Look for a local team in your area! More on Soccer Rules and the official “Laws of the Game.” Definitions of soccer terms made easy for parents!
Fun soccer coloring pages and activities to help a small child get excited about playing soccer! |
