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Youth Soccer
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here to see our selection of Youth Soccer.
 People
of all ages can enjoy the team sport of soccer! Growing in popularity
for the last couple decades, youth soccer is quite prevalent in
schools and community leagues worldwide. From the age that children
can run and talk, through elementary and high school, there are
youth soccer teams available in communities for recreation, skill
building, exercise and social purposes.
In most youth soccer leagues, children are placed in age groups
based on their birthday. The typical way to decide on a player’s
“soccer age” is based on how old the child was last
July 31. For example, if a child was nine as of last July 31, then
he or she would remain in the Under-10 (U-10) group until the next
July 31, when he or she would be moved up to U-11.
Keep in mind that two children may be the same “soccer age”
but basically a year a part, so a child with a July birthday will
be at a different level than a child with an August birthday. Youth
soccer involves younger children that have short attention spans,
and typically the younger child will not learn as quickly as the
older children.
All soccer rules are published annually by FIFA (pronounced “FEE’
fuh”). This is the world soccer governing body, but youth
soccer organizations generally have to adjust the rules to fit children.
The common adjustments are in regards to field sizes, number of
players per team, game lengths, and the number and frequency of
substitutions.
When it comes to practice attendance in youth soccer, it can be
tricky to enforce. A coach cannot really punish a child for not
attending practice, because at this age it is usually the parent’s
fault. But coaches should inform their players as well as parents
that soccer is a team sport, thus those who come to practice will
probably play the most in games and may receive preference for the
positions they want to play. Everyone will have more fun and win
more when each player comes to every practice!
Often in youth soccer, teams will have nicknames that are fun and
rhythmic to say. Try to use a simple, fun cheer for the game to
chant before every game. Simple names like “Magic” can
be spelled out in a cheer, or other great cheers such as “Play
hard, play fair, have FUN!” are great as well. Have the youth
soccer players gather in a circle and tough hands in the center
during their cheer!
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