daily workouts

[twinssoccerdad]

I have 8 year old daughters that are playing indoors on Saturday's. They get half hour instruction then play for half an hour.

I was wondering if there were things we could do in the house during the week to keep them thinking about soccer. I do not have a basement or garage so it would be something in the living room. Right now I have them dribble a size 1 ball up and down the room. (about 12ft) Then they juggle it until mom gets irritated enough. Any ideas would be helpful. Thanks in advance.

[Twenty26Six]

I have 8 year old daughters that are playing indoors on Saturday's. They get half hour instruction then play for half an hour.

I was wondering if there were things we could do in the house during the week to keep them thinking about soccer. I do not have a basement or garage so it would be something in the living room. Right now I have them dribble a size 1 ball up and down the room. (about 12ft) Then they juggle it until mom gets irritated enough. Any ideas would be helpful. Thanks in advance.

Ummm, you could play with them? :confused:

Seriously, at 8yo _anything_ is good as long as it deals with body movement, agility, balance, coordination. That means it doesn't have to be soccer related. If you want them to love soccer, you should demonstrate that it is fun to play soccer - by playing soccer with them and having fun.

[loghyr]

Wallball - get a soft Gertie ball (http://www.amazon.com/Small-World-Toys-Gertie-Ball/dp/B0006IRSK6/ref=pd_bbs_sr_1?ie=UTF8&s=generic&qid=1196110927&sr=1-1) and a short piece of hallway. Remove anything which can break.

The goal is to get the ball past the opponent.

Juggle with the Soccer Birdie - http://www.soccerbirdie.com/soccer.html.

Sign them up for basketball (they get to look up from the ground when they make a pass), etc.

Seriously, Twenty26Six is right - just interact with them.

[goyoureddevils]

The wall ball thing kept me and my dad busy many many nights for long periods that I would have been rotting my brain away watching tv instead.... it is one of my more treasured memories of my dad who passed away last year.

[twinssoccerdad]

Ummm, you could play with them? :confused:


Just so no one thinks that I am a neglecting father. We have a routine at our house and I do interact with all my kids every night. We have dinner, do homework, mandatory reading time, then we play a game or do something as a family.

I was just seeking ideas for soccer related indoor activities for Indiana winters. Thanks for the postive ideas. I think the soccer birdie would be fun for the whole family, even my 10 year old son that does not play soccer will like that one.

Thanks again, this site is full of great ideas and I appreciate the help.

[Twenty26Six]

Ummm, you could play with them? :confused:


Just so no one thinks that I am a neglecting father. We have a routine at our house and I do interact with all my kids every night. We have dinner, do homework, mandatory reading time, then we play a game or do something as a family.

I was just seeking ideas for soccer related indoor activities for Indiana winters. Thanks for the postive ideas. I think the soccer birdie would be fun for the whole family, even my 10 year old son that does not play soccer will like that one.

Thanks again, this site is full of great ideas and I appreciate the help.

I had no intention of being negative, but it seems as if you were over-thinking it. It's a game where you kick a ball. If you want to do soccer-related things in the house, then kick a ball.

The soccer-birdie isn't really soccer-related. It's a crossover tool that exercises the mechanics needed to play soccer. But, it more close resembles hacky-sack. On that note, almost any sport is soccer-related. Which is why I merely suggested that playing with your kids is enough.

My 3yo daughter has 4-5 "soccer" balls, but really we only play "soccer" about 25% of the time. The rest of the time it's "fumbly-rumbly", "catch", "dodge ball", "bowling", "hot potato", etc.

Sport-specialization is discouraged until mid-teens. Not that I am suggesting you are doing _that_. But, there's more advantages long-term to NOT play soccer AT ALL, rather than reinforce the activity in specific ways. Food for thought.

And, I did think the soccer-birdie thing was cool. I don't believe I have seen that before. Also, I want a gertie ball. All the other "supermarket" balls I buy get destroyed or misshapen very quickly. :)

[twinssoccerdad]

Sorry about that. Thanks for the advise.

[loghyr]

The other thing we use for indoor juggling is a size 3 beach ball.

The soccer birdie has a nice weight and is easier to track versus a hacky sack. But it can still be a challenge for a kid (or a parent :D).

A beach ball is very easy to track, can be gotten too with a lunge (bad habit, but maxing out your high score is fun), and breaks less of what Mama considers hers.

Some nights he might play keep it up by himself and other nights we pass it back and forth. With the beach ball, it is easy to get Mama involved as well.

I haven't pushed either this year. He might pull them out himself, but so far I've let this be downtime with his club soccer.

[goyoureddevils]

Dunno why I didn't mention it earlier, but dad and I often used a ballon to play soccer in the house. Absolutely no chance of breaking anything, and the odd action of the baloon made the game all that much more interesting.

[Crimson Ace]

Dunno why I didn't mention it earlier, but dad and I often used a ballon to play soccer in the house. Absolutely no chance of breaking anything, and the odd action of the baloon made the game all that much more interesting.
AAGGGHHH!! Nightmare!

As kids, my brother and I were playing with a balloon in the house... "so we wouldn't break anything." We both jumped onto a bean bag chair to catch the balloon... that disturbed a very large wall cabinet... that disturbed the vintage, hand-crafted, hand-painted museum quality Stein that belonged to my father... the one given to him by a very dear, departed friend...

...when that stein came crashing down to the floor... we just knew life as we knew it was over forever.

To this day, I've never taken a beating like I did that day!

So sure... try a balloon... what's the worst that could happen? :confused: :D

[goyoureddevils]

HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAH..... yeah, we had a couple of close calls, but never quite ran afoul of the "Wrath of Mom" as we used to refer to it!

Seriously, I can picture every moment of it... definately a great story to share, thanks!

Hey Crimson, I am going to be in Evansville for the National Youth License the next two weekends. Is there anyplace in particular that is really great for lunch or dinner? I have never been there before, but we'll be on campus at a field house.... woops just checked and I guess we will be at the University Armory.

[Twenty26Six]

I am going to be in Evansville for the National Youth License the next two weekends.

Who are your course instructors?

[Crimson Ace]

Hey Crimson, I am going to be in Evansville for the National Youth License the next two weekends. Is there anyplace in particular that is really great for lunch or dinner?
So we don't hijack this workout thread, I started a new thread about Evansville here (http://www.bigsoccer.com/forum/showthread.php?t=628130). Reply in there and then we can talk more. I have a lot of great places for you to try.

[goyoureddevils]

Who are your course instructors?

Coaching Clinic Type: National Youth License
Dates: 11/30/2007
Times: (See Below)
Location: Evansville-University of Evansville Armory
Location Address: 1800 Lincoln Ave. - Evansville, Indiana 47722
Clinician: Vince Ganzberg

... Vince tells me that Sam Snow will be dropping by, and Ron Quinn as well, since Xavier is just a hop skip and a long crappy jump away.

[Twenty26Six]

Coaching Clinic Type: National Youth License
Dates: 11/30/2007
Times: (See Below)
Location: Evansville-University of Evansville Armory
Location Address: 1800 Lincoln Ave. - Evansville, Indiana 47722
Clinician: Vince Ganzberg

... Vince tells me that Sam Snow will be dropping by, and Ron Quinn as well, since Xavier is just a hop skip and a long crappy jump away.

You won't be disappointed with Quinn and Snow. Oh, make sure they have a karaoke night. ;)

[goyoureddevils]

Oh god.... I don't think I want to know!