This Winter we started open play soccer (games only) for kids from 5th to 11th grade - both rec and travel. We just mixed them up and let them play. No coaching - no club affiliation, just light reffing. What we found was pretty cool. 1. The younger travel players taught the older rec players - and in some cases older travel players, how to spread out and change the field. We had 4 ringers from Sockers who have been playing since the age of 4 and they drove that. 2. Those ringers learned to move faster to the ball and offend/defend against larger players. They also built a ton of confidence "Wow I can play with high school kids!" That confidence boost went further when the older kids started passing a lot to them and also came up with fun nicknames for them. 3. The younger rec players were boosted by the younger travel players - they to learned how to get open and attack the ball. 4. Confidence - confidence - confidence! No coaching = no pressure. We saw kids out there trying things they would never do in the pressure of a travel environment - likely out of fear for having their mates or coach yell at them. Realizing what they are capable of - via taking risks they normally would not, opened up a new level of confidence. At one point a travel keeper who has played that position for 3 years and is only 11 years old, decided he wanted to try the field and scored 9 goals in one night! He no longer is playing keeper 5. Pure joy. All our kids and their parents have openly expressed that this is their favorite soccer - that's its just fun! So now we set up the same deal - with fields donated to make the cost $0.00. We had our first game last night and 26 of 32 players showed up! We also added a u8-u10 division an hour before hand to run 3v3. Pure joy for these kids - ton of fun for us and I think exactly what youth soccer needs!
I love it! You’re right, as a community, we should be doing a lot more of this type of stuff… Making it fun, mixing things up, trying new or different things/positions, taking the stress and pressure off winning or not screwing up, letting the kids themselves be teachers and role models….all great stuff… We don’t have anything quite as organized, but whenever I get the chance to put my kid in similar situations, I jump at the chance…
The club my son plays for does a form of this every Friday night. I believe it is for U9 through U15 mainly. Anyone can just show up and they form small sided teams and just play. A few coaches walk around and will offer some guidance now and then, but mainly it is kids learning from other kids. It is great for confidence like you say. Learning to use skill and spacing to beat bigger, faster opponents that you wouldn't normally play against.
40+ kids now signed up - they are now coming from towns over and beyond. A local club has donated old nets which we will use for 3v3 for u6-u8. Our rec organization is allowing us use of their line machine and donating paint. A parent has offered to keep the field mowed to a decent level. Oh and our Rec organization usually takes the keeper nets down to avoid any potential lawsuits - they kept those up on both fields. Winning everywhere on this!
That’s great… Won’t be too much longer before some parent tries to make teams and start keeping score and standings…j/k ….but seriously, I hope everyone is made clear of the “rules” and/or rationale for these “games”….I fear some adults will never get it and/or can’t help themselves, lol…. Good luck, really sounds awesome…
We have multple messages - kids can wear their club gear but no club affiliation and no club coaches. One of the people working this was going to try and get their local travel club to help out and I said no - never. We'll keep it pure or shut it down. So far so good... Players from Crystal Lake Force and their rec program. Cary Defenders and their rec program. Wauconda and the program they are affiliated with (Stamford Bridge). Fox River Grove and Barrington Rec players, Sockers CL and Palatine as well as Eclipse. I think all the parents like it just the way it is because it's a sort of soccer they can't get in travel nor in rec even.
Couple of travel high school players showed up last night - our Sockers u11 and u12 ringers faded into the back ground with these guys. They had to bring the game up - lots of fun!
I like this a lot. Our club does something in the summer that's supposed to be like this, but it tends to only draw younger kids (so my U12/about-to-be u13 doesn't want to do it any more). Parents also seem to expect a certain degree of organization that takes the pickup right out of it. A dad I know did something similar on his own with his son's team (my son on that team) a night a week in the summer. That worked pretty well, and was the genesis for the club program.
2 more sessions to go and it's been great! These are the kids that just love the sport - show up in rain or humid heat. They have fun out there and play well - some really well. For me this has been a good alternative to a $400-$600 camp for my 2005. The play has been slightlyst or above her level with some of the travel high school players really kicking it up a notch. The younger kids - and rec players have had a blast as well. They have learned to play a more open paced game as well as a faster - more physical game. Our 3v3 for 6-8 year olds was taken over by my 2005 who wanted to try her hand at coaching. She made her old man proud! Used 2 ten minute small sided drills which she learned at her club, to build up to 3v3 games - managing 12 players at one time - all the while keeping the momentum going. She added a cool down - something very fun for the little ones followed by a share cirlce of what they liked the most and a cheer at the end. I think I am enjoying watching her coach more then her play! All in all this was a fantastic experience. If you have the means - I strongly suggest putting something like this together as a summer program - it's incredibly rewarding to see so many smiling faces and kids just keep on coming back for more!
While that is great, what is the point? A bunch of club kids feeling all warm and fuzzy for helping out (or cynically using) a bunch of less talented rec kids…but how does this help develop players who can progress into college or beyond? It’s the youth soccer equivalent of working at a soup kitchen a few days out the year…sure, it makes you feel good; makes you appreciative of how good you’ve got, it feeds a few people for a day, but does it really change anything? Nobody is any more or less college bound as a result of this… At best, you’ve improved the skills of a few rec or low-level players who will go back to their crappy, low-level teams, playing in, perhaps even winning, their low-level, money grabbing leagues competing for fancy little trophies, where parents will take false pride in those accomplishments, posting pictures of said kids, holding said fancy little trophies on Facebook (please ignore said smiles on their said faces), at which time, you will look down on it all and ridicule the whole thing as a pointless waste of time….