hey. all my brain is racked w/ which ball to get my competitve U11 team it needs to be a size 4 and i need to get at least 14 balls. and of course @ a reasonable price. any suggestion on brands.? im looking at either the adidas or nike Nike T90? any sugestion on what to get and not to get let me know thanks!!
I have never paid for practice balls and get new ones every season all brands I don't need good practice balls. For the kind of money I spend in my local store I want free stuff. Practice balls and a bag to hold them falls under free stuff. If I had to buy them would not pay over 10 or 12 dollars a piece,
One suggestion is for them to bring their soccer ball to practice. Don't have one? Then why are they playing competitive soccer? They should have their name on it, so when they forget it you can get it back to them.
Ditto. Ditto. Ditto. do they own a football or basketball at home? The cat's out of the bag on this one since the season's started. for some perspective, I make my U-6, U-8, and U-10 instructional teams bring their own.
It might be the case where the team wants to all have the same soccer ball. And they can be cheaper to buy in bulk. For a size 4, I like the Adidas Roteiro Vuelo - we have had one for 2 years and it is quite durable. When we scrimmage, the kids always seem to grab that one.
well, i never thought about making them bring there own. since i can remember the coach's always had soccer balls even when i played. by asking them to bring there own i could cut 200+ off total fees though? i'll have to bring that up to the other coaches as well as the parents. but as it stands i'm think of spending around $12 a ball.
You need to have some for yourself. You'll want one to have at your feet as you show them your mad skills that you want them to learn. But yes, it is now common for every player to bring their own ball to practice. (I can remember not having my own ball when I played in HS 25 years ago. Now I wince at those lost opportunities to practice at home.)
In my later coaching days, the club always provided one game ball per year. I had the players bring a ball to practice. It varied from 40% to 100% compliance depending on age, time of the season, how they got to practice (bike w/o backpack big enough for a ball), general attitude of the team, etc. I also had one or two of my own - never the same for spares. Sometimes one ball/player drills had to get modified or dropped. If you have to include the price of a ball in the fee, I'd at least make them responsible for them and have them take them home to practice, and keep them after the season. As you can tell from threads here, practices for different clubs vary from club to club and region to region.
If you can charge it back to the parents, it wouldn't be a horrible idea to get all the balls yourself, then have each player take possession of them. At least that way, you'd know they weren't trying to save $10 and buying junior the $2 special crappy ball.
i have put the cost of the each ball into each per player cost and i had planed to give ea. player the ball as there own. sorry for the confusion
IMHO- If you're providing the soccer balls to the kids I would suggest using a softer ball for the U11 age group. Beginning around U11 the kids start heading the ball a little more frequent and soccers balls with more cushion or pading seem to help ease them into this aspect of the game. Adidas Roteiro should do the trick, inexpensive, soft, neat designs etc... Brine, Pumas are a little harder than most.
The softness is exactly why my son prefers the Adidas Roteiro. The durability and air retention are why I like it. And even with the padding for the softness, the ball does not feel heavy. He has a cheaper one he sometimes uses, it has the padding and does feel heavy.
I second the roteiro. It has lasted a lot longer and preserved its shape longer than the newer world cup style balls from adidas.
But does anyone still sell the Roteiro? I haven't look intensively, but I know Eurosport stopped carrying them a long time ago.
I'd just look for the next incarnation of the ball. I know I've seen newer models which are basically the same ball. I'd try the adidas Capitano. I guess I'd say I would look for a $16-$25 ball for a size 4. And I'd at least want to see one in a local store before I ordered it online. I.e., is it soft or not?
You could look at camp ball deals. Depending on how many you need you can get a good size 4 from Nike or Adidas for @$10. Websites, dealers have camp ball deals
Play with a tennisball . Seriously though it's good to play with smaller balls, helps your technique!
By U11, they've spent 2 years getting past the size 3 they had up until age 8. They have 2 more years before they go to a size 5. Is it good to occasionally have a practice with a size 3 or a size 5? Yes. But the size 4 is developmentally appropriate for them and should be their main practice ball.