I've played on 4 different coed teams and never seen a single player on any team take a dive. Diving is for sucks.
I agree, and while there is not much diving, I bet there's a lot of flopping. People who fall down real easily.
You must play with a bunch of **************..... Anyone with any integrity doesnt dive/flop/embellish on a rec team....
Co-ed is wonderful. Soooo much fun. I don't know where ya'll play who don't like it or think it doesn't work. I'm on 4-5 co-ed teams a season and it's great fun. Super laid back, knock the ball around, do some tricks, talk tot the ladies and get some beers after the game. What's not to like about that? I hate people who take Co-ed too seriously, there is usually atleast one scumbag who plays too rough or talks shit. Just have fun, get some exercise and ball touches. Anytime I knock a girl over by mistake or even if a guy falls down, I always stop my play and help them up and give them a pat on the back and say sorry or ask if they are ok.
I know this is really old, but this comment is disgusting. It's all relative. I promise you that unless you are a male pro player, that anyone on the WNT could kick your ass or atleast be a great challenge. Even D2-D3 guys can be challenged by D1 girls.
Yeah, it's been my experience that girls play more technical. They're never offsides (at least ours aren't), and their game is more paced and deliberate. Boys play all fast and sloppy. Girls are usually the ones mad at us, because we don't stick to the plan. I played a girls varsity v. guys varsity in college, and the girls won 4-3; they would move up the pitch like a well-oiled machine. They had a plan. Any time you locked eyes with them, you got this sense of impending doom. "I'm about to score on you," she would be saying with her eyes, "and you don't even have a plan."
I'm not sure what you're talking about, but its the exact opposite. Whenever I see girls play, they're kicking the ball as hard as they can and hoping that someone runs onto it. And they play with much more emotion. Too much really. They get mad so easily,a nd start throwing their bodies in 100% on every tackle just to hit the other girl. I've seen two girls so focused on hitting each other that they throw their hips into each other.. and the ball just rolls by. And someone talking about varsity vs varsity. Here's a little comparison. Our freshmen team played the girls varsity team and won 4-1.
Obviously our girls were superior. No, that's interesting though--I've usually found men to be much more emotional players, and much more likely to lob the ball crazily. Of course, our girls were a pretty mean crew, so maybe they have conditioned my brain through a campaign of fear. There's a girls game coming up here in town; I'll check it out and see if my opinion has changed. Back to my hilariously inexperienced D-League team, I spent about thirty minutes this weekend explaining to one of them what a shin guard is.
I hope you have that team in a league that is commensurate with their ability - can't say I have ever seen an adult league that has a level as low as you are describing. Maybe you would be better off with that team in a sport that can be handicapped and demands a much lower level of physical exertion - like golf or bowling. I'm a big believer in the social aspect of sports but your definition of a fantastic time isn't one that rings true to me.
Yes, we are in a "Beginner's" group. We'll play the House team most of the time, and it's just a learny thing for most of my people. A couple of the girls used to do roller derby, so I think they can handle the physical side of things.
I believe you, but that doesn't mean all girls play that way. What I and I assume most of us are discussing is playing on adult coed teams which are usually rec teams. For adult teams "rec" means the games are "friendlies" and does not mean that the players are necessarily lesser skilled than those on a competitive team. (My expectation is that you see a wider range of skill levels in rec teams than you see in a competitive team.) As for your description of play what you are saying is actually a very subjective opinion. The difference between a brilliant through ball and a hopeful pass into space is completely subjective.
Obviously, in co-ed, unspoken rules dictate that a guy is to take it easier on women due to physical differences. Among other things, that means you don't bump them too hard when they have the ball (or just shadow them without touching), and you certainly don't go full force on a 50/50 ball. As a guy, I will also ignore some girls who get a bit too physical when trying to take the ball off of me. If it doesn't hurt a lot, I'll just brush whatever they are doing off. However.. there are some women who take advantage of their "immunity" to the worst degree. They will kick, charge, elbow.. whatever, and just expect you to take it. All the while, if they receive normal contact that occurs during soccer (as in body-to-body or shoulder-to-shoulder), they scream as if having been shot or stabbed. These girls kill the co-ed game. In my co-ed indoor and outdoor leagues, 95% of the time, there is no problem, but there are a few who are amazingly hypocritical with their play. Just one example is with a woman who by all accounts, is a great player. She's about 5'6 175lb ex-D1 player who, despite being a bit bigger, has great touch and is very nimble. She can shoot from just about anywhere indoor. I have a lot of respect for her skill, but not her personality. She bulldozes people, from behind at times (among other cheap moves), and then yells incessantly if she gets contact that's well within the rules of play. (Keep in mind, she's not exactly a "small" girl) She tends to get carded every 3-4 games. Part of it is due to her competitive spirit, and having played D1 ball. Nevertheless, she goes over-the-top much of the time, especially considering that we play in an over-30 rec-league. So whenever I play against her, I wait for her to start the bull*&^%, and THEN start to play her as physical as any other competitive guy. But otherwise, playing co-ed is all about having fun and some beers with your friends and flirting with cute girls.
You know, some of us are 40-something years old. There are plenty of balls-out Men's leagues in my area for people who want to play physical and scrappy; sometimes I play in them. But if you're just interested in kicking the ball around, having some fun, and still going to work the next day on two healthy ankles there's nothing wrong with a co-ed league, if that's what's available.
While I agree that co-ed leagues are less competitive, the ones I play in are hardly just a matter of "kicking the ball around". Furthermore, some of the teams get so riled up if they are losing, that you do indeed have a good chance of getting boarded, or clipped around the ankles. My co-ed 30 league has a wide range of teams from top to bottom. The one at the top is full of ex-college and club players. They're so hard to beat, that I'm not sure a co-ed team made of current college players would definitely defeat them. The way the move the ball.. let's just say they make me run like no-one else (partly because some of my teammates don't track back, due to lack of speed and endurance). The teams at the bottom usually consist of players who might have played HS ball; maybe one or two ex-college players who are out of shape; and then players who are new to the game and don't quite know how to play. In my opinion, success in co-ed is directly related to having the best girls. To compete in the upper tier, one's team has to at least have girls who can do basic trapping and passing, along with decent fitness.
i play in a co-ed 8 on 8 league, its really fun! plus theres some really cute girls that play soccer lol the main rule is no slide tackles. i read a few of other guy's responses in this and they were saying "oh i would totally destroy a girl if i slide tackled her hard cuz im big" etc. which would likely be the case, but playing with no slide tackling really forces you to play better defense by containing and staying in front and having good standing tackle... i think it helps you focus on skillful standing defense as opposed to resulting to slide tackles all the time because you have been beat. also, it also means that girls wont have to worry about a 6'3 225 guy such as myself barreling into them with a running slide tackle lol oh and its 5 guys on the field, 3 girls per team. Sometimes you have 2 girls that are fast and suprisingly good shots so you can keep some guys back on defense that are a bit more burly and physical...it sort of adds another strategic element to the game. and i would also say the games we play are very competitive. Many times do i see girls from all teams totally school guys and make amazing shots as well as make amazing defensive plays. the super physical aspect of hard tackling and slide tackling are taken out of the game in co-ed, but it heightens the skill level in my opinion since super physical aspects are not allowed. You cant slide tackle the girls, but you cant slide tackle the guys either. I used to LOVE slide tackling, dont get me wrong, but forcing me to stay on my feet for defense has helped my overall defensive skill in general.
if i want my ankles and knees intact, i avoid playing rec leagues where players don't know how to tackle.
true. i cant tell you how many times i go to the rec fields and get the shit kicked outta my ankles and knees. its one thing if you inexperinced and just miss its another thing if you suck and thats your only way to defend. i've played with girls before some better than others and for the most part it was enjoyable you didn't worry about hurting them and if by chance that did happen you just walk over and help them up see if they're ok and game goes on. and Buckeye i hate to break it to you but there are people like that all over the place girls as well as guys(CR7, drogba, ect.)
What rec leagues, particularly coed leagues, are you playing in where the refs allow violent conduct like that? I assure you, that's not the norm.
who are you asking? i see your profile says you're in boston... which means you've probably played bssc soccer, which means you probably know how terrible their refs can be. there are definitely bssc teams that either play dirty or have a bad attitude. and there are plenty of bssc teams featuring complete novices who think defense just means running into someone with legs swinging wildly. i remember the first couple of sessions i played where i'd get kneed in the thigh, hacked at the ankles, elbowed in the back, etc. you have to be careful in these leagues.
i was president of a coed league for many years. i can tell you for a fact that in our league we had more infractions (fouls, yellow/red cards, fights, etc.) in our lower division leagues than in our upper division leagues. it was usually due to inexperience and people relying on speed rather than skill. i was always more wary playing against inexperienced teams because defensively the players just didn't know what to do, so more often than not they put themselves (and subsequently me) in dangerous positions (sticking out a leg, body out of control, etc).
True, but that's not the point, I was trying to get at. Let me elaborate here.. women already get a pass for generally being a bit smaller and weaker. This translates to sports, and thus indoor. Some girls know this, and will physically abuse you knowing that if you start to get pushy, you will be seen as the bad guy most of the time. This leaves the guy in a "rock and hardplace" position. If you push back, they bitch, and will likely win sympathy (unless the girl in question is already known as an ass). If you lay off and let them dribble around freely along with giving them all the 50/50 balls, so as to prevent any controversy, then you don't compete and lose some interest in the game. And that's all okay if you're out there just to have fun, but for me, and most in my co-ed league, there is a strong spirit of competition. Most teams are comprised of players who have had some previous experience, and want to win.
*skims through the thread* oh crap, so I SHOULDN'T play coed rec league this fall in Boston? (FTR, I have two X chromosomes.)