In outdoor they usually do 25 min halves. (sometimes 20 in tournaments) In indoor it's usually 16 or 18 or 20 min halves. This is simply far too few minutes. It's pure hogwash. Baseball games at this age are 2 hours long. Sure there's less running. Doesn't matter. Kids are built to run. Put them outside with friends and they will run and wrestle and hop and jump for 3 hours straight. PLUS - there are SUBS. Most kids do not play an entire soccer game. They are subbed in and out. So they play maybe 40% to 80% of the minutes. So if you are playing one game a week, that is approx 25 - 40 minutes of soccer game playtime per week. Which is obscenely low in my opinion. We're cheating all the kids. No wonder the USA sucks at soccer!
We've had this discussion before. There is limited time in the day. Even if it's 8a-12m. They are trying to get in more games. This is simple math. 18 minute halves * 2 = 36 minutes of playing time. 3 minute half time = 39 minutes. 6 minutes to swap out for the next game = 45 minutes 8a-12m = 840 minutes. 840/45 = 18.6 games/day. Now, take each half to 25 minutes: 25*2 = 50 minutes of playing time. Halftime & team swap = 10 minutes, so an hour per game. 8a-12m = 14 games. So, how busy is the facility? Do they have enough teams to support 14 (or 18) games in a day? And let's not forget, these facilities are in it to MAKE MONEY. They don't care about developing kids (they'll say they do, but I doubt it). The more games in a day = the more teams you can accept. The more teams you accept = the more entry fees you bring in. The more different teams you have each day = the more concession money you bring in. Now, feel free to open up your own facility, then YOU get to dictate how long the games are. AND, make sure you're coaching, so you can't complain about how the coach chooses to do things.
Also, kids who are 5-8 or 9 usually get pretty bored with doing one thing pretty quickly (I've sat through a lot of those 90-minute or so baseball games for 8- and 9-year-olds and coached a fair number of soccer games at those ages). I'm guessing OP will tell me that's not his kid, but it's a lot of them. FWIW, lack of formal game time isn't among the reasons the U.S. isn't a soccer power (any coaches on the board disagree?).
There is not 18 or 14 games per day there. Maybe 5. Lots of downtime. I can understand grass because you don't want to overwear the grass. Baseball games are much longer. And sometimes they do double headers. 4 hours of baseball, or more. Parents love it, c'mon. No wonder the USA is great at baseball but sucks at soccer. You actually have to put in the time. what a novel idea Meanwhile poor Brazilian kids continue to play in the streets many hours and develop skills. While we further snowflake-ify our kids. They can go skiing for 6 hours. That's ok. They can play video games and watch youtube for 4 hours straight. Oh and do VR. Premature nearsightedness for an entire generation. It's happening. The studies show. But god forbid they play a full hour of soccer. They might get an owie!
Sounds like you have a bone to pick. Just call the facility instead of grousing about it here. BUT, since we're on here to have a good time.... It is a small sample size (only 4 of them), but the US has won the World Baseball Classic (a sport our country literally invented) only 1 time, and been to the semi-finals only 1 other time. Japan, on the other hand, has won the tournament twice and been to the semi-finals the other 2 years. Per @NewDadaCoach 's logic, we should be winning this tournament every time it happens since 8-10 year olds pick dandelions in the outfield for 2 hours every game a few times a week during the spring and summers.
So, as BigBear said, have you tried asking the facility why they only do 20 minute halves? How does a facility survive only having 5 games a day? Our local indoor facility (when the kids were little) had probably 10 games a day on each field (they had two fields) and they ended up selling out to an autobody repair shop. Another indoor place (that has also closed) had the last games (and DS played in them) STARTING at 11:40P. Last but not least, when you bring up the "poor Brazilian" kids playing in the streets, you're referring to unstructured play, but then complaining there's not enough STRUCTURED play. Apples and oranges my friend.
I though this was a place to grouse True. We actually underperform. Other countries have analyzed our game and figured it out. And the Japanese are very technical and passionate. But if there were a gridiron football World Classic (NFL style) that is something we would dominate because it relies a lot on size/mass. Basketball we mostly dominate in Olympics. It depends on if we are putting forth our best pros or just amateurs. Baseball is cool in that size doesn't matter, like in soccer (except GK ). So it can be a global sport and any country can win. But we would absolutely dominate football (gridiron).
This facility has 2 fields - a big one and a small one. The big one stays more busy. The small one, for the littles, not a lot of U-little matches. Just not enough demand I guess, plus a lot of competing facilities. But yeah there are adult games there too later at night I think. I'm not here to change the system. It mostly comes down from US Soccer. The guidelines. Which are too snowflakey. C'mon Sam, when you were 8-10 yrs old, what were you and your friends doing?
I think I was playing Wildcat baseball. One practice a week and one, maybe two games. Other than that, I was out playing with friends. But there wasn't NEARLY as many options. As far as the guidelines, according to the rules I found (https://usindoor.com/wp-content/uploads/rulesummary.pdf), the half duration is "house rules". So, ask the facility why the U-littles halves are so short. Maybe they keep them in sync with the "big boys" for referees. I guarantee you there's some reason they picked they duration they did, and I *HIGHLY* doubt it's because they're worried about kids getting hurt or tired. Bored, maybe. And I'll say it again... "short" indoor games is not why other countries are better than us at the adult level. As you said, kids in Brazil are out playing street ball from a young age. Sort of like American kids do with basketball, football, and baseball. And what sports did you mention the US "dominates"? hmmm...
European youth tourney games are shorter. Game size and game lengths are appropriate. The constant theme of my replies to you will always rest on slow down and stop rushing your kid. The best thing you can do to make your son better at this age is one on one time on the ball. Small group technical training, wall ball, juggling, cones in the basement and techne football. Nothing will ever replace comfort on the ball that is easy and pretty cheap to develop at his age. When it comes to playing, variety is the spice of life. Play with as many different teams as possible. Play futsal, indoor, summer soccer, co-ed leagues. Just play, anywhere anytime. Don't worry about the coaching in guest environments. Play as many positions as possible. Play other sports as well. Stop worrying about wins, losses, rosters, state cups etc. Stop worrying about keepers, guest playing coaching tactics, selecting only possession. The three general phases of development that any reputable club will follow are as follows: U7-U12/U13 Technical phase. Focus is on individual development. U13-U15 Formative Phase. This phase focuses on team formation. This is when Top Clubs, MLS Next, ECNL etc start to ID players and form their future teams. Team play and systems begin to be implemented. U16-U19. Competitive Phase. Players in this age group are learning how to train to compete and win. Team tactics and systems are now implemented and the teams are now focusing on preparing to compete against other teams and look for competitive advantages to exploit. Your son is well in the technical phase and if you brought up any of your ideas or posts here to a top MLSNext coach your would be soundly mocked and laughed at for the amount of jumping the gun.
I don't worry about wins if you've heard me talk about that before. And he gets lots of play in many different environments. So it seems you're basically wrongly accusing me. Its fine for tournament games to be short since they play a lot in a weekend. But games in general don't give kids much play time. You have to factor in that there are subs. It would be fine if the kids were getting more minutes in other places. But in the USA they don't. In Europe they do. They play at recess and at local parks. You probably think the US will win a WC even though our kids get way fewer minutes.
You pointed it out again but miss the point (I made it bold and enlarged it for you)... European (and other countries) kids play at recess and local parks. They're playing pickup games. They're doing 1v1, 2v2, 3v3, however many they have to play. That's NOT being done in the US (not to the amount). Having longer organized games is not going to solve the disparity. US kids are playing pickup basketball, football, and baseball. You don't think there's a connection between the sports we're "good" at vs the other countries?
Yes I agree, that's what I'm saying is the reason the USA is behind in soccer. I think soccer is highly technical and you have to play many minutes to fully develop. It's like learning a language. You have to do it everyday to gain fluency. Playing a 40 minute game on a Sat isn't going to do it when you have 4 subs. Now each kid is getting about 30 minutes of play time. That's just crumbs, our kids need a full meal.
Kids just aren't going to advance much if they are only practicing twice a week and getting 30 mins of playtime on saturday. They have to do a lot on their own if they want to grow.
And adding an extra 5-10 minutes per half is not going to make an iota of difference. Yes, they have to do a lot on their own. So what exactly is your problem with how long a game is?
No, they don’t play longer minutes in Europe in fact it isn’t uncommon in Europe to play 9v9 until U14/U15. Average kids in Europe play pretty much recreationally. Kids are identified and placed in academies at young ages. The kids with potential are scouted and separated out at an early age and the unselected know they don’t have it and frankly play for fun. Only in America do we honestly believe that being poor and living in the ghetto is the pathway to soccer greatness. Soccer is just as much a middle class sport in Europe as it is here and the kids who get the training and have the connections to pro clubs get all the advantages. No, I don’t think the women will win another WC for a very long time but it isn’t because of friggin game minutes at 9 years old.
ummmm, yeah. Club soccer isn’t going to make any kid great. It also isn’t going to go 4 practices a week at U10.
It's so few minutes it's just laughable. You drive an hour (30 mins each way) for the kid to play 30 mins. Big carbon footprint. Not a very good cost benefit trade off. Frankly it's just kinda lame. Very inefficient the way all of youth sports are done. Have a location that has 2 or 3 different sports. The kids can go and play for a couple hours. Much better paradigm. Even basketball. Now I can't find an open gym for my kid to just play some pickup basketball. There's a community center but it's very limited in hours. There's the YMCA but they have a league that practices one day a week and one game on weekends. Man, when I was a kid it feels like we just had way more play time in every regard. I just don't get it. So many resources just sit idle; like all the school gyms. Just sit empty. What a waste.
First of all you miscontrued what I said. I said: more minutes in other places. But in the USA they don't. In Europe they do. They definitely play a lot more soccer in general. In parks, streets, home, school. play play play. I didn't say anything about 9v9. I'm talking about minutes of play, whether structured or unstructured. 2nd: not all European countries are the same. In France, in the slums of Paris there are many free local courts. mostly 5v5. The kids play pretty much non-stop. Till mom forces them home for dinner. In UK its different, they don't play as much as French kids in this way. In an interview with Mahrez he stated this. He was struck by how less he saw UK kids playing vs French kids.
regardless of club or not if a kid is to develop he/she needs a lot of minutes of play. there's no way around it. high volume of touches and learning.
What is stopping your kid from playing in the neighborhood? Just because kids are playing in the slums of Paris doesn’t mean they are going pro. They have far fewer social advantages and simply playing street soccer is not a recipe for success. If you think Academy scouts are walking the slums of Paris you are romanticizing poverty. My kid has played in Europe and I have friends who coach in Europe. The quality of the training and the cultural interest are the only differences. There are just as many kids sitting on a couch there playing FIFA as we have playing Madden.
Yeah, I sad that in another post. Wall ball, juggling, small group training, drills in the basement, etc. You want more game minutes and when your son gets guest time with other teams you bitch about him being asked to play to high. You want your kid to experience free play but you only want him to play in a possession based environment.
A lot of youth are are plucked from poor areas there. They view soccer as a way out of the ghetto, so they go hard at it. Pretty much all the pros played street soccer or pickup soccer as kids. OR the other route is they had parents or uncles who played at high levels. At the end of the day they got lots of touches and continuously learned. Once they enter an academy then sure, you can say the coaching is about the same. But outside of that there is a soccer culture where the games is being played in many unorganized settings. Some of that is in the US but not as much. And its far more commercialized even for 6 yr olds here.
my my my. you keep misconstruing. i was not complaining about him playing high, it was kinda the opposite. if anything i was complaining about him being asked to not play high and to have striker run too much which makes his energy unavailable for pressing and attacking. the club coaches have the 9 play high, which i have never complained about. i think you're making this a bigger deal than i am. i'm saying kids in the USA do not get enough minutes. the system is not setup in a way to make it practical, there are too many barriers. but we are not a soccer nation. so that's the reason.
But I thought you said kids have a bunch of energy and don't get tired, which is one reason you want longer games. You want the SYSTEM to break down the barriers? How do you get kids to spend their "out of system" time getting touches? Whether playing with friends or individual work like Stig mentioned? It's not the SYSTEM's problem that kids are only doing the 1-2 practices and 1-2 games per week.