I would say 11
7v7 was a joke at SURF CUP
- Thread starter silverstreak
- Start date
Well, my U10 (2007) DD has participated in 5 tournaments since May and the rules and field sizes have been all over the place. Only her first tournament played no punts and a build out line, but midfield was used as the build out line rather than a 14 yard line which I believe is intended. Since then there's been almost zero consistency. I guess it's at the discretion of the tournament directors and how the refs are briefed on the game rules. Hopefully this all gets straightened out by the time the fall regular season starts.
My 07 guested a few weeks ago. I totally forgot there was supposed to be a build out line and no keeper punts. Those rules weren't enforced. I don't recall any whistles for heading the ball either.
And she had a scrimmage this weekend. The ref and opposing coach were not aware that a ball could go any direction on a kickoff now.
Gonna be an interesting season.
I completely agree. Not sure if it's US Soccer's fault or Surf Cup's, but it was ridiculous the little I saw. Saw a Crossfire team score 3 times from a kickoff. Teams were forming a wall on kickoff! Build out lines were painted but didn't look like they were being used. Keeper punts went back and forth between keepers. Poorly thought out. This is exactly the wrong direction for our youngers soccer.
Did he even have shoes?
Haha
MostlyDisappointed
BRONZE
And here we go.
Listen. The rules are having exactly their designed effect: to out the soccer know-nothings who would allow a u10 keeper to punt a ball into an opponent's box just because they can.
Frankly, US Soccer doesn't give a damn about all you people who think it's more important to win than to learn the game. They're more than happy to support the handful of people who know what the hell they're doing and let the rest of you lift cups and fall out of your lawn chairs with glee while your gazelle-like kid gets up and down as fast as they can before sailing off into the wasteland of college soccer. THEY'RE DONE WITH THAT CRAP.
So, if you care about your 8 year-old learning anything, why don't you have a word with your coach about why it's stupid for Jonny to shoot off the kickoff, despite whatever the hell some out of state club who wasted time and effort to come down here wants to do. Keep encouraging your kid to go get the ball in these new and difficult small-spaces, and don't freak when they (inevitably!) lose the ball and give up a goal because they're trying to learn to do the right thing.
If you've convinced yourself that there's such a thing as "real soccer" at u10, find the nearest mirror, gaze into it, and ask yourself where you went wrong in your quest to understand this game.
Or don't. But don't pretend like the rest of us need to play along with your rec-soccer charade. The kids need to learn to play properly, and that shit is hard to do. A big field at 9 won't help them to do it.
Listen. The rules are having exactly their designed effect: to out the soccer know-nothings who would allow a u10 keeper to punt a ball into an opponent's box just because they can.
Frankly, US Soccer doesn't give a damn about all you people who think it's more important to win than to learn the game. They're more than happy to support the handful of people who know what the hell they're doing and let the rest of you lift cups and fall out of your lawn chairs with glee while your gazelle-like kid gets up and down as fast as they can before sailing off into the wasteland of college soccer. THEY'RE DONE WITH THAT CRAP.
So, if you care about your 8 year-old learning anything, why don't you have a word with your coach about why it's stupid for Jonny to shoot off the kickoff, despite whatever the hell some out of state club who wasted time and effort to come down here wants to do. Keep encouraging your kid to go get the ball in these new and difficult small-spaces, and don't freak when they (inevitably!) lose the ball and give up a goal because they're trying to learn to do the right thing.
If you've convinced yourself that there's such a thing as "real soccer" at u10, find the nearest mirror, gaze into it, and ask yourself where you went wrong in your quest to understand this game.
Or don't. But don't pretend like the rest of us need to play along with your rec-soccer charade. The kids need to learn to play properly, and that shit is hard to do. A big field at 9 won't help them to do it.
MostlyDisappointed
BRONZE
They don't need build-out lines in Brazil because they don't have morons who would encourage a kid to punt it into the goal.
Also, it'd be super cool to reference Pele's experience with a tshirt sold to bunch of upper middle-class parents at a polo field.
At least in sand soccer, a keeper punt is considered indirect and needs to hit someone before it goes in.
I wonder what the kids would do on a small field like this if there were no coaches. Would they shoot from the kickoff? Would a keeper try to punt it into the goal?
Soccer (actually, all sports) at this age shouldn't be "coach driven". It should be player driven. If a team wins or loses a game at 9 years old because of a "great coaching move" something is wrong.
I coach basketball for 6th grade girls. They are all beginners. We've played teams that have 10 different "plays" to in-bound the ball. They run 8 different offenses. But only 1 girl per team can dribble the ball. And they are 30% on layups. Don't know how to box out. On defense they run to a "spot" around the paint and play zone defense (11 year old girls can't shoot much beyond 10 feet, so it's a good strategy. But it's lazy).
My team has lost a few more than we've won. But our practices are focused on dribbling, jump-stop, pivot if you pick up your dribble, and shooting layups. On offense we run a 3-2 with a pick on the ball. Or a 1-4 isolation. We don't assign positions. We teach them about spacing and cutting. I don't park the big kid in the middle. Everyone should be able to dribble the ball if they get it. And we only play man-to-man defense.
I wonder what the kids would do on a small field like this if there were no coaches. Would they shoot from the kickoff? Would a keeper try to punt it into the goal?
Soccer (actually, all sports) at this age shouldn't be "coach driven". It should be player driven. If a team wins or loses a game at 9 years old because of a "great coaching move" something is wrong.
I coach basketball for 6th grade girls. They are all beginners. We've played teams that have 10 different "plays" to in-bound the ball. They run 8 different offenses. But only 1 girl per team can dribble the ball. And they are 30% on layups. Don't know how to box out. On defense they run to a "spot" around the paint and play zone defense (11 year old girls can't shoot much beyond 10 feet, so it's a good strategy. But it's lazy).
My team has lost a few more than we've won. But our practices are focused on dribbling, jump-stop, pivot if you pick up your dribble, and shooting layups. On offense we run a 3-2 with a pick on the ball. Or a 1-4 isolation. We don't assign positions. We teach them about spacing and cutting. I don't park the big kid in the middle. Everyone should be able to dribble the ball if they get it. And we only play man-to-man defense.
Yes, I agree that some teams played to use every advantage and some teams didn't. But why didn't Surf Cup enforce the rules designed for the smaller fields? It's a simple fix, isn't it? Why paint build-out lines and then IGNORE them? Just seemed to me to be poorly thought-out.
Wez
DA
It's a little ironic we're still actively arguing over a game being "fixed" in Nationals and now we're arguing over a team doing what it takes to win in Surf Cup with ridiculously small fields. High profile tournaments are not the place to assume a team is going to "do what's best for long term development".
PaytoplayinLancaster?
SILVER
EvilGoalie 21
GOLD
Were the goals used on the short sided fields 6.5 X 18 like they're supposed to be? If anybody saw the U12 USSDA games on the boys side, was it also blast it to win, or were the games better?
Wez
DA
The small fields were a disaster, imho. In the course of the 6 games this weekend, we scored at least a half dozen headers from throw ins. You preferred a throw in over a corner kick, because you could more accurately place the ball right toward the goal. Just had to make sure someone got their head on it.
twoclubpapa
SILVER ELITE
Well, that discussion wasn't about tactics. It was about whether a competition actually took place.
I didn't camp out at the fields, but I did stop to marvel at 1) kids forming a wall on kickoff, and 2) parents going absolutely insane. I had forgotten about the insanity levels at the younger ages.
From what I saw (and please correct me if I'm wrong), there were 3 sizes of fields. Full sized 11v11, smaller sizes (8v8?), and tiny (7v7?). It was those tiny fields that we're talking about. Might be ok if they played 5v5 and they didn't allow punts, throw-ins and shots on kickoff.
When the new rules came out, I thought "This is awesome. We are smack dab at the inflection point of when youth soccer in the US will propel our players to compete on an international stage when they are adults."
After seeing this and other posts, I now feel like saying "Oh no. We are in soccer purgatory for a while. Same clowns, different circus."