What equipment do we need for Soccer?

[mjkacmom]

I always bring a change of shoes in the car b/c cleats plus wet grass equals mess! I also bring a change of clothes if its rainy. If not, we are only 5 mins away but I air out the shoes and cleats asap. .

You might want to buy a pair of slides - all of the kids have them here for baseball and soccer season.

 

[karmutt]

Everyone has the equipment covered (I wear mens swim trunks for shorts), but I have a few suggestions from the perspective of a player and coach...

- Please don't yell at your son. If you've had him in other sports, he might be used to it; if not... I've just always hated people screaming at me to do get the ball and kick it here and there when I was out there trying my best. It looks easy from the sidelines, but I can tell you it's not when you're out on the pitch.

- Spend some time kicking the ball around with him. It'll be fun and he might even be able to teach you a few things. I play in a coed adult AYSO league with a lot of parents who started playing for the first time after their kids did and now it's something they share. They go out and practice together, the parents have a better understanding of the game, and the kids love being able to "cheer on" their mom or dad.

- Watch a few games on TV if you haven't already. It's a good way to learn about the rules and tactics. The game is all about triangles and you can see how the triangles work much better on TV than you can watching from the sidelines. It's called "the beautiful game" because of the symmetry, the way the play is composed of these triangles. ...Boring to most Americans, fascinating to those who like triangles...

- At 10, he's probably going to be playing with kids who've been playing for a few years and they could be a little more skilled. If he starts to get frustrated, see if he might be interested in playing in goal. He'll be able to use his hands instead of just his feet and if he's played baseball, football, or even kickball at school, he'll already have some of the skill sets - being able to catch, slide, dive, and scramble for the ball... It's a completely different game for a keeper.

 

[TxRabbit]

- At 10, he's probably going to be playing with kids who've been playing for a few years and they could be a little more skilled. If he starts to get frustrated, see if he might be interested in playing in goal. He'll be able to use his hands instead of just his feet and if he's played baseball, football, or even kickball at school, he'll already have some of the skill sets - being able to catch, slide, dive, and scramble for the ball... It's a completely different game for a keeper.

Usually, they don't start keeper drills and real training until about this age, so if he is into the idea, he'd be right on target for learning to be a goal keeper.