 Making It Up: Nine Examples of Street Soccer/Futsal Games to Play By Ryan Knapp League Owner, Buffalo Super F League As a coach, when was the last time you coached soccer that didn’t focus on a grass field with goals and everyone wearing spikes and numbered jerseys? When I was growing up playing pick-up soccer on Remington Drive in Buffalo, we played a lot of versions of soccer. The version of soccer we played was based on three factors: 1) Where we could play 2) How many kids we had 3) What we felt like doing Some days, there were only three or four of us and we’d get a $1 rubber ball and play barefoot soccer in my friend Joel’s backyard. Other days, we would have 10 players and play a full 5v5 match in the field between two fences we drew on with chalk. And others, there would be two of us and we’d juggle, juggle and juggle, or play our favorite game where you started at one juggle and had to increase them by one every round, ending sometimes around 40 or 50. Our goal was always the same – to play soccer. It didn’t matter what rules we had, all that mattered was we had a ball and some other kids to play with. Teach What You Preach In order to get your players to play more soccer, you now have to teach your players how to play these games. Think about it – all their exposure to soccer is playing organized matches on perfect grass pitches with full teams. They don’t know how to play 1v1 in their yard, or 3v2 in front of their house, or in their cul-de-sac. Teach them how to play, play games with them, and they will want to play themselves and with friends. Here are some street soccer/futsal/freestyle soccer games you can teach your kids to play by themselves and with friends (these are taken from an article on EF Deportes) Nine Examples of Simple Street Soccer Games • Volley Ball Needs: One goal, one goalkeeper and a few players Objective: Goals can only be scored if the ball is in the air and on a one-touch from another player. The GK can’t leave a crease the players decide on. Each player starts with 10 points. If the shooter does not score, one point is deducted and the shooter takes the place of the GK. If the shooter scores, he or she receives a point. The game “ends” when the first player has zero points. • Pick-up Simple … teach kids how to make teams, and just play the game using whatever they want as goals – and however big they want them – and adjusting the size of the field to whatever is available. It’s simple creativity. • World Cup Needs: A goal, a GK and players Basics: GK tosses the ball out and each player plays against the others to score a goal. Goals are worth one point and the game is played to five. If you have a bunch of players, make teams of two or three and play the game to one goal. Change it up! You can limit goals to ones that are volleyed in, headed, etc. • The Quick One Needs: One goal and a bunch of players Basics: GK Starts with the ball and rolls it out to one of the other players, who are standing behind a line. The first player shoots. If he or she scores, the player receives a point. If it’s a miss or a save, the player has a point taken away. After the shot, the shooter runs and takes the place of the GK and rolls the ball out to the next in line, who shoots and repeats the process: Play a certain number of turns or to a pre-determined winning score. • Goalie Wars Needs: Two goals, two GKs (if more, create the teams from pairs of players) Basics: Each player gets in goal and tries to score goals against the other goalie by shooting the ball. GK’s can save the ball with hands as normal. If playing in pairs, GK can roll out to a player who has three seconds to shoot. The game can also be played to a certain number of goals. • Popcorn Make a circle and juggle with one ball, without letting it fall to the ground. Each player starts with five points and each time a player is responsible for letting the ball hit the ground (or making an unplayable juggle-pass), they lose a point. Game ends when the first player reaches zero points. Juggle with all parts of the body. • Keep-away Make a circle or any shape based on the number of players available. The players on the outside keep the ball away from the player(s) on the inside. Make sure there are more players on the outside than inside. A player on the outside who loses the ball or makes a bad pass goes in the middle and switches places with another player. • The Wall A group of players knock the ball against a certain part of the wall. If a player fails the kick the ball off the specified place on the wall, the other player(s) gets a point. You can require players to volley, use one-touch, two-touch, etc. Have other games that players can do on their own? Send them to Ryan at ryan@bflofutsal.com
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