Florida Youth Soccer Association
Player Guidelines
Michael Strickler
FYSA Director of Coaching

Characteristics of U8 Children

  • Short attention span
  • Individual play to partner play
  • Always in motion
  • Very sensitive (dislikes personal criticism in front of peers)
  • Beginning to develop physical coordination
  • Still into running, jumping, climbing, and rolling
  • More into the real game through imitation of big guys
  • Still lack sense of pace

    Characteristics of U10 Players

  • Lengthened attention span
  • Pace factor more developed (think ahead)
  • More self-responsibility
  • Start to recognize tactical components of the game but not sure why
  • Positive reinforcement needed
  • May initiate play on their own
  • Become more serious about their play
  • Greater diversity in playing ability and physical maturity
  • Group play begins to emerge

    Characteristics of U12 Player

  • Age of Tactical Awareness
  • Beginning of puberty
  • Overuse injuries, burnout and high attrition rate associated with high-intensity children’s programs
  • Begin to develop and sustain complex coordinated skill sequences
  • Increased ability to acquire and apply knowledge
  • Can think in abstract terms
  • The game of soccer must present the ability to think creatively and solve problems while moving

    Advantages to Playing Small Sided Games

  • More practical space with the ball
  • Increased number of contacts with the ball
  • More actual playing time
  • Energetic workouts due to playing both offense and defense and also player will understand roles more readily
  • Required to make more decisions
  • Experience repeating game situations more frequently
  • Issues in Small Sided Games
  • Not enough coaches
  • Not enough fields
  • Loss of players
  • Many clubs who have implemented small sided games have found it easier to recruit coaches
  • Fields are smaller and can be fit in existing facilities
  • Many clubs have found for every player lost they gain more players


    Change
  • People are not always comfortable with change
  • A phasing in process allows parents to become comfortable with the change
  • In reality we are not changing but implementing what we have done in our practices for years
  • Our practices have been geared to start small and build our practice to progress into larger numbers
  • We use smaller numbers to teach technique and concepts in a progressive manner
  • This is what we are doing on a larger scale with our entire program
  • START SMALL AND BUILD UP TO LARGER NUMBERS

    Phasing in of FYSA Guidelines
    These guidelines are for FYSA sponsored events (i.e. DC Cup, Regional Cup, Presidents Cup)

  • 2001-2002 Under 8
  • 2002-2003 Under 9
  • 2003-2004 Under 10 and 11
  • 2004-2005 Under 12 (to be determined)

    Playing Numbers

  • Under 8 4v4
  • Under 9 6v6
  • Under 10 6v6
  • Under 11 8v8
  • Under 12 8v8?

    Goalkeepers

  • Under 8 – no goalkeepers would be used in this format.

  • Under 9 & 10 - 5 field players and a GK

  • Under 11 &12 -7 field players and a GK

    Format for Competitions

  • For players under 10 and below their would be no result based competitions.

  • All events for under 10 players would be in a festival format.

  • Under 11 and above would be result based with progressions and championships

  • A game by its nature is competitive but we do not want to put external goals above player development

    Small Sided Game Field Size Recommendations
    4 v 4 (no goalkeepers)

  • Length 40 to 50 yards
  • Width 20 to 30 yards
  • Goal Area 3 yard arc
  • Penalty Area not needed
  • Goal 4 ft. high by 6 ft. long
  • Center Circle 5 yard radius
  • Corner Arc 1 yard radius (optional)
  • Corner Flags cones can be used

    6 v 6 (including goalkeepers)

  • Length 40 to 50 yards
  • Width 35 to 40 yards
  • Goal Area 6 yards out from post and 6 yards forward
  • Penalty Area 12 yards out from post and 12 yards forward
  • Goal 6 ft. high by 18 ft. long
  • Penalty Spot 10 yards out from center of the goal
  • Center Circle 8 yard radius
  • Corner Arc 1 yard radius
  • Penalty Arc 8 yard radius
  • Corner Flags cones may be used

    8 v 8 (including goalkeepers)

  • Length 70 to 90 yards Width 45 to 60 yards
  • Goal Area 6 yards out from the post and 6 yards forward
  • Penalty Area 14 yards out from the post and 14 yards forward
  • Goal 7 ft. high by 21 ft. long
  • Penalty Spot 12 yards from the center of the goal
  • Center Circle 10 yard radius
  • Corner Arc 1 yard radius
  • Penalty Arc 10 yard radius
  • Corner Flags standard

    Summary
  • Play must be appropriate to the level of the players
  • More contacts with the ball
  • More decisions are made by the players in an appropriate atmosphere
  • A phasing in process eases the fear of change
  • The game must be FUN for the players in a learning environment

     

    Small Sided Games is for Our Players

    Resources
    You may contact these organizations for local and national coaching courses and other pertinent information concerning player development.

  • Florida Youth Soccer Association- www.fysa.com, mstrickler@fysa.com, or virgils@fysa.com
  • United States Youth Soccer Association- www.usysa.org
  • United States Soccer Federation- www.ussoccer.org