If
Your Child Has
Not Played Soccer
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Choose from the "Who are you?" options below. |
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My child is younger than 4-1/2. There are, essentially, no opportunities for your child to play organized soccer - recreational or otherwise. Your city's parks and recreation department may offer a local Kidz Love Soccer program whose minimum age might be 4. Otherwise, just about all you can do is to get yourself on a mailing list to be notified of future opportunities. |
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My child is between the ages of 4-1/2 and 8.
You have at least three options. OPTION 1: SAYSO offers a Sunday clinic known as the "Crickets program" each spring and fall. This is an 8-10 week recreational-to-competitive bridge program intended to give the players a head-start in joining a competitive team. The players get together for 90 minutes once each week on Sunday afternoons. They are trained by experienced, compassionate coaches using age-appropriate games and contests. Size 3 (small) balls and an age-appropriate curriculum are used. Teamwork and social awareness are included. Each training session ends with the participants being divided into random teams for several practice games on reduced-size fields. Girls and boys train together, but the practice games are gender-pure. Players may join this program at any time during the year. Cost is approximately $125, and a full uniform is included. More information can be obtained by contacting the SAYSO office. OPTION 2: You may enroll your child in a fall AYSO city-based recreational program, of which there is one in almost every peninsula city. The minimum age is 4-1/2 by the start of the program in September. These programs usually have the players get together once during the week for training, and then, once on a Saturday for a game. The details vary with each AYSO region. OPTION 3: You may wish to combine Options 1 and 2, since they generally do not conflict. |
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My child is between the ages of 8 and 17. Most (but not all!) children without soccer experience should participate in a city-based recreational AYSO program for at least one season before trying out for a competitive club soccer team. By the age of 8, some children have already played recreational soccer for 4 years, and new-to-soccer children are at a disadvantage. Still, up to the age of 9 or 10, a few young children who are fast, coordinated, athletic, competitive, and quick-learning can be selected for competitive club soccer teams based merely on those characteristics. This is particularly true if a child is "converting" from another competitive sport (e.g., gymnastics, ice hockey, or basketball). Such children should not hesitate to request more guidance from the SAYSO office. |