Learning a sport at a young age has tremendous benefits for people. With that said, kids need to be interested in at least one sport out there in order to improve their childhood and their life.
I believe that the best option for your kids is soccer for the reasons stated in this article. Today, more and more kids are showing signs of interest in soccer in the United States and if your kids are one of them, then that’s a great sign.
If your kid is already interested in soccer, then the question becomes this.
how can kids start playing soccer as soon as possible?
Here’s a list of the things that need to happen in order for your kid to be able to enjoy their soccer hobby.
1- Get a soccer ball that is suitable for their age.
If you know nothing about soccer, then you might think that all soccer balls are the same. This is not the case however.
Soccer balls come in different sizes. Each size is made specifically for a specific age range. According to Nike’s article here, you’ll need the following ball size for each age range:
- Size 5 for people who are older than 12. This ball size is the one used in professional soccer matches.
- Size 4 if your kid is aged between 8 and 12.
- Size 3 if your kid is less than 8 years old.
There’s also a ball of size 1, but this one is used by all ages and it’s just for practice. With that said, pick the ball size that best suits your kid according to the information stated above.
Now that your kid has a ball, they’ll need to practice the main soccer skills before participating in a soccer match.
2- Let your kids Practice the essential soccer skills.
There are some essential soccer skills that every soccer player needs to learn if they want to perform well on the soccer field.
Here are a few skills that your kid needs to learn before they start playing soccer:
- How to pass the ball to a friend and how to receive the ball from a friend
- How to run while controlling the ball
- How to kick the ball with enough strength
- How to run for long distances without getting quickly tired
These are some of the most basic skills that your kid has to learn before they participate in their first official soccer match.
But don’t worry, these skills can be developed very quickly with a few training sessions. Just take your kid to a place where they can freely run with the ball and kick it, and they’ll be able to learn.
Pass the ball to them and let them pass it to you, let them run with the ball several times until they feel confident while doing it, put some targets and ask them to hit the targets using all their strength, and finally ask them to run and jump in order to increase their running durability.
Once your kids feel comfortable enough with these very basic skills, then they can try and learn these more advanced soccer moves that will make them much better in any soccer match.
But, they don’t have to wait to learn the advanced moves in order to start playing soccer. Once your kids master the essentials, then they can join a soccer match right away.
3- Teach them the most basic soccer rules.
In order for your kids to play soccer, they need to understand the most basic soccer rules that can get them started.
Here’s a list of the soccer rules that everyone needs to know before they play a soccer match. Note that your kids do not need to remember these rules. This shouldn’t be another boring history lesson for them. They just need to know that the rules exist. They’ll learn them eventually when they play their first few soccer practice matches.
4- Let them join a soccer team
Soccer is a group sport. With that said, your kids will have to find a team that they can join and play with.
Joining a soccer team at a very young age can help the team players have more chemistry with each other as they grow up together on the soccer field. This chemistry will help your kid’s team win soccer games.
So it’s always a good option to let your kid join a soccer team immediately after they master the essential soccer skills instead of forcing them to wait until they get a little bit older.
Joining a soccer team will allow your kids to play more professional soccer matches, and it will allow them to learn new skills from their teammates too.
5- Encourage your kids to watch soccer matches.
Part of learning how to play soccer is to watch how professionals play. Thus it’s a great idea if you encourage your kid to watch a soccer match.
Your kid will be able to watch how soccer professionals score goals, kick the ball, pass the ball, and so much more if you take them to a soccer stadium to watch a soccer match with them or if you just enjoy a world cup soccer match from your living room with them.
Here are some tips to make sure that you enjoy watching a soccer match to the fullest.
With that said, I will end this article here. Thank you for reading this far. Here’s a summary of what you have just read.
To get your kids started in soccer, you need to get them a ball of the right size, help them practice the most basic soccer skills, teach them the basic soccer rules, let them join a soccer team and encourage them to watch professional soccer matches.