SIZE DOES COUNT.

Your soccer club will be affiliated to a local football association, which will list guidelines and rules pertaining to the various age group divisions in that league. As a youth football coach you’ll need to know the rules and regulations both of the game of soccer, as well as the rules that pertain to each age group. One of the biggest differences between the age groups is the size of the ball to be used in matches. The most common size footballs are a size 4 and a size 5 (the size is normally noted on the ball itself).

The size 4 football will be used by age groups from u7 to u9, while the size 5 will be used for u11s onwards.

One thing that you will learn very quickly is that different makes of soccer ball differ both in size and in weight. In junior soccer this definitely has a bearing on the outcome of a match. For example, some size 5 soccer balls will be lighter than others and in turn some may be slightly larger than others. With youth football training drills players get used to the footballs that they practice with at their club’s home ground. On match days you may find them struggling to control a ball either because it’s too light and the wind speed on the field is strong, or it’s too heavy and they battle to clear the ball or shoot properly.

You will also find that on match days the opposing team will often place their ball on the halfway line or hand it to the referee just as he arrives to blow the game. By the way this is something that you need to do in order to settle your team quickly into the game.

In closing, when doing your youth football training drills and specifically when playing small sided matches, you need to use different types of balls, both heavy and light. This enables your players to adapt quickly to the ball being used on match days.

Cheers for now.

Mike

P.S. Next time we will be looking at the players in your squad and how to measure their strengths and weaknesses.