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Soccer Primer
Our heads-up guide to what the Under-Six crowd is doing
every Saturday morning. You should at least know the rules, coach.
By Buzz McClain
(10/24/00)
Little Vinnie stood there with his jersey over his head. I'm not sure what he was up to, but the other team was coming in his direction with the soccer ball, and he was the last defender between them and the goal.
"Vinnie! Wake up! Get the ball!" I yelled in my loudest, most non-threatening voice. It's tough to sound happy and urgent, but this is a skill co-coaches of under-six soccer teams need to acquire.
Meanwhile, my daughter Samantha was of very little help to her teammate Vinnie. She had found a long blade of grass and was now waving it around in the air, oblivious to the offensive charge that just passed her by.
As it happened, goofy Vinnie I like that kid, but he's silly never got his shirt off his head in time to stop the shot on goal, but when it comes to U-6 soccer, no one counts the points, you count the laughs.
However it is unlikely to remain a lark.
Soccer for those of you parents just back from the space station has become serious business. Last year more than 3 million kids played the game at schools or in leagues. There are 300,000 coaches, 600,000 administrators and 55 state associations, says Irene Niemotka, director of membership and business operations for USYSA, the largest member of the U.S. Soccer Federation.
The game isn't complicated, but there are strict rules maintained by the Swiss-based Federation Internationale de Football Association, or FIFA. There's a pretty good FIFA website (www.fifa.com) with tabs for the official rule book, but there are several concise roundups of the rules on the Web. This one is good: http://members.aol.com/msdaizy/sports/rules1.php.
Still on Mars? If you're a first-time soccer parent, or haven't played the game since high school, here are the bare essentials, or what you need to know to enjoy the game from the sidelines.
There are 11 players versus 11 players trying to use their feet or heads to put a ball into the net of their opponent. This scores a point. The team with the most points at the end of the game usually two 45-minute halves wins.
If the ball never went out of bounds or into the net, and if the players played fairly the entire 90 minutes, the referee would have to blow his or her whistle only four times! Can you think of when those times are? I'll give you a second to think about it and then tell you a few paragraphs from now what the answer is.
When the ball goes out of bounds that is, when it clears the white stripe that surrounds the field, and yes, it can hit the line and stay in bounds the game stops. It is restarted with a "throw-in," with a player from the team that didn't put it out of play throwing it onto the field. The thrower must throw it over his or her head using both hands and keeping both feet on the ground (you can drag a foot along the ground to gain extra force).
When the ball is kicked past the goal line but not when it goes into the goal by a member of the attacking team, the game is restarted with a goal kick (at the top of that rectangle around the goal mouth). If the defenders were the last to touch it the attackers get to take a corner kick (at the nearest corner from where it went out).
You can't push, trip, hold tackle from behind or do anything that limits the other team a chance to fairly play the ball. Those are penalties and the non-offending team gets to take a penalty kick. The other team must be 10 yards away from the kick, and should the kick go into the goal, the point is scored.
For obstruction, using hands or being off-sides, the penalty is a free-kick. It's the same as a penalty kick except a goal can't be scored from it.
And, oh yes, only the goalie may use their hands.
Answer to the Who Wants to be a Millionaire? question: The referee would blow the whistle only to start and end each half, for a total of four times.
Of course, very little of this applies to Samantha's league. It's 4-on-4 coed with no goalie. But the one thing it does have in common with the next level of play: It's a lot of fun.
Now get out there, dad, and cheer!
Soccer Lingo
Header:
To hit the ball with the head.
Worm Burner:
A fast, powerfully kicked ball that barely clears the grass tops.
Breakaway:
When an attacker has the ball with nothing but green acreage between him/her and the goalie.
Marking:
Covering a player so as to steal the ball when it is kicked to him/her.
Clearing Kick:
A defensive kick that puts the ball out of the defenders' half of the field.
Centering Kick:
A kick from the sides to the middle, so as to take a shot with foot or head at goal.
Off-the-ball:
What happens away from where the ball is, i.e., moving into a position to take a pass.
Trapping:
Stopping the ball with your foot. Also, catching an attacker off-side.
Chip-pass:
A swift, usually short pass that goes over a defender's head.
Dribbling:
What most parents do with their pops when their kids get near the goal with the ball. No, really: Running downfield with the ball at your feet.
Linesman:
The assistant referee with the flag who tells the referee when the ball is out of play or when an attacker is off-side.
Referee:
The sole judge of fact, law and time. Don't argue with him/her because they cannot reverse their decision.
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Buzz McClain is a music critic for The Washington Post.
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