What is street soccer?

Street soccer refers to the various kinds of pickup soccer games played in parks, gyms and in streets and alleys around the world. The defining characteristic of street soccer is that it is not organized. Players show up at the “field” and teams are formed from the players available. There is no referee. There is no coach. It is soccer in its most basic and unadulterated form.

Great article on Street Soccer here

Street Soccer
Open to Everyone: Boys & Girls: U8-U18
Every Sunday, 3:30 p.m. to 5:00 p.m
Fairview Soccer Park (FSP)
FSP Waiver Required, $10 per player


Important: Follow StreetSoccerFSP for all Street Soccer status updates(fields conditions, time changes, cancellations, etc).

Playing Format
• No coaching, no recruiting, no club jerseys
• No adult instructions
• Team size of 4 v 4 (3 v 3 or 5 v 5 if necessary)
• Ball size of 4
• Games are five minutes long (all games start and end same time)
• Five minutes between games
• Time and score keeper provided
• Point system (win=3, tie=1 and loss=0)
• kick-in from point of exit anywhere on field
• Two top teams play finals and the rest each other based on standing
• Team formation (balanced based on age and gender)
• Teams assigned number
• Next opponent is first team not played (clockwise direction)
• Winner plays on same field (if issue arises, time keeper decides)

Don't count the goals, don't track the wins/losses; just rotate both teams every X minutes.
And you will need some type of supervision. Great idea good luck to you...

gababa wrote:Don't count the goals, don't track the wins/losses; just rotate both teams every X minutes.
And you will need some type of supervision. Great idea good luck to you...

I agree, Gabs. It's similar to the Summer league at Blue Sky Colony. No refs, no scores, "just fun". I like how we are trying to get a 3v3 league off the ground in NTX. But, so far, no one has come up with the right formula. BTW-we also need a 4v4 league for the older groups, as recently recommended by US Soccer...

finish1 wrote:

gababa wrote:Don't count the goals, don't track the wins/losses; just rotate both teams every X minutes.
And you will need some type of supervision. Great idea good luck to you...

I agree, Gabs. It's similar to the Summer league at Blue Sky Colony. No refs, no scores, "just fun". I like how we are trying to get a 3v3 league off the ground in NTX. But, so far, no one has come up with the right formula. BTW-we also need a 4v4 league for the older groups, as recently recommended by US Soccer...

You say there will be no structure, but then provide a dozen bullet points that contradict that statement. Agree with previous posters, no score keeping...just rotate after a specific amount of time. also, every 30 minutes you should change up the teams. you should try to start an email thread to keep parents updated.

gababa wrote:Don't count the goals, don't track the wins/losses; just rotate both teams every X minutes.
And you will need some type of supervision. Great idea good luck to you...

Thanks gababa. This past Sunday was the first Sunday for Street Soccer and it happened to be cold with the added bonus of drizzling precipitation. As one of the organizers, the above format is what we came up with as a starting point with the expectation that it would evolve with time but stay as true as possible to main objective -- Fun, unstructured, creative play with minimal adult involvement. Adult supervision is present, I was tasked with the 5-minute timer. The reality is that it was much different and less structured than described above -- IMO, it turned out better. Here are a few observations from this past Sunday:

* Ages that played: ranged from 04s-98s
* Players arrived at different times (some early, some a few minutes later)
* Play began with the first group of players at Starting Time
* Organizers suggested initial team assignments
* The initial 2 teams were based roughly by balanced age distribution (04 on each team, an 02 on each team, etc.)
* As play continued and more players arrived, the older boys took on a leadership role and re-balanced
teams as needed.
* In the end there were 3 teams with 3 older boys on each team. One of the interesting things that occurred was that they decided among themselves that the younger boys (02s & 04s) would always remain on the field - 5v5 -(3)older boys+(1)04+(1)02 on each team
* Teams played each other for 5 minutes and then a rotation of the 3 older boys would occur.
* I really don't think they even kept score due to the 5-minute rotation or they placed minimal emphasis on it.
* When a goal was scored they didn't do a kick-off from center they just put the ball back in play as quickly as they could after getting it out of the goal.
* It was great to watch the dynamic between the younger and older players. Bonds formed after only knowing each other for a few minutes. In no time at all, they all had nicknames for each other - Messi, Ronaldinho, etc.
* The younger boys pulled out every move and trick they had for their older teammates. And yes, the 04s held their own and even scored. They were beaming.
* At the end, they all gave each other high-fives and made plans to be back next Sunday.
* Can't quite put my finger on it but, for my 02, it was a whole different level of fun and enjoyment he had in playing the game. It was the only thing he wanted to talk about afterwards.
* It was a lot of fun despite the weather.


“I do everything through instinct, I play like a child ... I think about myself on a small field, or in the street, I see myself with the ball in the same way as I am now. I have not changed at all. You must remember soccer is a game to have fun and you play for that. I don't plan or anticipate my play."
-- Lionel Messi