Recreation Soccer Philosophy
We are proud of our KSA Recreational Soccer program. The goal of KSA is to offer every player the opportunity to participate in and play soccer at his or her own level of competition. Emphasis is placed on the development of soccer skills, participation and enjoying the game of soccer. All the teams in the recreation league are sponsored by local businesses and their support is vital to the overall success of our program. The U-5/U-6 division plays 4v4 micro soccer and will move into 6v6 when they age up to U-7 and U-8. Players in the U-10 division will also play 6v6. U12 divisions and older divisions will play 8v8.
For years we have had many requests for smaller teams and more playing time for individual players. In our older divisions we sometimes put 16-17 kids on a team and tried to play 11v11 with only one volunteer coach. Many times the result was limited playing time for players on large fields, and limited attention being shown to kids in practices.
Our goal this year was to provide the best experience possible at KSA through smaller size teams (11-12 players’ max) and smaller sided games on a smaller field. This should allow each child more attention in practices and games. Coaches should be able to spend more time with 11 kids instead of trying to keep up with 16-17 kids. With smaller sided games more emphasis should be placed on learning to play better soccer, rather than who can kick the ball the furthest.
This is a big step for KSA; it requires more teams, sponsors, games, referees, and most of all more volunteers from our community. We gathered a committee together of 10 very committed and intelligent individuals to take on this new commitment, because what’s most important are the kids. We also tested the field size and 7v7 with our adult league this past summer, and it worked very well. That league consisted of over 200 players and the players had no issues with the field size or team sizes. I hope this better explains why we are going to play 7v7 in the U-12, U-15, and U-18 divisions this year. If you have additional questions please don’t hesitate to contact the KSA office.
Coaches in recreational soccer are volunteers, usually parents or relatives, who may or may not have a soccer background. KSA provides coaching assistance to train new coaches and there are also coaches who have worked with the league for years who are willing to mentor with a new coach if the need arises. If players wish to try to play at a more competitive level, KSA also has a Select Team program, which includes Challenge and Classic levels. In this program, skills and teamwork are stressedata higher level.
