Playing Indoor Soccer

[DJnVa]

Anyone here play? And I'm referring to arena soccer, not futsal.

I'm playing in a tourney this weekend and while I've had some time playing these will be the first competitive games. It's just at the recreational level (as opposed to the competitive division) but any advice would be cool.

7v7, 3 lines, etc...

 

[tims4wins]

Stretch before

Get a gun?

 

[Smiling Joe Hesketh]

Advice? I play a lot of indoor soccer, there's not really a need for advice. It's the same game. Unless you're playing with boards, like hockey?

Play like you normally would play.

 

[Tangled Up In Red]

Lots of small movement. Don't pass and stand still. Constantly make yourself open and available.

 

[pedro1918]

I haven't played in years. I remember there was no offside rule. As a defender, that was important.

I also remember that some of the teams took it WAY too seriously.

Have fun.

 

[John Marzano Olympic Hero]

How old are you and how old are the people you're playing against?

I was in a league last year with my buddies, we're all +40. The people we played were anywhere from 25-35. We stayed close to them in the first 10 or 15 minutes, but we got gassed and they ended up blowing us out in a lot of games.

I found that making sure I was hydrating all day was very important. I also took a couple of Advil about an hour before the game as well. Make sure you stretch and also try not to do too much. What I mean was in our last game of the year I took a shot that I absolutely wanted to tattoo and I popped my quad. I actually heard it pop and it hurt a lot. I've played a lot of soccer, basketball and baseball in my time, but I've never heard or felt anything quite like this*.

* I stupidly stayed on the field for another ten minutes, scored (I'm such a warrior) and then limped off.

If you haven't played in a while and you're playing with boards, the game can move a bit quick sometimes. Keep your head on a swivel and concentrate, after a few minutes you'll get used to it.

That being said, I loved playing and the guys who were on my team had a blast too. But we were in a mixed league and the woman we had on our team weren't able to play this session. That sucked.

 

[Smiling Joe Hesketh]

Lots of small movement. Don't pass and stand still. Constantly make yourself open and available.

Yes, this is a good point. There's not as much running for distance, but there's a lot of running in smaller spaces because you're never all that far from the ball.

I'm terrible at soccer despite playing a lot, so I can't tell you the things that I do during games (fall down, make weak passes, get beat on the dribble). It helps to think of the smaller indoor game almost like hockey: in general we try to get the ball into the high slot for shots. You can screen the goalie a bit because there's no offside rule and I scored a few goals by tipping shots into the net or digging for rebounds about 4 inches from the goal line.

On the smaller indoor field it helps to avoid the temptation to shoot as hard as you possibly can. In my old man's league we're playing with the smaller nets, and all too often guys shoot too hard and it's far too easy to shoot the ball wide or high because of it. Same goes for corners; try not to blast the ever-living shit out of them. Shoot and pass in control and you'll have a lot more success.

 

[DJnVa]

Advice? I play a lot of indoor soccer, there's not really a need for advice. It's the same game. Unless you're playing with boards, like hockey?

Play like you normally would play.

Yes, there's board...so it's like hockey.

 

[lars10]

Use the boards if you need them (if there are boards)... bouncing the ball off the back wall next to the opponents goal especially can open up shots for your teammates and also get the goalie moving the wrong way.

Run and get off... if you have an unselfish team you should be running and getting off the field every 3-5 minutes or so. You'll be less gassed and get a chance to get a breather. Being on the field running while your gassed kills your legs for the rest of the game and your play won't be that good anyway.

Test your shoes before the game.. i've played in anything from indoor shoes to turf to regular cleats depending on the field surface.

Also..know where your pass/shot is going before you get the ball. You'll have a lot less time to make decisions than outdoor..

 

[Smiling Joe Hesketh]

So a lot of the same caveats apply. Small field, never stop running, get open for passes. Screen the goalie, look for rebounds and tips.

 

[DJnVa]

How old are you and how old are the people you're playing against?

I was in a league last year with my buddies, we're all +40. The people we played were anywhere from 25-35. We stayed close to them in the first 10 or 15 minutes, but we got gassed and they ended up blowing us out in a lot of games.

We're all 30+ as the original intention was the Over 30 division (and if there was an Over 40, we'd probably qualify for that too). Then we were told that was going to be ultra-competitive so we moved to All Ages Recreation, where the facility prohibits their top teams from playing. They briefly added an Over 30 Recreation, which didn't get enough entrants, so we're back in the All Ages Recreation. I've been told that 2 of the 3 teams in our bracket play D3 there, which is their lowest level.

So, yeah, we'll be older, but we have 13 players--1 keeper and 2 guys to rotate at each spot. We have a decent keeper, but we have a few guys that I know are athletic(ish) but haven't really ever played indoor soccer. We've had 2 practices, which went well, and I played 2+ hours during free play (oldest player by about 15 years---sheesh), but I'm kind of up in air about formations (Oh, I'm also the coach). Thinking a 2-3-1, with at least 2 mids dropping to help on defense if needed.

if you have an unselfish team you should be running and getting off the field every 3-5 minutes or so

That's essentially the plan--I've pair up tag-team partners and said go hard 4-5 minutes and switch out. We play two 20 minute halves.

It's definitely been a blast, hoping to join the league in January. This tourney was our tryout to see if some guys wanted to move over from softball.

 

[John Marzano Olympic Hero]

Honestly, I wouldn't worry about formations. Usually indoor fields are way too small to have people stick to positions other than, "You stay on the left, I'll stay on the right." And the field is small enough that halfbacks should be able to come back and help, while fullbacks should be able to help up front.

 

[DJnVa]

Any formations are mostly to keep the non-soccer players cognizant of where they need to be, generally speaking. Guys that have played more understand about helping out and covering, etc.

At the very least, we'll have fun and the place sells beer, so, win win.

We've got 2 roster openings if there are any ringers here that can make it to Va Beach by 2:15 tomorrow!

 

[lars10]

Honestly, I wouldn't worry about formations. Usually indoor fields are way too small to have people stick to positions other than, "You stay on the left, I'll stay on the right." And the field is small enough that halfbacks should be able to come back and help, while fullbacks should be able to help up front.

Yeah.. I agree with this. You really basically need to cycle players. Players should always be checking back if a fullback comes up to make sure there's someone back.. and also just playing off of each other in general..always opening up and working triangles or such. If you can't see the ball you need to move.

 

[robssecondjob]

Buy the ref beer. Always works with me....

Small pitch means lots of short passes. The best team I played against last year was a bunch of fat Brazilians. We ran circles around, but they had a massive ball control advantage and dominated the match.

 

[OilCanMDS]

I've played 7v7 outdoor soccer for the past 5 years. The only advice I have beyond what people have already said is that generally the easiest formation to run is a 3-2-1 with the two outside defenders moving forward when they see the opportunity and the forward and central defender being the only players that don't really cover the whole field. If your team is more skilled than the other teams, then running a 2-3-1 with the defenders taking turns to push forward works pretty well. The formation stuff isn't a big deal though because usually within the first few minutes of a match you will know if you need to keep an extra player back on defense or if you need to have more people coming up to help the attack.

As other people have mentioned, moving a lot is helpful. The lower level leagues I have played in have a lot of defenders that ball watch, so give-and-goes work really well to get behind the other team's defense. Also, in terms of moving a lot, counterattacking usually works really well in rec league because a lot of times people get out of position on attack or are just too lazy to get back to the area they are supposed to cover.

 

[Morgan's Magic Snowplow]

Prepare to be sore in muscle areas you didn't even know you possessed.

I guess it all kind of depends on the skill and aggression level of the league. But I've played in several kinds of games (probably not too uncommon with adult leagues) where the players just weren't good enough to keep possession that well but at the same time were often kind of lazy defensively in transition. Tactically, that made it advantageous to play for counterattacks off turnovers (especially if we had a very good quick player up front). We tried to play one of our best passers and decision makers as our central defender because that guy is most often in the position of playing passes that, if misplaced or unwise, could lead to bad counterattacks from the other team. Especially if you're playing with boards, don't be afraid just to play it long into the corners for one of your guys to chase rather than trying to play an intricate possession game out of the back that can lead to any easy chance for the opponent once one of your weaker players makes a mistake.

 

[67YAZ]

With no offsides, the back line has to communicate well. Even better, your keeper should be calling out the unmarked and the runners.

Sub often. Early on, press backline hard. You'll spot the guys uncomfortable on the ball within a few minutes, and then take dead aim at those poor souls.

Also, because this happened just last night...we're down 3-2 with just under 5 minutes to go. Our left mid takes a pass inside our half with a defender right on his heels, so our guy can't turn, dribbles back towards goal. The defender sticks his leg in from behind and both guys go down. The Ref plays advantage because the ball rolls to our left back. So as our guy scrambles up, he gives the defender a shove to the chest, and the defender pulls my guy down. Now the whistle comes out, free kick to the other team on the corner of the box. My guy loses his shit and gets a yellow for yelling at the Ref. That sets off a scrum of pushing and chest bumping between the teams, but after things cool down and 2 minutes burn off, we're ready to restart. My guy joins the wall and calmly tells the Ref, "I'll fuck you. I'll fuck your mother, you stupid fuck." Red, game over.

So my advice is don't do that.

 

[DJnVa]

Thanks all. Good stuff here.

 

[DJnVa]

Just had a guy bail late tonight. Kind of a douche move. Now we're down to 12, and we'll be missing one for our second game tomorrow, so just 11.

So much for each guy having a tag team partner.

 

[Zomp]

Yeah that happens on every team.

 

[OilCanMDS]

Just had a guy bail late tonight. Kind of a douche move. Now we're down to 12, and we'll be missing one for our second game tomorrow, so just 11.

So much for each guy having a tag team partner.

I can't remember the last time I played in a game in which the whole team showed up. You can probably expect to always have a person or two miss every game, and once you start playing more that will actually be preferable. I think the sweet spot is having 9-10 people show up for 7s because nobody really wants to sit out. In games where we have actually had all 12 people show up, everybody gets salty about having to sub out so frequently.

 

[DJnVa]

Yeah, I've played baseball and softball and I know how it goes. If this was a league with one game a week, that'd be great.

However this is a tournament for which everyone specifically invited because said they were available and knew that because we'd have 3 or 4 games in 24 hours we recruited to a certain number because everyone may feel fine after the first game, but game 2, 3, 4 may start to wear on them.

Looks like we'll have 12 and then 11 for the 2 games tonight.

Assuming we don't have 2 guys tweak something we should be okay.

 

[Time to Mo Vaughn]

Where are you playing? You might be able to pick a player up from here.

Indoor with boards can be exhausting and also allows the greater ability to get blown out since missed shots stay in the offensive zone. If your goalie is comfortable with the ball at his feet, definitely use pass backs to slow things down when you're playing teams better than you.

When in doubt go conservative on a 50/50 ball to avoid injury. There's some assholes out there in these leagues, but nothing is worth a knee injury or broken bone.

 

[DJnVa]

Soooooooo, 0-2.

We're in the Recreation division and these teams were NOT recreation teams. That's not sour grapes, that's what they told us. They were moved around to make enough divisions.

First game we lost 7-2. Our youngest guy is 37, their oldest was 22. It was 3-2 with 8 minutes left and we ran out of gas. The team had some skill, but by the end was moving past us too easily. Despite that, we had a good time.

Second game was against a team that had no one over the age of 30 and they clearly play together all the time as they could ping passes all around and were running what seemed to be a set offense. They went up 7-0 at the half and it finished 11-2.

Still had a blast, and we have one more game tomorrow.

Our lack of playing together hurt us and our substitution pattern broke down, coupled with our youngest guy being 7 years older than the oldest dude we played...

 

[67YAZ]

Sounds like you got a raw deal if they dropped higher division teams down into the rec league. Raise that with the organizers. They should cut you a deal for a future tourny/league.

Keep with it, though. Brains beats legs (most of the time). My current rec team has been together for 2 years now. In the summers we play all-ages out door and consistently finish near the top of the table (but haven't quite managed to win). During the winters, we play 30+ indoors and usually finish bottom half. There's teams in that league that have had cores playing together for years, and we're still johnny-come-latelys. It's amazing what comfort and familiarity will do for a side.

Good luck tomorrow. Give it hell.

 

[SocrManiac]

Keep with it, though. Brains beats legs (most of the time).

There's teams in that league that have had cores playing together for years, and we're still johnny-come-latelys. It's amazing what comfort and familiarity will do for a side.

These are two keys.

I play a lot of indoor. Average age of my team is about 27. I'm the eldest at 34. We play all over the Northeast and have probably averaged 60 games/winter over the past five years. We also play in the summer league together. We're one of the teams you'd probably hate as we're still there recreationally- the more aggressive/competitive teams take things way too seriously. We all have jobs we can't miss.

First, even the best college teams are "dumb." The college game actually set up like indoor in a lot of ways- unlimited subs and lots of running. It just doesn't translate against patience and control. This is part of the problem with our college system feeding MLS, but that's a different discussion. Don't think too much of younger teams with individually talented guys- chances are they're just going to run at you. They'll press hard early, but drop off as they get bored. Knock the ball around as much as possible.

Second, don't expect much out of a tournament where you've thrown your team together ahead of time. The teams you're playing against probably aren't practicing or running a set offense, they just have a ton of hours together. They're going to be difficult to crack. You need to match the discipline, which is going to be nearly impossible without some time together. Understand when they're dangerous and when they aren't. Maintain a shape, play the passing lanes and always close the shot (you're going to obstruct your keeper a lot if you're doing this right). These teams tend to be vulnerable to a counter- they'll lull themselves and lose their defensive shape the more they move they ball.

It's important to both get the idea of set positions out of your guys' heads while, at the same time maintaining a defensive responsibility. In indoor you need to attack as a team, but you tend to defend with a few set guys. You need a pair of guys with this understanding on the field at all times. They need to have the discipline to shift a guy to cover for them when they attack and to abandon their run if the teammate isn't complying.

Finally, establish a repertoire with the referees. Have an outgoing guy or two introduce himself before the game and let him know to tell you about anything he wants addressed that he can't blow a whistle for. If he's unsure of who tipped a ball out of bounds and it last touched your team, give the ball to the other team. Those little things aren't buttering the ref, it just makes for a more pleasant experience for everybody. Remember- these referees are going to be absolutely awful at best- don't expect a damn thing from them.

 

[robssecondjob]

Remember- these referees are going to be absolutely awful at best- don't expect a damn thing from them.

Always good to feel the love.

 

[SocrManiac]

I should have made it less of a blanket statement. That said, for every competent referee I see I get at least four complete duds.

 

[Bosoxen]

Small sample size of about 7 games but I didn't see anything truly heinous from the referees in my league that just ended on Sunday. Frankly, the worst I saw was me getting away with an obstruction foul (oops).

There was one guy in one of our games who argued over getting the dreaded blue card, but he was in the wrong because he clearly had attempted a slide tackle.

Other than that, the refs have been largely invisible, which is as it should be.

 

[Smiling Joe Hesketh]

DD, it seems odd to me that as a bunch of older guys you're playing against 22 year olds. That shit's straight up unfair, I won't be on the field with people in their 20s any longer in a league game. The physical gap is simply too immense and the younger guys tend to be gunning assholes.

 

[robssecondjob]

I should have made it less of a blanket statement. That said, for every competent referee I see I get at least four complete duds.

Just giving you shit.

Like anything else there are good refs and bad refs at every level. And good refs have bad days too.

 

[SocrManiac]

DD, it seems odd to me that as a bunch of older guys you're playing against 22 year olds. That shit's straight up unfair, I won't be on the field with people in their 20s any longer in a league game. The physical gap is simply too immense and the younger guys tend to be gunning assholes.

There are a couple of teams of older guys (40+) that do very well in the men's open leagues. Any universal age rule is going to run up against of a few teams.

I've had far less problem with squads of 22 year olds than I have with teams made up of (to be politically incorrect) a single race. I don't mean any race in particular, just groups made up of the same race- Jamaicans, Italians, Portuguese, whatever. Those teams think they're playing in the damn World Cup.

 

[67YAZ]

Holy hell, our winter league has THREE Greek teams. We're a mostly immigrant side with guys from Greece, Egypt, Cote d'Ivoir, Ghana, Argentina, Korea, China, Trinidad, Mexico, and then 5 white guys. Our real problem is that half the guys are physicians, a few too may alpha dog personalities and a couple guys always on a night rotation.

 

[lars10]

Used to play with a couple guys that would show up high for games. They were in their mid 20s... being high helped or hurt their play depending on the player.

 

[Zomp]

I've played in leagues for the past 12 years. I've played in the most competitive leagues in the state, to the rec leagues where its more about couples playing together and having a laugh. I've also reffed a bit.

Like everything else, you're going to find a bunch of different people and personalities that can either make a league great or dreadful.

One thing that I am absolutely sure of is that there is more of a chance of a fight in a coed rec league than there is in a competitive league where most of the players are college athletes. People who play the game at a high level know the difference between a professional foul and a cheap shot, your normal coed rec player on a Sunday does not.

Usually a fight is because of a clumsy challenge that someone takes too personal, other times rival teams will play and you know something is going to pop off.

The best teams I've played with and against don't normally have positions. I mean there will be people who will stay back more and some that go up more but for the most part its very fluid. In some games on the best team I played for we did have one guy who'd shadow the other teams best player on defense but that was in games where we were the clear underdog.

I've been involved in bench clearing brawls (most of the time I play peacekeeper), including one where the father of a kid we were playing got involved.

Biggest challenge I see when I ref? People don't use the boards enough, don't put the correct weight on their passes, and gas out and refuse to come off. Also your best players should be defending, not attacking.

 

[Bosoxen]

gas out and refuse to come off

Yup. My team suffers from this greatly. At 38, I'm by far the elder statesman on my team and I'm not at all shy about running off for a sub after a 2-3 minute shift but far too many guys on the team try to ironman the whole damn game. What inevitably ends up happening is that they quit tracking back on defense and what was once a close game becomes a blowout in the second half.

 

[DJnVa]

DD, it seems odd to me that as a bunch of older guys you're playing against 22 year olds. That shit's straight up unfair, I won't be on the field with people in their 20s any longer in a league game. The physical gap is simply too immense and the younger guys tend to be gunning assholes.

Well, this was a tournament, and the first one the facility has run for adults. They had hoped to have two Over 30 divisions (Competitive and Recreation), but that didn't happen, so in order to play we had to play in the Men's Recreation division, in which they're supposed to not allow teams that play in their highest level to play in. Clearly the teams we played *seemed* better than the few Recreation teams I had seen up there.

For the most part the teams were completely cool with how they handled things. But that first team we played, all 18-22 year olds--we thought that would be the best team we saw. They finished 1-2.

Signing up for the Coed league that starts in a few weeks. That'll get me 8-10 games and let me see how I do in a league setting. My stamina needs work, but that'll come. I'm more concerned with getting my field vision back. I was too slow to take advantage of passing lanes. I saw them, but wasn't quick enough yet to play the ball.

 

[biollante]

Work on shirt tugging, pushing and incidental tripping.

 

[wonderland]

I'm the captain of my rec teams and I call out subs. Everybody paid the same amount so I try to get everybody equal time. It's worked out really well. Even really good players who've subbed for us have asked to join the team.

There are three levels of competition D1, D2, D3. The D2 leagues for co-ed soccer is pretty good. One team, determined to win back the championship, rolled out a former USWNT player.

 

[SocrManiac]

I "retired" from coed last year. Teams I played for couldn't consistently roll out enough girls. Really, coed is all about the quality of the girls on the field with you. As a goalkeeper, I was consistently getting nearly murdered as a result of their skill level.

The coed league in East Windsor (never played in it) stipulates that females have to take the kickoff, all free kicks, and drop balls. Men can't challenge women. It's asinine.

 

[wonderland]

I agree about the quality of female players. In my league you can challenge females. In fact, one of our female defenders, who played D-3 ball, went shoulder to shoulder with a guy and knocked him to the ground.

 

[John Marzano Olympic Hero]

One team, determined to win back the championship, rolled out a former USWNT player.

I really, really, really hate teams that do this shit. Hate it. It might be my number one pet peeve.

Yes I know that everyone wants to win, but that's not the reason why most play indoor rec soccer. You do it because it gets you out of the house, gets you some exercise and you can have a beer or two with the team when it's done. But when it's done, everyone has to get up and go to work the next day.

We played a team last year full of assholes, every fucking shot was a bullet, it didn't matter where they were firing from. Our normal goalie was injured from the previous game and one of our better players volunteered to take the net. They were up six goals on us and this dick (he was probably about 25ish) ripped a shot from five feet away that snapped my goalie's wrist. She was in immense pain and it sucked; she ended up having to get surgery, screws, the whole nine.

At the end of the day, rec soccer is about staying in control, not hurting people and just not being a dick.

 

[Arroyo Con Frijoles]

Most indoor soccer teams that I've played for or against, almost exclusively in rec leagues and very often in coed leagues, have at least a couple of overly competitive assholes who are out there to experience soccer glory that they never found in high school. Indoor rec should be about people who like soccer going out for a slightly more organized kick around and getting some exercise.

I mean our coed leagues have these "no challenging a female player in possession" rules that make it not even close to real soccer anyway, but you're running back toward midfield sliding on your knees to celebrate your goal like you belong in the Champions League? Go play FIFA and leave the rest of us alone, please.

 

[Smiling Joe Hesketh]

That's ridiculous JMOH and yet again another reason why I won't take the field with people in their 20s. I'm 45, I'm beyond done with that nonsense.

A couple of years ago we played a team that ran us out of the facility, which is fine. But they were up 2 touchdowns and blasting away at the net with 15 seconds left on the clock, which led to a big confrontation. One of their guys said "It's like we're playing 9 against 4 out here. What do you expect?" Fucking assholes. Left that league immediately and never went back.

 

[DJnVa]

I think in the Coed league I'll be signing up for the rule is a female must touch the ball in the offensive zone before a shot is taken

This facility has 40-50 Coed teams running in D1, D2, D3 Advanced, D3, and D4, so it seems like they have enough women to go around.

 

[DJnVa]

A couple of years ago we played a team that ran us out of the facility, which is fine. But they were up 2 touchdowns and blasting away at the net with 15 seconds left on the clock, which led to a big confrontation. One of their guys said "It's like we're playing 9 against 4 out here. What do you expect?" Fucking assholes. Left that league immediately and never went back.

As we were being run out of the gym, the teams we were playing mostly passed the ball around like they were on a power play in hockey and we chased. If they worked the ball into a good position they put it on net, but didn't go out of their way to rip trick shots or anything like that. They also didn't counter as fast, they held it up and just kept possession.

 

[Zomp]

These female rules are weird.

 

[Hagios]

I was in a league last year with my buddies, we're all +40. The people we played were anywhere from 25-35. We stayed close to them in the first 10 or 15 minutes, but we got gassed and they ended up blowing us out in a lot of games.

Do some leg strength exercises. It takes real cardio to sustain a high work rate for 10 to 15 minutes. If you're getting gassed after that point it's because the constant start-stop-cut motions are sapping the strength of your 40+ year old legs (speaking as a 44 year old myself). By contrast, kids are bouncy and their legs are still relatively fresh. I recommend single leg exercises even though they've gotten so trendy that the backlash-backlash is probably fully in effect.

 

[wonderland]

I really, really, really hate teams that do this shit. Hate it. It might be my number one pet peeve.

Yes I know that everyone wants to win, but that's not the reason why most play indoor rec soccer. You do it because it gets you out of the house, gets you some exercise and you can have a beer or two with the team when it's done. But when it's done, everyone has to get up and go to work the next day.

We played a team last year full of assholes, every fucking shot was a bullet, it didn't matter where they were firing from. Our normal goalie was injured from the previous game and one of our better players volunteered to take the net. They were up six goals on us and this dick (he was probably about 25ish) ripped a shot from five feet away that snapped my goalie's wrist. She was in immense pain and it sucked; she ended up having to get surgery, screws, the whole nine.

At the end of the day, rec soccer is about staying in control, not hurting people and just not being a dick.

She was actually cool to play against as she just sat back and tried to pick apart our defense. But it was clear she didn't belong in the league. I think she got the hint herself as I don't see her on the roster for Winter.

My least favorite player is the over aggressive guy who isn't good enough to play D-1 so he tries to dominate D-2. Throw in he complains when somebody touches him while being a dirty defensive player and you get a perfect storm of dbag.