The past few years, the different age groups have been able to practice at the same time and field location. The Kindergarten group is not scheduled for formal games. The primary emphasis is having fun with the ball and learning ball handling skills. For the older groups, small field games are played on Friday evenings in Los Alamos and White Rock with a minimum of six games per season. The Rec/Dev program has a Fall season and Spring season that run over a 2-month period, typically starting in mid-September and mid-April.
To promote better technical development of our players, LAYSL uses the US Youth Soccer recommended small-sided game format (https://www.usyouthsoccer.org/news/official_rules_for_small-sided_games). Our Kindergarten and 1st and 2nd grade teams play 4 v 4, our 3rd and 4th grade teams play 7 v 7, and our U11 and U12 teams play 9 v 9. The goal is to have many games being played simultaneously to keep all the players engaged. For young players, the small sided format is critical to ensure that all players get many touches on the ball and are not overwhelmed by the tactical complications of a larger-sided game. In the long term, getting many touches help the players develop the technical skills needed for playing 11 v 11 when they are older. The small-sided format helps prevent the “bunch ball” game that occurs when players who are too young to understand team tactics attempt to play a large-sided game. Small-sided games are an acknowledgement that children do not understand the game the way that adults do.
