Small pitches!
But yeah, shouldn't that age be more of a 5-a-side style set-up anyway?
Although, perversely, those balls are probably fine to head.
Small pitches!
But yeah, shouldn't that age be more of a 5-a-side style set-up anyway?
Although, perversely, those balls are probably fine to head.
I remember playing 11 a side in primary school and the pitches were massive. I hope it's changed since.
Aye.
The guy who could kick the ball the furthest was always an auto-selection to take corners (and goal kicks). What a time to be alive.
I remember conceding 10 [TEN] when I played in goal. I was probably 5ft and the goals were full size. Great day.
I remember playing in goal once and a kid crying because he scored, somebody watching kicked it out of the net from behind me and he was worried the goal wouldn't count. I played as a goalkeeper for probably my first three years of football and that is about my only memory.
Then there was another where I played outfield at about 9 or 10, but we were getting thumped and bored of conceding goals I pulled off a pretty majestic diving save off the line. I've probably dramatised the memory of that one though...
That sounds like an excuse for a lot of shit goalkeeping, 'Daws'.
As the youngest in my age group, I was forced down a group to sub in for a goalie as his parents had taken him on holiday. I turned up to training and they asked if I'd ever played GK, I told them no but they persisted and gave me some gloves.
We were training in those six a side low crossbar ones and I was like Lev Yashin with a full team of Soviet doctors behind me.
It gets to game day and we're playing Grays Athletic, the closest thing to a professional youth team in our area, in full size nets (I was 12). We get hammered 7-1 including one that bounced in front of me and over my head into the net.
I'll never forget the look my central defender gave me when that happened.
"You should stick to 6 a side" echoing through my head for the rest of time.
I also had to go to A&E once because I was on some summer holiday training thing and this coach was demonstrating how to take a penalty. He hit it far harder than an adult should really hit a penalty at a child, presumably not thinking I would get a hand to it. I don't think there was anything particularly wrong with it afterwards, maybe a sprain at worst, but they wrapped it and put it in a sling I think more to make me feel important than anything else.
Definitely the size of the goals fault.Originally Posted by Lewis
I don't play in goal anymore.
Do you guys really move to full size pitches and goals before you turn 10? What's the point in that?
I played in goal. I was pretty good for my age, I was on Walsall's books until I stopped playing about age 12.
My decision making was the worst part, unsurprisingly for a kid of that age. Could never quite work out when I should be coming out when an attacker was running onto a through ball. I had my pants pulled down a couple of times when I thought I'd get there first only to misjudge it horribly and have the player lob it over me into an empty net.
I was playing on full sized pitches at age 8. It was ridiculous.
I'm not sure if I was on full size but definitely too big for a child.
Some of the pitches we played on were scaled down from full size - mostly pitches that were located at schools. But still too big for kids, as you say.
Some teams in our league had full sized pitches and goalposts, though. There were a few that I couldn't even touch the crossbar when jumping.
Coming from playing professionally, that's an absolute joke honestly. Since when did we become so soft?
I'm really not sure your career is the best one to highlight in opposition of this.
Ha! The only evidence of my retardness in football is a picture of me completely miss hitting a ball. All my headers have been nothing short of brilliant.
Just look at that technique
That does seem stupidly early. It becomes a running competition more than anything and anyone who can kick the ball high enough will score.
I think we moved to a full sized pitch around age 13/14 which was still pretty shit at the start.
edit: Edit a magicians hat and a cape there and you'll be the great Alberto.
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