Indoor soccer

[Doctor Hook 0]

Any of you puckers play with balls on the carpet?

I signed up for a 6-on-6 league at an indoor facility that also boasts a hockey rink. It'll be weird driving to a rink and not using it.

At any rate, I was a terrible soccer player in middle school before I switched to tackle football and now I'm up for giving the sport a try. It seems really fast and would be a good cardio workout.

Plus it's a coed rec league, so maybe I can use my "Hey, anybody ever tell you that you look like Mia Hamm?" line.

Now that's how you make a girl friend.

[numberthirteen 0]

I play a 5-a-side. Same format but its outdoor on astro-turf rather than indoor.

Its rough.

[greech 4]

I'm looking to play. I love the game but never got into it, but I can keep up with my buddies who all play for the school. I figure why not, it's like $60 for a winter season.

[Jason Harris 31]

I've coached my girls for five years, although I never played any more than the soccer we'd have in gym class. In any event, on a couple of occasions we'd play parents versus kids after our last game. What I found funny is I tried to turn like I would in hockey until I realized I would blow out my knee. I was so used to just turning my hips and pivoting on the rocker, I didn't think of picking up one foot and crossing it over the other.

[Aussie Joe 0]

Indoor soccer is insanely popular here in Aus. Allot of leagues etc about. In particular Futsal is starting to take over from Indoor.

I used to play Indoor and Futsal in between Hockey as a kid. Great fitness booster and gives you something similar to hockey but different enough to keep it all fresh.

[fatwabbit 93]

Agree with Aussie Joe... I play 5-on-5 format, indoor basketball court. Normally you can blast a shot from anywhere... so far this season, 2 games - 2 wins. My team has had 4 yellow and 2 red cards... dont know why the guys take it so seriously.

[Allsmokenopancake 0]

it's different over here. I played very competitive football, both indoor and outdoor back home, and signed to play when I came here. I was kicked out of the league in springfield because apparently, football isn't a contact sport over here.

I don't mind, it was a leading factor in me taking up hockey over here, needed something with a bit of grunt in it, and I've fallen in love with the sport since making the change from footy to hockey

[fatwabbit 93]

not a contact sport! what kinda ref decided that? Tell that to Zizou...

[phunky_monkey 6]

I played for two seasons over the last year. Great fun, and managed to take out our division after losing 7 games in a row the season before :P

Stopped now simply due to time constraints, but it's a great game

[Aussie Joe 0]

Recruited a guy who has only ever played Ice Hockey last season, he played a total of 12 mins over 11 games. It seems couldn't understand why he was continually given red cards for good solid checks into the netting/"boards" in his mind. lol

[mack 44]

My sister and I play on a co-ed team. It's a lot of fun and way less douche-y than any rec hockey leagues I've been in. It also doesn't hurt that the girls on the team I coach have games before and that always equals new babysitters.

[lampliter87 8]

Awesome for developing your skills if you are a serious soccer player. Your ball-handling (no homo) becomes so much better. Tons of fun too.

[Trooper 8]

I was a keeper so I really didn't like indoor. Guys with good shots trying to light you up from 15 feet away....kind of like those crazy hockey goalies...:)

[Doctor Hook 0]

I'm pretty sure there's no slide tackling involved in my new league, but was there slide tackling involved for you veteran rug burners?

[Trooper 8]

I'm pretty sure there's no slide tackling involved in my new league, but was there slide tackling involved for you veteran rug burners?

No, the leagues I used to play on had that plasticy turf just laid over cement, not nearly as soft as the new stuff.

[Allsmokenopancake 0]

I'm pretty sure there's no slide tackling involved in my new league, but was there slide tackling involved for you veteran rug burners?

Back home, we played indoor at the community center, so if you were wearing long bottoms, slide away (we also used those funky greenish yellow felt balls)

But when playing on astro turf, there was no sliding, lest ye leave a strip of your leg on the turf. We didn't have the fancy "pro-turf" or whatever you have nowadays, we had the green bristles with rubber and tar under

[fatwabbit 93]

Played a game in last night's indoor league, ended up losing 7-6. What struck me as funny was that the team we were playing were all in their early 20's, and they had beaten us 10-2 earlier in the year. They started to get a little rough during the game, which was recieved and reciprocated back by my team. They kept arguing with the ref on the calls that were fair tackles (touch the ball before the player). All they did was whinge the whole freakin game... last 10 sec, one of my team mates got the ball, down the sideline and got pushed from behind. He used his body to shield the ball, and the other guy just pushed him hard against the wall looking for a fight. My buddy just turned around and walked aggressively towards him. The other guy just kept retreating, benches clear, lots of pushing and mouthing off.

For me, I felt it was a tough but fair game, but the other team just kept whinging... i looked at one guy and told him, "i'll wait for YOU outside"... he must have crapped in his pants! I then told him I was only joking and shook his hand... haha... as we all cleared up to go, you could still hear them complaining and mouthing off. My team guys just slapped each others back, and walked back to the exit. You could still hear 'you guys are supposed to be adults, you want to fight?'.... man, some kids dont ever grow up.

[Slapshot9123 0]

Soccer kinda had an uprising around here during the 06 World Cup. I got a lot of my friends into soccer and we played pickup games almost every day that summer. Since then I am captain of an indoor team in a rec league that has 12 teams in it, 4 of them made up from kids in my school. I have noticed it is a great cardio workout and it is a blast to play.

[Fire0nIce228 1]

I played several indoor seasons in highschool up to about 10th grade... I love it!! I like it better than outdoor myself..Theres rec leagues around here but I havn't gotten into anything yet.. should look into it.

[phunky_monkey 6]

Recruited a guy who has only ever played Ice Hockey last season, he played a total of 12 mins over 11 games. It seems couldn't understand why he was continually given red cards for good solid checks into the netting/"boards" in his mind. lol

Haha I can't help myself sometimes too... a cheeky shoulder, or a bit of push-shove :)

I guess old habits die hard!

[LkptTiger 1]

I did a little bit of everything to try to get myself back into playing shape after surgery/PT...when I wasn't on the ice or in the gym, I was usually either

-swimming laps (and by that I mean getting SMOKED by my girlfriend, who broke a few of her school's records...it's amazing how well people can move in the water...Hell, I got beat very, VERY badly by every single girl on that swim team).

-playing "beach" volleyball with her older brothers and their friends (all of whom played all through middle and high school, a number of whom are currently playing in college). I actually got pretty good - though it was pretty much just progression based on natural athletic ability and a little bit of experience. The guys I played with were awesome...it was all I could do to make sure I didn't look too out-of-place.

-playing pick-up indoor soccer with her father and a handful of other guys ranging from about my age to guys in their late 40s

-or playing baseball.

When her father asked me to come-out and play one night, I really didn't feel like going, but he seemed pretty excited about bringing me, so I agreed. I was actually surprised how much I enjoyed playing soccer. VERY good way to help get my legs back underneath me...and really, really helped jump-start my cardiovascular system. It's funny - I've been skating since I was three-years-old, but I felt like playing soccer might have helped me fine-tune my foot work a little bit, too. Ultimately, I just really enjoyed getting into something new and actually being able to feel myself get appreciably better each and every time I played. It was kind of cool being able to show-up, have fun, learn a LOT of new stuff and get a pretty good cardio/leg work-out all at the same time. There were (what I thought to be) some very good players who came out with us who just moved the ball with their feet with such fluidity and precision that it just made me stop and giggle sometimes.

Of all my off-ice activities at that time, I think I had the most fun playing soccer.

[Doctor Hook 0]

How similar as far as strategy, positioning, etc. do you guys think indoor soccer is to hockey?

[fatwabbit 93]

Goalie wise, its similar but the goalie needs to challenge the striker during one-on-ones...

As for other positions, its a little more technical. You dont have to be the fastest, but know how to read the game.

Other aspects:

- triangle passing, similar to hockey, but a lot more movement

- wall passing, or one touch passing... basically a give and go

- long ball... basically the same as a good outlet pass, just need to put the ball in FRONT of the striker/winger to chase

- dumb referees... we have them in every game

- long shots, need to ensure good technique, and put your foot 'through the ball'... similar to the followthrough on a slap shot

My indoor team doesnt have a real strategy, mainly play hard regardless of winning or losing. Doesnt help that our defence is mainly guys who have got leg injuries or are over 40 (one guy is a grand dad, son plays in attack, grandson on the sidelines). Mainly we play long balls down the side, or drill the ball hard and low hoping for a striker in front to redirect it (similar to hockey).

For me, its basically shoot on sight... I'm lucky enough to have a relatively hard shot. High school coach put me in charge of freekicks, and had me practice from middle of the field to the goal. I had a pretty good chance last week, where the defence was spread by my strikers making runs, everything seemed to open up, and I took a shot from our half... put too much bend on it and you could see it swerving away from the goal the last 4 yards or so... hit the joint between the post and crossbar. Would have tied the game, but alas we lost 7-6.