Mini Program

Welcome to South Okanagan Youth Soccer Association (SOYSA), we trust that this will be a positive experience for your child. In order to ensure that this is the case we have some guidelines that are designed to help your child get the most out of his or her soccer experience.

• Mini Registration Form
• Registration Instructions

In mini soccer we have four priorities:
1) Have fun
2) Have fun
3) Learn the FUNdamentals of soccer
4) Have fun

The definition of success in the mini program is if every child that played soccer had such a great time that they can’t wait to start playing again.

You will notice that we now play smaller sided games.

The reason for this are:
• The players on the field should be more involved ( harder to hide or be ignored)
• We have always adjusted our children to fit the fields/rules, we are now adjusting our fields/rules to fit the children.
• Increased number of touches on the ball
• More efficient use of space – we can have more teams playing
• Children are physically more efficient in a smaller space
• Takes less time to achieve goal or advance to goal – more successes
• Children are actively involved for a longer period of time

Dribbling vs. “Boot It!”

The most important skill for a beginning soccer player is to learn how to dribble. Young players need to become comfortable running with the ball at their feet. It is important that they are able to use both feet, change directions and keep the ball under their command. This comfort on the ball will translate to all of the other skills that will be taught.

There a many reasons that we begin with dribbling. It takes years to become truly confident and able to execute at top speed so it makes sense to start this as early as possible. It is something that a player can practice without anyone else. Very young children have find passing a very difficult concept (why give it away, I might not get it back?). We want to ensure that our little players have as much success as possible and becoming proficient dribblers will help a lot.

Another reason we want to emphasize dribbling is to get away from “kick and run” soccer. SOYSA aspires to a brand of possession soccer. We work hard to get the ball so it makes no sense to give it away cheaply. If we expect this at older ages, then we need to start instilling this in our younger players (and giving them the skills to succeed at this game.) If these players just wanted to run around a field and never touch a ball then they would join track and field. Soccer is much more fun if you have the ball, so we want to encourage our teams to keep it for a while.

One of the biggest hurdles to this is the excited, but uninformed fan who is always yelling things like “Kick It” “Boot it up the field” “Give it a ride” “Get rid of it”, etc. Many of the biggest cheers on the sidelines is when a player kicks the ball to the other team. “Great kick!” If a min player loses the ball while trying to dribble – please encourage them. This is where they are supposed to learn.

“Kick it” should never be hollered by adults.

Age Group Skill Priorities
U-6 Dribble out of trouble
Soft first touch
No kicking allowed except when shooting on goal

U-8 Dribble out of trouble
Soft first touch
No kicking allowed except when shooting on goal
Introduce passing (for players who can dribble out of trouble)

So if you don’t want me to yell “Kick it” what do you want?

As a parent you have such a profound impact on how your child perceives his or her time at any activity. If you are positive, they will be positive. If you respect the players on both teams, they will respect the players on both teams. If you show the coaches respect, they will show the coaches respect.

One of the best ways to show respect to your child’s coach is to let the coach do the coaching. It is very confusing to the child if they are given conflicting instructions. Please be supportive of the coach.

Much of the joy of soccer is in “free play”. Soccer is a game where decisions are made throughout the game by the players – not the coaches. We need to let our young players develop the ability to make decisions on the field by doing just that – making decisions on the field.

We also believe that for the mini program the fans should concentrate on “catching the kids doing something right” and supporting all of the players on the field.

Thank you for supporting your child and you for getting involved in this great sport. We look forward to seeing you on the field.