I am thinking about signing my daughter up for soccer for the fall...

What kind of gear do I need to get for her? She will be 7 this August.

The team will have some sort of uniform, usually they give you the shirt and socks. - edit! Brain fart!

YAY!!! I was that age when I started soccer! :) I played for 10 years. LOVED it.

That would be a good idea. ;)

I love sports that do not require a lot of equipment.

:patriot:

It's the beautiful game... and even more beautiful because anywhere kids can find a makeshift ball to kick around... game on! :)

Gene was a forward and my kid was a goalie. They lived for AYSO. Omg, all those mornings of cutting up oranges. They were the best.

But if you really want low rent sport, go with running. All you need is feet. lol

Dumb joke really but I notice that it doesn't take much for a player to be slapped with a label - any French player with a bit of talent is the next Zinedine Zidane, any Argentinian with a bit of talent is the next Diego Maradona.

I've heard from many people how fun it is. I hope it's just such the case for your daughter.

She tried softball this spring and really liked it. She is on a swim team for the summer, and I am going to have her play soccer this fall. Have not decided about basketball yet. I think I probably will have her in basketball since she is tall.

soccer would be the most important. Beyond that as far as I remember they told us what was needed. Less at the beginning but start saving if she is really into it. A friend's daughter LOVED soccer and ended up playing on a couple of rep teams. That meant major travel but also ended up with a full college scholarship.

I played a great deal of football in my youth, had many friends in high school that played. Trust me. Shin guards and a mouth guard for her teeth.

I will get her a mouth guard. I remember buying mouth guards for my son when he played football.

I think a player should have this as a requirement at this age. Diving and sliding, feet flying every which way, no helmet.

Uncomfortable as hell, but well worth it.

great experience. Like someone else said, she needs shin guards, cleats and AYSO will supply the uniform.

Have fun!! My daughter who's now 22, played soccer until high school and still has friends from different

teams.

We are in AYSO region 213

Valley Division - Region 71 (Los Angeles)

She had a great time - of course a lot depends on the coach. She got lucky a couple of years
and had a coach whose profession was a motivational speaker and life coach - he was amazing
and brought out the best in all of his players. She scored her only 2 goals with his team.


Like I said she wasn't the best on the field, but it was a great experience for the whole family.

It's been a while - she just graduated from UC Berkeley...

uniform

that's it



She will hopefully love it

:woohoo:

My son loves it

At this point to me, soccer is "Meh".

That's the age where all they're doing is running around in small herds after the ball, and the keeper is swinging around on the posts or looking at grass or bugs or an airplane or anything else that isn't the game. It's adorable.

Depending on her size, you'll want to look for a #3 or a #4 soccer ball (#5 is adult-sized, and too big a ball for a seven-year-old). Find out what the league is using for that age group and get one of that size. If she gets really excited about it and wants to keep playing, consider also getting here one of those cheap grocery store bouncy balls to kick around that's a similar size as her soccer ball -- they're great for learning ball control, and won't damage household stuff nearly as much if she suddenly gets a bug in her ear to kick a ball around in the house. :)

You should be able to find a shinguard-cleats-socks package for 30 bucks or so at a sporting goods store. Make sure whoever fits her cleats is a good shoe-fitter so her feet don't get sore. You'll want to have her run around in the yard in them for a bit to break them in, too -- they'll probably be a little stiff at first.

And I second the mouthguard. She's probably not going to get hit in the face with a ball (at least not hard enough to hurt more than her pride), but more concussions happen in sports from kids falling down and their teeth whacking together than you'd imagine.

Have fun watching her!

That's how I started... not a clue in the world about soccer, but my kids wanted to play, and their coaches were sadly pretty clueless, so I started watching the women's team's games on FSN to learn the rules and help show them what the game was about.

The next thing I knew, I was *completely addicted* to the Premiership... and now regularly also watch games from Argentina, Scotland, Spain and Italy. And the MLS, even, too. :P

It doesn't look rough but you can get hurt.

Couple questions:

Does she want to do this?

What is the coach like? I'm terrible at athletics, but I try, and I had one coach who knew I'd never be an athlete and encouraged me to do my best. And I did (still sucked) but I tried to make him proud of me. That's the kind of coach you want.

Khash.

I have no idea who the coaches are, but the teams are fielded by the AYSO. I also know other parents who have had their kids in soccer and have not heard any negatives.

shin / ankle guards, probably team socks or other long socks (they have to cover the shin guards), cleats, and a ball for practice. Oh and a bottle for carrying drinks to the practices & games.

That's it!

I hope she likes it... my girls did.

God I love soccer. :loveya:

sometimes they forget which way they are supposed to run....

i have 18 years experience coaching youth soccer...best sport in the world for kids to play..

have fun!

Keep in mind though-

It IS rougher than you think! I had players knocked out with concussion, dislocated collar bones, and lots of broken bones. One of the worst, I basically held the guy's leg together while they took him in the ambulance to the hospital.

Smaller injuries are VERY common.