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The 17 Basic Rules Of Soccer
 The field of play shall be rectangular. The width should not exceed the length.
- The ball should be spherical. The outer casing should be leather or an approved synthetic. No dangerous materials should be used in the construction of the ball.
- The match will be played by two teams. Each team should not have more than eleven players. One of these eleven players will be the goalkeeper.
- The basic equipment of a player consists of the following:
- A jersey or shirt
- Shorts
- Socks
- Shin guards
- Footwear
- A referee shall be appointed to officiate each game.
- Two assistants shall be appointed to the referee.
- The time of play is two periods of 45 minutes. (length of periods can change if agreed upon before the start of the game)
- At the start of the game, choice of field ends and kickoff are determined by the flip of a coin.
- The ball is out of play during the following circumstances:
- When it has completely crossed a boundary line. (on ground or air born)
- When the game has been halted by an official.
- A goal is scored when the whole of the ball passes over the goal line. The ball must cross the goal line between the goal posts and under the crossbar. A goal is not scored if the ball was intentionally thrown by hand, by a player of the attacking side.
- A player is considered off-side if they are nearer to the opponents' goal-line than the ball, except in the following cases:
- They are on their own half of the field.
- He/she is not nearer to his opponents' goal-line than at least two of his opponents.
- A player is only penalized for being off-side if the ball is played or touched by one of his team, he is involved in active play in one of the following ways:
- Interfering with play.
- Interfering with an opponent.
- Gaining an advantage by being off-side.
 Any player who commits one of the following offences shall be penalized by the opposing team being awarded a direct free-kick.
- Kicks or attempts to kick an opponent.
- Trips an opponent.
- Jumps at an opponent.
- Charges an opponent.
- Strikes or attempts to strike an opponent.
- Pushes an opponent.
- Tackles an opponent, but touches opponent before the ball.
- Holds an opponent.
- Spits at an opponent.
- Handles the ball deliberately.
- Free kicks are one of two types:
- Direct - Goal can be scored directly against the offending side.
- Indirect - Goal cannot be scored unless ball has been played or touched by a player other than the kicker before passing through the goal.
- A penalty-kick is taken from the penalty-mark.
- When a ball passes over a touch-line, it will be thrown in from the point where it crossed the line.
- A goal kick is taken by a member of the defending team when the ball crosses the goal line outside of the goal area.
- The attacking team is awarded a corner kick when the ball passes completely over the goal line outside of the goal area after last being played by a member of the defending team.
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US Women’s National Teams Program
POSITION STATEMENT
'Playing to Develop' versus 'Playing to Win'
'Learning versus Winning'
Issue
 In youth soccer circles today, an over emphasis is being placed on winning. It stems from social pressure in America where we are expected to be the best in everything. We glorify winning and first place finishers. The emphasis in sports on 'winning' is out of balance. Witness the increase in violence at youth athletic events. In sport, we are obsessed with the 'outcome' rather than the 'process.' As long as we win, we are happy. We evaluate coaches only on their win-loss record. What about enjoyment of the process, the journey, the experience and it's ultimate influence on us as people, coaches and athletes? What about evaluating coaches on the improvement, growth and development of their players? After all, we can’t control the outcome, but we can control the process.
Recommendations
Admit that we're obsessed with winning. When Suzie comes home after her game, the first thing we ask is did she win and the second thing is did she score a goal? Reframe the way we look at sport. Suzie, "how was the game today? Did you have fun? Did your team play well? How did you play? Did you do some of the new things the coach asked you to try? Are you hungry?"
In youth soccer, the priority for coaches and players should be on individual player development and learning. Set age and ability specific technical, tactical, psychological, and physical goals to aid in optimizing player development. This will provide coaches a framework and structure to follow. These goals also provide an alternative for coaches and parents to measure achievement and development of their players. For under 14 and younger, the primary objective of game participation and training is to provide the players with learning opportunities. Teams should "strive to win," but this should not be the focus of any training sessions, half-time talks or player motivations.
 At the age of 14 and above, careful consideration needs to be placed on balancing instances where in addition to developing as individuals and a team, finding ways to 'win' also becomes part of the overall objective. One of the biggest obstacles in women's athletics is that young girls are socialized not to be competitive. By all means, 'teach players to compete, to compete hard, to compete to win, but don't have winning be the only measure of success.' Choose which tournaments and games are to be played to 'learn,' and which are to be played to, 'win. It is not in the best interest of the players' development to have a schedule where the sole purpose for participation is 'winning.' Individual and team improvement and peak performance should be the measure of achievement, rather than winning or losing.
It should be noted that while the US Women's National Team steps on the field prepared to win every game and every tournament, there are only two tournaments (every four years) that we play with the sole purpose of 'winning,' the Olympics and the Women’s World Cup.
At 16 years of age and below, players should be encouraged to play different positions on the field. This will allow for a greater understanding of the game.
Coaches should attempt to have players play for an extended period of time. The players are thus asked to solve their own problems on the field instead of having the coach make substitutions in order to solve the problem for them. Coaches should not, 'platoon players' in and out of games in order to 'wear an opponent down.' Unlike most American sports, "soccer is a players game," not a coaches game. Substitutions allow for all players to play and will speed development for a greater number of players. The coach should decide before the game or tournament what the philosophy will be regarding substitutions – then stick to it.
The system and style that the coach selects should be based on matching the skill and abilities of the players and not to achieve a 'win.' Exposing players to various systems and styles of play offers a tremendous opportunity to learn.
Care must be taken at the younger levels (U16) to select players based on their soccer abilities and not on their strength or size. It is tempting to use bigger, earlier maturing players to help you win games this year. If our aim as coaches is to develop players and teams to advance to the next level, we must be mindful of a smaller players 'potential' to be a better player in a year or two.
Lastly, player, parent, and administrator education is vital. Through communication and explanation of long term goals and rewards a coach must bring all parties to a consensus in support of this developmental philosophy. In order for these ideas to work properly, the coach must demonstrate his/her ability to develop players and teams. 'Winning,' is not a measurement of coaching success. The technical and tactical ability of the player, player and team improvement during the course of a season, player and team satisfaction, and player matriculation are the best yardsticks for success.
Rationale
With sound technical, tactical, physical and psychological skills encouraged through a 'process' oriented philosophy, players will develop the necessary tools to maximize their potential. A thoughtful plan based on the level and needs of the players significantly increases the rate of retention, improvement, and enjoyment.
"There are many people, particularly in sports who think that success and excellence are the same thing and they are not the same thing. Excellence is something that is lasting and dependable and largely within a person’s control. In contrast, success is perishable and is often outside our control… If you strive for excellence, you will probably be successful eventually... people who put excellence in first place have the patience to end up with success… An additional burden for the victim of the success mentality is that he/she is threatened by success of others and resents real excellence. In contrast, the person fascinated by quality is excited when he/she sees it in others.”
Joe Paterno – Penn State Football Coach - 1990
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Hennessy Discusses Major Changes in Youth Soccer Philosophy, Structure
DATE: February 4, 2008  NEWARK, DE -- This year, the United States Soccer Federation (USSF) has initiated a major overhaul of youth soccer in the United States. The impact will be felt at all levels of the game.
University of Delaware men's soccer head coach Ian Hennessy (at right), who will begin his third season at the helm of the Blue Hen program in 2008, talks about some of these changes and how they will affect the game, recruiting and philosophy of the sport in the next few years.
Question: You have been a very strong advocate of youth development here in the United States. Can you tell us about the most recent developments?
Answer (Ian Hennessy): There are tens of millions of players that play soccer on a regular basis, and it is a sport that has grown exponentially in the last 20 years in this country. At the youth level there are over 4 million registered youth players that participate in the game on a weekly basis. However, the youth landscape is littered with different league associations, organizations and clubs with their own agenda and interpretation of how things should be run. This has led to a fractured culture lacking clarity and cohesiveness. It has impacted on the proper development of our younger players and the USSF has stayed clear of things until now. This year the USSF has started the "Development Academy" to address what it perceives as stumbling blocks in the youth game.
Q. What are those stumbling blocks and what are the changes?
A. The main thrust of the program is to get the better players in the country to practice more, play fewer games and have those games be meaningful games. The USSF are encouraging clubs to practice 3-4 times per week and to play only 30-40 games per year. They also want those games to be against opposition that value player development over a result driven mentality, so they hand selected 64 clubs around the nation and started the USSF Development Academy.
Q. What are your thoughts on this?
A. I believe it is a monumental step forward for the game, if not only practically then philosophically. Some of our better players can play close to 100 games a year in the present culture. Physically and mentally these kids are exhausted, and the games lose significance for them as they move through the youth ranks. The quality of soccer can also suffer. There is an old saying in education that "too many exams and not enough studying do not the student make". The USSF proposal of fewer games and more practices will, in the long term, raise the level of players and the overall state of the game in the future.
Q. Who are the 64 teams and how are they selected?
A. Major League Soccer (MLS) youth teams, The USA national youth teams (U15-U17), and clubs that have a history of producing national team players and national caliber teams who share a common developmental philosophy.
Q. Will the new Development Academy's influence your recruiting at the University of Delaware?
A. It already has, and with over 2,000 players in this new league it will provide the main source of future recruiting opportunities in the U.S. The League is run very well, and allows us to go and watch quality games every weekend for months on end. In the past we had to wait for ODP events, college showcase events or State Cup finals to see some of the better players play against each other. The league also has information on-line about all the players and it videotapes games so we can see players that we may otherwise have missed on a more regular basis. We also know that these players are in good training environments more often than not, which is ideal preparation for the college ranks. All in all it is a major step forward for the game and welcomed by us as a college staff.
Q. The Academy teams are mainly composed of 15-18 year old players. Will this change in the future?
A. Without question these clubs will eventually encourage a similar philosophy at the younger age groups and that might be the most exciting part for me. It is the philosophy of the USSF that I find most endearing, and it should be in all clubs from top to bottom.
Q. Is that why you are working with the 9 & 10 year olds at Kirkwood?
A. In part yes. The Kirkwood program is a little more than having more practices and fewer games. It is also about getting quality people to work with the kids at the "golden age of learning" between 9 and 12 in a small sided and small player/coach ratio setting. It is my hope that the USSF clubs will also begin to do this if they have not already.
Q. Do you think the State of Delaware will eventually get a USSF slot?
A. Unfortunately, not in the near future. I believe that Philadelphia will get an MLS franchise this year and with DELCO and the Baltimore Bays being so close I believe the USSF will not want too many Academy teams vying for the same players in the same geographical region. What I do hope though is that clubs in the State re-think the current landscape in the State and start some meaningful dialogue to change things. We have good resources in the State but they are spread too thin for any single club to attempt to compete at the Academy level. I would encourage clubs in the State to develop a better development model at the younger ages, one that better prepares our kids to be able to play at the higher levels as they progress through their careers. This is where we can make an immediate impact. Unfortunately, I do not see that at the moment, but we are working to change. We must change and I believe we can.
- DDD -
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The 6 Things Parents Should Say To Their Player(s)
by Bruce Brownlee USSF "C" License U15G Tophatters 00 Gold Tophat Soccer Club Atlanta, GA
 A lot of soccer parents with good intentions give a 30 minute lecture, covering all the players supposed deficiencies and giving playing advice, in the car on the way to each match. The kids arrive far off their optimal mental state, and dreading the critique they are likely to hear, whether they want it or not, on the way home. Kids who are massaged in this way tend not to play badly, they just tend to not play, possibly to avoid making mistakes.
The easiest way to detect this problem is just to ask the player if it is a problem. Kids are more than willing to share this grief. The easiest way to correct this problem is to speak to the parents, as a group, about your expectations, and to cover this as a routine problem. Many of the parents will recognize themselves if you can present this problem with humor and illustrate the importance of the kids having fun and arriving in a good state of mind.
For best results, parents should memorize and use the following.
Before the Match
- I love you
- Good luck
- Have fun
After the Match
- I love you
- It was great to see you play
- What would you like to eat?
Good Luck!!! Bruce Brownlee
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