Accessories And Sizes For Soccer Goals
When you decide to go out and acquire soccer goals for your teams, to help them practise, you need to think about what accessories you’ll need. It is also important to take into account the ages of your soccer teams. If they are all over twelve years old, it’s fine to get full size soccer goals for them. But any younger than twelve and you may want to consider getting smaller, less daunting, ones to assist them in honing their football skills.
Goal Sizes
There is a variety of different goal sizes available, to cater for the different age groups. Full size goals (over 12 years old) are 8 feet high and 24 feet wide, and the size of the pitch needs to take this goal size into account – so you’ll want to mark out a pitch that is 50 yards wide and 90 yards in length.
For the juniors (8 to 11 years old) you will need to get slightly smaller goals. A good size for this age group would be 7 feet high and 21 feet wide, although you’ll be able to find a range of smaller sizes. Just pick one close to these measurements. You can use a slightly smaller pitch for this age group – same width but 70 yards in length.
The next group is the fledglings (6 to 7 years old) and again they’ll need to be practising in soccer goals the next size down. Go for goals approximately 6.5 feet tall and 18 feet wide. Again the sizes may vary but go for something close. For the fledglings, a shorter, narrower pitch is recommended (eg 30 yards by 50 yards).
Finally, there is the under-6 age group, and you’ll want to keep things simple for these guys. A soccer goal that is 4 feet high and 9 feet wide is a good size. And to keep their interest and avoid exhausting them, shrink the pitch for them to 20 yards wide by 40 yards long.
There are other sizes available for other types of football, in particular the low height indoor soccer goals used for 5-a-side soccer. I’ll cover this in a later post.
Soccer Goals Accessories
Unless you want your teams to do extra fitness training, the extra accessories you will need to get hold of are nets and fasteners. You will certainly need these extras if you’ve bought your soccer goals to be used in competitive soccer matches – otherwise you’d be losing precious minutes of play retrieving the ball after a goal was scored!
The nets are sized to fit each particular size of goal, and many sports retailers will have charts to help you pick the correct nets for the goal frames you are using.
You will need to attach the nets to the goals, and there is a selection of different methods, either clips or bars, or velcro strips that you can use to secure the nets by wrapping them around the goal posts and crossbar.
Finally, if you are using soccer goals for juniors or younger, and you opted for lighter-weight equipment, ensure that they are securely anchored, to prevent accidents in case they tip over. Stakes and anchors for these goals will be readily available at the sports store you bought the goals from, or may have been supplied with the goals themselves.
