Small Sides

Michiana Soccer Association

Playing Small Sides

At a recent meeting, the MSA Board approved some rules changes that will align MSA with US Youth Soccer and Indiana Youth Soccer (IYSA). These changes will reduce the number of players on the field (smaller "sides") and reduce the size of the playing fields.

The major goal of these changes are to permit each player more frequent interaction with the ball and their teammates (more "touches"), and to increase the number of instances where each player must respond to field situations. More touches mean more opportunities for players to make decisions, make passes, defend the ball, and score goals.

Vince Ganzberg, the Coaching Director for IYSA, has prepared some information available at their web site. You can also find information regarding these changes at the US Youth Soccer web site.

The Revised MSA Rules Summary are posted below.

Age Group	U-5	U-6	U-7	U-8	U-10	U-12

MSA Currently	3 v 3	4 v 4	5 v 5	6 v 6	7 v 7	8 v 8
				5 v 5
IYSA Recommendation	4 v 4 or less	4 v 4 or less	4 v 4 or less	4 v 4 or less	6 v 6	8 v 8

Goalkeeper	No	No	Optional *	Optional *	Yes	Yes
			* No	* Yes
Roster Size Recommendation	5 or 6	5 or 6	5 or 6	5 or 6	12 Max	14 Max
		8	8	10
Current Field Size MSA	25 by 20	40 by 25	60 by 40	60 by 40	70 by 50	100 by 50
(as of 4-2-2001)
IYSA Recommended Size
Minimum	25 by 20	25 by 20	35 by 25	35 by 25	45 by 35	75 by 55
Maximum	35 by 25	35 by 25	45 by 35	45 by 35	55 by 45	80 by 60
IYSA Goal Size	4 by 6 Max	4 by 6 Max	4 by 6 Max	4 by 6 Max	6 by 12	6 by 18
				6x12	6 by 18 max	7 by 21 max

last updated: 26-Nov-2007

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