Any soccer moms here? Soccer coaches?

[bubbaray]

OK, I used to play soccer in HS. I was reasonably good, but its been YEARS.

Shoot me now, but I'm assistant coach for DD#1's spring league, which is starting on Monday. Me helping is the only way she agreed to try soccer (this is her first exposure to soccer). DD#1 is a girly girl to the core and I'm trying (gently) to expose her to something different from ballet and that d/n require a tutu. LOL.

She will get a (cotton) s/s team "uniform" shirt on Monday. They are brown and she will HATE it. Sigh. Not much I can do about that. there are no other parts of the team uniform, so I have to get some other clothes.

It is still cold/wet here (though beautiful and sunny today), so she'll need some pants/tights. I have no clue what to get there.

she needs cleats and DH was supposed to get a used pair from a coworker, but he didn't bother to bring them home for her to try on, so I have to purchase new cleats. Ditto shin pads. Cleats and shin pads were strongly encouraged in the coaches meeting we had Wednesday night.

What about other gear??? What does she need, what is "nice" to have?

HELP! There are many soccer specialty stores here, so that's not a problem. But, as she may hate the sport, I don't want to get too much.

Also, I need to get both cleats and shin pads FOR ME -- I have both, but can't for the life of me find them anywhere.

TIA.

[niccig]

I just got DS a pair of cleats for $17 at a Sports store. We already had the shin guards and soccer ball from last year - many stores have a package deal where you get the cleats, ball and sin guards.

She might need a ball - we have to bring our own to practices.

As for the uniform, I'm sure there are other girls that will hate the brown. I saw a girls team last year that all had matching hair bands to wrap around their ponytails. Maybe something brown AND pink would make them feel better about their uniform. If one of the parents isn't crafty, I know I'm not, maybe something on etsy? The ones I saw were in the uniform colours but were like a ribbon but curly. Just a thought to make the uniform more girly.

Here's the pony tail holder I saw http://www.etsy.com/view_listing.php?listing_id=43638206 maybe a seller would be willing to do them cheaper for a larger order.

[Cam&Clay]

I've been a soccer mom for a looooong time. I'm now a travel soccer mom. We are more ferocious! :ROTFLMAO:


You will need shorts (or pants like you said), cleats, shin guards and socks. For the little guys, I usually recommend the socks that have the shin guards inside them. They are SO much easier to get on/off than real shin guards. I know Nike makes them, but I've seen them at Target in an off brand. I miss those...

[bubbaray]

No balls needed -- the coach has a huge bag of those.

The team is mixed -- boys and girls. I'm sure DD#1 will figure out some ribbons etc for her hair, she's big into that these days.

What type of pants do you recommend? Just sweatpants? Or the nylony Adidas kind? She has a pair of the sweatpant kind from her ballet studio, but she'll FREAK if they get muddy. I think I need to get her some dark blue/black ones so she d/n see the mud, LOL.

Will look for the sock/shin pad combo. Thx.

[KrisM]

DS's team is khaki. Not a big hit for a color even with him.

He also gets shorts included for his uniform. Sometimes, if it's really cold, he'll wear sweats instead.

A few times in the fall, he wore a long-sleeve shirt under the short-sleeve one. And once, when it was raining, windy, and about 40 deg, he wore a winter headband to keep his ears warm.

Shin guards that either are part of the sock (guard goes in a pocket in the sock) or loop under the foot are nice because they stay in place and usually have padding on the outside of the ankle. If you get shin guards that aren't part of the sock, get some really tall socks to cover them - soccer socks :).

I've always bought used shoes at garage sales, etc, so no help there. I would suggest them though, since they'll help a lot on wet grass.

He needed a size 3 ball to bring to practices.

You can get pink balls, pink shin guards, pink socks, pink stripes on the shoes, etc.

I hope she and you enjoy it. Our coaches have been great so far and they do a good job of keeping things fun for the kids. Did they give you some games to play at practice for teaching skills? I think those make a big difference. Our fall coach made it a lot of fun, but didn't know much about soccer. The spring coach knows more rules and his practices are filled with fun things that include learning how to throw the ball in, when it's a goal kick, how to sub players quickly, etc. I think it'll be a better team this spring.

[KrisM]

No balls needed -- the coach has a huge bag of those.

The team is mixed -- boys and girls. I'm sure DD#1 will figure out some ribbons etc for her hair, she's big into that these days.

What type of pants do you recommend? Just sweatpants? Or the nylony Adidas kind? She has a pair of the sweatpant kind from her ballet studio, but she'll FREAK if they get muddy. I think I need to get her some dark blue/black ones so she d/n see the mud, LOL.

Will look for the sock/shin pad combo. Thx.

You might want a ball for kicking around at home?

The girls on DS's team often wear thick tights instead of sweats. I've not really paid close attention, but that's what they look like to me.

[bubbaray]

Yes, we got a book with a bunch of drills. There is also a coaching skills clinic this Saturday (please -- send sunshine!) that I'm going to.

[jenmcadams]

Yes, we got a book with a bunch of drills. There is also a coaching skills clinic this Saturday (please -- send sunshine!) that I'm going to.

I coached for 3 seasons (Spring K, Fall 1st and Winter 1st) then turned the team over to my DH and another mom in Spring of 1st grade. The best book I found was The Baffled Parents Guide to Coaching Youth Soccer

http://www.amazon.com/Baffled-Parents-Guide-Coaching-Soccer/dp/0071346082

There are a couple of different versions...but it was really good.

[bubbaray]

cool! Thanks! :)

[Twoboos]

I got cleats/shin guards at Target for DD1 last fall. As for pants you could probably get activity type pants or shorts at Target or any similar place. (They said they could wear what they wanted for bottoms.) Some girls did leggings instead of sweats under shorts instead. There was also at least one girl who wore a sports skort instead of shorts! That would girl it up, LOL!!

Also - these are probably going to seem really obvious, but the coach for DD1's team did not do these. 1) Have team select a Team Name and 2) Parent to bring snack/oranges each week. Once I realized, I was kind of ticked off, but kept forgetting to bring it up w/the coach in the zoo that was K soccer (all teams played on the same field!).

[pinkmomagain]

So glad this thread came up and I hope I'm not hijacking, but just so that I understand correctly, the shin guards go UNDER the socks, right? DD3 is starting prek soccer on sat and I'm clueless about this stuff.

[fivi2]

My girls are a bit younger, but we just went to a sports store (Academy) not a specialty store. We found some cheap tiny shin guards. We bought turf shoes instead of cleats, but see what your league wants.

We had a couple chilly mornings, and my girls just wore cotton leggings under their soccer shorts and turtlenecks under their t-shirts. But we don't get super cold.

You can "pretty" up the uniform with a fun head band, ribbon, or ponytail holder. A lot of the little girls around here wear little ribbon things to keep their t-shirts up on their shoulders. (not sure how to describe it) it loops through the neck of the shirt down the sleeve and out the arm hole to bunch the shirt up and keep it up on the shoulders, (like rolling up the sleeves, but keeping it in place).

Good luck!

[bubbaray]

So glad this thread came up and I hope I'm not hijacking, but just so that I understand correctly, the shin guards go UNDER the socks, right? DD3 is starting prek soccer on sat and I'm clueless about this stuff.


http://www.ehow.com/video_4753656_put-soccer-shin-guards.html

[fivi2]

So glad this thread came up and I hope I'm not hijacking, but just so that I understand correctly, the shin guards go UNDER the socks, right? DD3 is starting prek soccer on sat and I'm clueless about this stuff.

I personally would not put shin guards next to the skin (sweaty and itchy and rub, imo!). For games we do one pair of tube socks pulled up, then shin guards, then soccer knee socks over the shin guards. For practice, we just do tube socks under the shin guards without the sock on top. They do make just little plastic things you stick under the socks, but we don't have those. Those may be different!

[Melbel]

DD1 has been playing soccer since she was 4, coached by DH. She is both a girly girl and sporty (as I call her, my princess who kicks butt). I think it is a great idea to gently expose her to more gender neutral activities. Based upon her Olympic ski run, she sounds pretty athletic.

As for the uniform, I agree with the suggestion above to pair the brown with pink. DD1 and many of her friends like the socks with integrated shin guards in pink:

http://www.eastbay.com/product/model:73034/sku:0121615&SID=5504&inceptor=1&cm_mmc=SEO-_-Feeds-_-Froogle-_-null

She has several soccer pony tail holders with ribbons. Some of the girls have T shirt ties (ties the sleeve up to the neck hole). ETA: Same as described by fivi2 (we were posting at the same time).

Her uniform has shorts. For practice, she usually wears a more athletic type shorts or yoga type pants if it is cooler. I hope she loves it!

[infocrazy]

nak

I saw a lot of pink stuff for accessories (socks/cleats/etc..) Not sure about weather where you are but we are in MI so it gets pretty cold, but since DS was running around, he was usally fine with just a LS shirt or sweatshirt underneath his jersey and sweatpants before/after the game.

we do soccer socks under shin guards then fold back over top.

coach needs to bring a ball too. DS' coach forgot and borrowed DS2's ball from the sidelines...DS2 was not happy.

Coach also usually brought another older sibling without alternate supervision...annoying since she and DS1 hit it off and he often got in trouble for not paying attention. Shocker.

I agree about the snack thing. I felt bad for DS1's team the first game because the other team brought a snack and did this whole tunnel thing for the kids to run through. We were all first timer's on our side (including the coach so I don't mean to sound neg -- I am just pathetically organized and he was...not).

[Cam&Clay]

I personally would not put shin guards next to the skin (sweaty and itchy and rub, imo!). For games we do one pair of tube socks pulled up, then shin guards, then soccer knee socks over the shin guards. For practice, we just do tube socks under the shin guards without the sock on top. They do make just little plastic things you stick under the socks, but we don't have those. Those may be different!

Shin guards MUST be worn under socks. Even folding a sock over is dangerous. It is illegal to do that in our league due to the possibility of injury. We've done double socks (one under/one over) which is fine, but you cannot have a shin guard on the outside.

This was true even when DS1 played house league when he was preschool/kindergarten age.

[fivi2]

Shin guards MUST be worn under socks. Even folding a sock over is dangerous. It is illegal to do that in our league due to the possibility of injury. We've done double socks (one under/one over) which is fine, but you cannot have a shin guard on the outside.

This was true even when DS1 played house league when he was preschool/kindergarten age.

We do one over and one under for games. For practice, no one seems to care (4 yos). My point was that I would do one under in addition to the one over, not put the shin guards against the skin. Just a personal preference thing.

[jenmcadams]

Shin guards MUST be worn under socks. Even folding a sock over is dangerous. It is illegal to do that in our league due to the possibility of injury. We've done double socks (one under/one over) which is fine, but you cannot have a shin guard on the outside.

This was true even when DS1 played house league when he was preschool/kindergarten age.

When our DD was younger we did the extra long (think 6th grader sized) socks, then the shin guards and then folded the sock all the way back down to the ankle. Now that we've left Micro soccer and are playing Developmental/Pre-Competitive, they won't even let you do that. If any part of the shin guard is showing the refs will ask the player to leave the field...it really can be dangerous + I sort of wish we had just gotten our DD used to the shin guards under socks from day 1 b/c she has some mild sensory issues (along with a wide foot that makes two pairs of socks a pain) and getting used to it was somewhat of an ordeal

[infocrazy]

Even folding a sock over is dangerous. It is illegal to do that in our league due to the possibility of injury.
.

Why is it dangerous? This is what we do with DS's socks. They are crazy long and at least in the fall came back down to his shoe, not just the top of the hin guard. Is that still an issue?

[bubbaray]

I've always worn 2 pairs of socks. 1 thin pair under the shin pads, 1 team pair over top.

My new shin pads are too pretty to put socks over (just kidding) -- they are sparkly pink! :heartbeat:

[JamiMac]

I would second the socks that have the shin guards in them from Target. They had them on the same aisle as the balls and shoes here. They are so much easier to put on and not as thick and bulky. We got my DD the cleats from Target also (Mitre, I think) and they've been great, and they're black and pink. We got DD1's Nikes from a sporting store and I can't see much difference in DD2's Target ones. I would get a nice pink sparkly ball to have at home. My DD2 is very girly too and loved that. We put thick tights under the shorts or sweat pants. I've found that the old style cotton/poly sweatpants with the elastic around the ankle work better than the nylony wind pants. They just fit nicer under the shorts if you wear them that way and aren't as flow-y to run in. Make sure and tell her it's ok to get muddy. My DD2 had to be told and then she was ok. Also, I would try 2 seasons because with both my girls it really "clicked" the second season. HTH!