ARE YOU NEW TO SOCCER?
Why Soccer?
Popularity
Globally, FIFA reported roughly 265 million soccer participants, which makes it the most popular sport from a participation and fan base standpoint.
Soccer has more registered players than another sport in Canada. In Peel Halton we have over 80,000 players.
Helpful links:
Canada Soccer - The Canadian Soccer Association
Ontario Soccer
Inexpensive
Soccer is inexpensive to get started. Cleats, shin guards are the only necessary equipment purchases prior to joining a Club. The Club generally provides the jersey, shorts and socks for recreational players. Most recreational programs in PHSA clubs cost under $250.00 for the entire season
Helpful links:
The Cost's of Youth Soccer
Cost of Minor Sports Varies Greatly
Easy to Learn
Soccer is one of the easier sports to learn. Due to the of infrequent stoppage in play, there is a lot of time and space for free play and creativity. There are only a couple of major tactical regulations ,such as offsides, that need to be learned before jumping into the sport.
Helpful links:
What Are The Rules?
How Long Does it Take to Learn Soccer?
Global Reach
Soccer is known to be the most popular sport in the world, and one of the few that is played in nearly every country. To get a gauge of fan base popularity, in 2014 there were nearly 111.5 million people who tuned in for the Super Bowl and 1 billion who tuned in for the FIFA World Cup Final.
Helpful links:
The World Cup Reminds Us That All The World's a Soccer Field
Top 10 List of the Internet World's Most Popular Sports
Least Injuries
The most common injuries in soccer are sprains and strains of ankles and knees. Although there are other major injuries, such as concussions and ACL tears that can be prevalent mostly at the higher levels, severity and recovery time for soccer injuries tends to be low.
Helpful links:
Preventing Soccer Injuries
8 Tips to Avoiding Soccer Injuries
Physical Fitness
Soccer requires a high fitness ability, specifically endurance and agility. On average, a soccer player will run a total of 7 miles per game, depending on level of participation and position played.
Helpful links:
Fitness Components for Soccer
In Peel Halton our members support the Long Term Player Development model for youth. This means we have adopted a player centrist approach to developing player and building a life-long love of the game.
Ontario Soccer breaks the pathway down to 3 channels:
- Grassroots (Y4-U12
- Soccer For Life (U13 +)
- Talented Pathway (U13+)
An introduction to the 'beautiful game'. The starting point for young players U4 - U12.
To ensure this first experience is fun and enjoyable and revolves around child-friendly soccer. Most of all, it is to have them fall in love with the game.
To provide an opportunity for players to use their imaginations, be creative and learn through trial and error. Mistakes are OK.
To offer age and stage appropriate development activities with improved playing formats such as
5v5, 7v7 and 9v9 with ball, goal and field size appropriate to physical and cognitive stage development.
To educate coaches so they will make the soccer experience a challenging, positive and nurturing one for all young players regardless of ability, that leads to Soccer for Life.
See below for additional information age / stage specific programs.
Soccer for Life encompasses all forms of the game from recreational soccer to competitive for players U13 to Masters.
Soccer for Life is where competition thrives, be it; pick up, Club leagues or District competitive and Regional play or provincial. Pick the level you wish to play at.
PHDL - District League
District level competition is inter Club where teams compete. These inter club competitions are tiered to provide meaningful competition for teams at all levels of development.
high performance
Launched in 2014 with the 2001 age group, the Ontario Player Development League (OPDL) is one of the province's first standards-based, youth high performance league that combines top level competition with high performance training standards. This innovative exciting youth high performance program is an important component of the overall movement to adopt the core principles of Long Term Player Development (LTPD) across soccer at large in Ontario and Canada.
For a list of 2017 License Holders please CLICK HERE
For U4-U5
'first kicks'
Click the link below for a detailed look at this program outline.
