Artificial
Soccer Field Size
The
official soccer field size for adults can range from 50
to 100 yards wide by 100 to 130 yards long. However, the
rules allow soccer field sizes to be reduced for women,
players with disabilities and for players under 16 and over
35 years of age . The soccer field size used by youth leagues
vary greatly. Our recommendations are below. Recreational
Players Will Have More Fun & Learn More on a Smaller
Soccer Field. One of the worst mistakes a recreational league
can make is to have teams playing on oversized fields. The
reason is simple: on a smaller field the players will have
more touches & more fun. The field size should be proportionate
to the player size, and recreational teams should play on
smaller fields than select teams. If a field is too large,
recreational players will spend most of their time running
& will be worn out by half-time. When players are tired
& playing on an overly large field, it is easy for the
game to degenerate to long kicks. It is also more difficult
to teach tactics & team play, such as support, on an
overly large field. Smaller fields are much better suited
to players who are average athletes, are slower, or lacking
stamina, as are 50% to 75% of all recreational players.
How large should the field be? If an adult over-30 novice
recreational team plays on a 60-yard x 100-yard field (most
play on this size or smaller because it is more fun), then
youth recreational teams should play on proportionately
sized fields. The size of youth fields should be based on
the size of the step and the length of the kick of each
age group relative to adults. For example, if a 12-year
old's step is about 80% that of an adult, then the field
size should be 80% of the adult size, or about 50-yards
x 80-yards. Dimensions for recreational teams might be as
below:
Age
(% Adult Size) Field Size (in yards)
U-14 (100%) 60 x 100
U-12 (80%) 50 x 80
U-10 (70%) 40 x 70*
U-8 (50%) 25 x 50*
U-6 (25%) 15 x 30
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