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Monday, October 6, 2008
YOUTH - Soccer Tennis
Greater Louisville, KY
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By: Betty Coffman, VYPE
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Photo(s) By: Betty Coffman
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Young soccer players try this fun hybrid sport to improve ball control.
It’s played with a soccer ball on what looks like a tennis court and is scored sort of like volleyball.
It’s called soccer tennis.
When Corey Johnson heard about kids getting kicked off the tennis courts in their neighborhoods for playing soccer on them, he decided he could solve the problem. Johnson, the Indoor Arena Director at the Oldham County YMCA, had an indoor soccer arena with available time and liked the idea of kids working on their ball control and communication skills. Thus the soccer tennis league at the Oldham County YMCA was born.
“We were being creative and finding new games for the kids,” says Johnson. “We thought we’d add an atmosphere where they could come in and do this in a structured environment.”
Soccer tennis is played in a number of variations around the country by players of all ages. At the Y, teams of two players play on what looks like a small tennis court. One player “serves” the ball to the other team. The receiving team has one, two or three bounces (depending on age level) and any number of touches to volley the ball back over the net to the other team. When a ball goes out of bounds or has too many bounces, the other team gets a point. Games are played to 21. Teams play best-of-five games or for 45 minutes, whichever comes first. As in soccer, touching the ball with hands or arms is a foul.
Connor Hounshell has played with his friend, Eric Kirby since the league began two years ago. “It makes me better at my juggling,” Connor says. “And it’s fun. You get to be with your friends.”
His teammate, Eric Kirby, says, “It makes me better at my first touch so I can control the ball.”
Char Kirby says her son can’t get enough of the game. “He likes to practice it at home,” she says. “He set up [a net] in the basement.”
Johnson says one of the main benefits of kids playing soccer tennis is improving their juggling, communication and first-touch skills.
“A lot of the coaches in the clubs are asking the kids to practice their juggling at home,” says Johnson. “But that’s kind of boring to do by yourself. Kids can do it here in more of a structured and a team league atmosphere.”
“The winter months are usually a down time, especially for the younger kids,” says Johnson. “This can be a way for them to actually play once a week. But during the 45 minutes that they’re here they’re probably touching the ball a couple of hundred times.”
Leagues begin sessions in November and February.
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