For soccer lovers, indoor soccer offers a great way to play the game without the worries of uncomfortable or dangerous weather conditions for the players, coaches and fans. It is important to note, however, that there are some different rules and strategies for playing the game inside rather than on a traditional field.
Rules
The main rule difference between indoor and outdoor soccer is that when you are playing indoors, the offside rule does not apply. Because an indoor soccer field is surrounded by a wall rather than touchlines, this opens up the possibility of using the wall in the game. This has the added bonus of quickening the pace of the action as well! In indoor soccer, the field is smaller, so short bursts of running are much more common than full-field sprints. Keep in mind that outdoor cleats are not good for indoor games, so turf shoes or indoor soccer shoes are a must.
Apex Indoor Sports follows the rules laid out by the U.S. Indoor Soccer Association, with the addition of any house rules agreed to by the competing teams. All kicks need to be direct, and goalies are not allowed to handle the ball during a pass back. Kicking backward from a place kick is allowed indoors.
Positions
Indoor soccer has the same positions as outdoor – goalie, defenders, midfielder, etc. – except on smaller teams. Apex, for example, has between four and nine players on the field per team, depending on your division.
Strategies
Playing indoor soccer isn’t too much different from outdoor – it’s the same sport after all. That said, playing a game indoors requires a slightly different style than traditional games.
You need to keep in mind your striking distance while on the field. Not to mention that the ball tends to bounce higher and harder indoors, partially because of the wall around the field. One coach reminds players to match the pace of the game. Regular soccer is a methodical game, but it can be extremely fast-paced indoors because of the size of the field, and the unpredictable ball.
Rebound goals become more important inside than out – it’s actually rather hard to land a single touch goal indoors. Keep this in mind when coaching or playing so that your players know to quickly respond when making a goal on offense!
Work on your angles! The wall around the field means that you can get pretty creative with kicks and bounces, but this can take quite a bit of practice. Overall, indoor soccer isn’t too different, but there’s a trick to getting the hang of it. If you aren’t already playing, come on over to Apex Indoor Sports to play lunchtime soccer with us any weekday between 10am and 2pm.
