CAT | Soccer
Playing some indoor soccer is a great way to gauge your skills and ability, and to improve them, and it doesn’t matter if you are a serious or semi-professional player or just somebody who likes to play soccer to get a little exercise or for fun. Indoor soccer (or football) is a much faster paced version of the game you normally see on the grass playing field, and it has less players per side, usually five or six depending on which set of rules you are using. Since the game developed fairly independently in different countries, there are several sets of rules, so you’ll need to know which ones you are following if you take part yourself. The smaller playing area means that this game can rapidly improve dribbling skills, and close ball control. In some versions, the ball cannot be kicked above shoulder height, so headers are not allowed.
Indoor soccer goals are substantially smaller than the ones used for the outdoor game, so they reflect the smaller size of the playing area. But remember the keeper is still the same size, so it becomes far more challenging to score a goal. The rules in indoor football don’t usually permit the keeper to come out of his semi-circular area, but none of the players are allowed into the goalkeeping area either, so this stops strikers from simply dribbling the ball around him to score in an open goal; instead they have to use skill to commit the keeper forward so they can switch the ball to a team mate to score, or use some extra skill to try and shoot the ball through the goalie’s legs as he advances.
Very often, indoor soccer is played in sports halls where the area is also used for other sports. It is not very common to find a permanent set-up for indoor soccer, and this means you will have to set up the goals at the beginning of your session and remove them and put them away at the end. This makes portable soccer goals the ideal choice, as they can be folded away and stored easily when not in use. There are several sizes which cater for the different sets of rules. A lot of them are roughly 3-4 ft in height and 6-9 ft in width. They are lower in height than most goals because often the game rules do not allow the ball to go above the shoulders. However, futsal goals are taller as the “no headers” rule doesn’t apply in this variation. So these are like field hockey goals, taller than other indoor soccer goals but less wide than outdoor ones.
Portable soccer goals are an absolute cinch to set up after the initial use, where you have to attach the nets. But after that you just leave the nets on, and in future, when you have booked a session, just carry the portable goals – which are very lightweight – out onto the playing area, and fold out the backstays, and they are ready for use. At the end of your game they simply fold right back in again, and can be taken back to storage, to let the next sport get set up. Having foldable soccer goals saves a lot of time which you would otherwise spend trying to set goals up rather than playing soccer. Most of them also have rubber feet so they do not do any damage to the sports hall floors.
