How Long is a Youth Soccer Game?
While professional soccer games last as long as 90 minutes at least, everyone knows that children cannot play that long. So, when it comes to the youth soccer games the matches are restricted to a lot shorter times.
When we speak about the kid’s soccer games the thing to note is that there are a lot of age groups, and these are the age groups where there is significant improvement after every stage. So, it will not be the best choice to set the same time limits for every group and that is the reason why these soccer games for kids have different times.
Setting time limits differently brings along a lot of different benefits for the kids, their health, their skill, their performance, and their passion for the game as well. So, here is all that you need to know about how long these soccer matches are for kids.
Types of youth soccer games & their duration
When it comes to kids the youngest ones do not have a lot of stamina as compared to the eldest ones. So, here are several groups of youth soccer and their significance.
U6
It is a group of players under 6 years of age starting from 3 years old and the total time of a soccer game is 30 minutes without the warm-up time and break between two halves. Moreover, the time can increase according to the situation of the game and the extra stoppage time.
U8
In this group of soccer players, there are players between 6 years and those under 8. These kids go through some training. However, the training is not as much as the older kids, so the soccer games time is not that much. The total time of the match is 40 minutes at least. Stoppage time and extra time can increase the time of a match according to the circumstances.
U10
This group of kids starts getting some training seriously and they also develop some stamina throughout their practice sessions. So, the minimum time of game here is 50 minutes.
U12
The players playing in the under 12 groups have to play the matches with a total time of an hour or 60 minutes. Moreover, each half here can get more than 30 minutes according to the stoppage times.
U14
In this group of players under 14 years or so, the total minimum time of a match is 70 minutes according to the standard rules.
U16
These are the players who get a lot of training and go through a lot of drills. So, their skills and stamina are both polished. The total playing time for these kids is 80 minutes with 40 minutes for each half.
U19
It is the group that often professionally represents the teams and clubs, so these need professional training as well. The total time here is the same as professional soccer, so each half here is of 45 minutes at least with the total time going to 90 minutes minimum.
How does the Extra time affect the game and players?
There are some cases where the total time of the match is complete, but the scores are level. In the youth soccer games, there is usually no extra time for the youngest players, and as the age group increases the extra time increases as well.
So, usually, there is an average of extra time of 10 minutes or so according to the decision of the referee. Keeping the extra time as short as possible for the youth soccer matches is beneficial because of the following reasons:
- Young players do not usually have a lot of stamina
- There could be injuries if the game is continued for a long time
- Passion dies when kids are imposed to perform.
The significance of half time break for youth soccer game matches
As the stamina is limited for the young kids, the halftime break is very important. For the youngest groups, the extra time is somewhat between 7 to 10 minutes which is almost equal to the playing half of the match. However, it increases as the age group and matches time increases.
Moreover, as the age groups increase the extra time is not left equal to the playing half time of a match as the stamina of older kids is better than the younger ones.
What about the warmup time for youth soccer game matches?
For the kids under 6, the warm-up is necessary, but it must not be too much. So, usually, a warm-up time of 3 to 4 minutes is enough. However, with the groups like U16 and U19, a proper warm-up session is necessary as these players are expected to perform their best.
Reasons why keeping the least time for youth soccer game matches is the best practice
Younger kids start losing interest in something when they feel tired and when the kids are in teenage it is the time when they hit puberty and there are several psychological reasons why they start hating sports. So, instead of imposing more playtime on the kids of youth sports, it is beneficial to keep them enjoying the game.
It is one of the reasons why playtime for different soccer groups is set differently along with things like breaks and more. Doing so also helps in preventing several types of medical conditions like fatigue and muscle injuries as kids of this age group hardly care for their routine and diet. It can also help in developing stamina of kids over time so they perform well as they grow up.
Conclusion
Barcelona Premier Soccer Club is one of the best clubs for the best and high-quality soccer training of your kids of all ages. With professionally planned coaching sessions and professionally licensed coaches, the kid gets the best physical and psychological training to perform very well on the field.
The playing time is also carefully maintained to make sure that kids are not losing interest in their games to make soccer a long-term sport for the kids.
