Can anyone speak to AYSO league for a 4 year old with no organized sports experience?

[J's Mama]

Hi!  My husband and I are thinking of signing up our 4 1/2 year old son for the AYSO lakefront soccer league for the spring.  He likes soccer and likes to watch soccer but he's never been a part of any organized sport before.  He does very well at preschool following directions and rules, etc so I think that would be fine.  Just not sure about how AYSO runs it's leagues.  Anyone have experience with them?

[LynnS6]

Is he even eligible for AYSO soccer? In our area, you have to be old enough for K to be in AYSO soccer.

Our kids started in AYSO soccer at this age and they did fine. They don't keep score, they don't have a goalie, and everyone gets to play. The coach (almost always the parent of one of the kids) is on the field with the kids encouraging them, and there's a parent/assistant coach on the side keeping track whose turn it is to go in next. They do keep track of when the ball is out of bounds, and they try to differentiate between goal kicks and corner kicks, but that's about it.

The kids basically just chase the ball around the field during games. They're not working on strategy, as many of them are still working on basic skills such as dribbling and passing. The games are something like 40 minutes and they're 3 on 3 on a smaller field.

[J's Mama]

Yeah.  I checked their website and they have teams for four year olds.  He'd actually be one of the older kids on the team if he joined.  Thanks for the response. 

[FiveLittleMonkeys]

We started playing AYSO with our son at age 5.  Very easy going, more emphasis on fun and learning soccer basics (dribbling ball, passing) and being good sports than winning/losing.  Our son had a great experience with AYSO.  It wasn't until U8 that he started into learning field positions.  Before that it was more of a "there's the ball!  Chase it!  Kick it!" type thing.  I think it's a great program!