DIY kids sports

[kevmattone]

Hi all,

My 4yo is really eager to start playing soccer but all the teams in my area charge $20 per hour !!! Furthermore, they seem like little more than a guise for milking money from my rich neighbors (I live in a high cost of living area) ...

I live in a condo community of about 1,500 people and am considering setting up a Saturday soccer club myself (I played for many years) ... The only goal is to allow other parents like me to have their kids play a team sport ... We will not try to make money. I also thought that we could subsequently start to ask other parents if they could perhaps contribute some time to teach another activity ...

Anyways, my question is does anyone have experience doing this kind of thing? Specifically:

1. Is liability an issue? I propose to take 6-10 kids aged between 4 and 6 for an hour on a grass surface. All voluntary. Can I get parents to sign a liability waiver?

2. Anyone know of a good online platform I can use to organize?

3. Other thoughts?

Thanks,
Mattone

Sent from my Nexus 5X using Tapatalk

[Vindicated]

That sounds like a great idea!  I've been thinking about it lately too.  My 2yo's daycare just handed out a signup sheet for a soccer club.  $240!  No way!  So, we're just going to buy a soccer ball once it warms up a bit and take him to the local park to kick it around.  My Nephew and BIL are both big into Soccer, so they'll play with us too!

I don't have any experience with setting up something like what you're wanting to do, but hopefully someone can give you a good answer on liability.

[Goldielocks]

Just put up a meetup notice.   Watch out for needing to reserve a soccer field with the city, but for young kids, you can buy and bring your own small nets to any grassed area and have it work.   School fields here are fair game on weekends when not in use.   Bring lots of balls and those small cones.  (each young kid needs a ball to have fun with drills and you add in short games).

I have set up a play games area in the park near a splash park, and we had a lot of kids join in randomly.   (Ok, I had soccer balls and water guns... lots of water guns to share).   

Parents are required to stay and watch, for kids under, say 8 or so.. or have someone (not you) responsible for their kids....  Have one parent walk the play area at the start, to look for any trash that could cause an injury (glass, piece of metal, broken something).  Bring a good first aid kit for a slashed knee.  (you never know when this will happen)

[Notasoccermom]

We do something called upwards. It's usually something a lot of churches do, and it's $80 a kid for soccer. It comes with the uniform, all I had to buy was shin guards and cleats. We get 8 games, 10 practices and a party at the end. It's not competitive at all, but at 4 your kid insnt playing for the World Cup lol. You might want to see if theses one in your area.

[MStangRacer]

maybe post on the NextDoor app.  My dad and family use it for local handyman services but they say there is a lot of local postings. My be able to get a good crowd that way from your area.