Juggling Contest! Enter Now!

Juggling Contest Outline/Rules

Sonoma Valley United players can now participate in a soccer ball juggling contest to try and reach the benchmark amount for their age group in order to enter for a chance to win a kids pizza or pasta from our amazing sponsor Red Grape!

We are going to offer 1st, 2nd and 3rd place prizes in three different age groups. We do require players achieve STAR JUGGLER before they can place for a prize. So get in all the practice you can!! 

Age	Star Juggler	Superstar Juggler	Supersonic Juggler
5-8 yrs	3 juggles	6 juggles	9 juggles/Most
Prizes	T- Shirt	T- Shirt	Gift Card to Red Grape for a Kids Pizza or Pasta!
9-11 yrs	5 juggles	10 juggles	15 juggles/Most
Prizes	T- Shirt	T-Shirt	Gift Card to Red Grape for a Kids Pizza or Pasta!
12-15 yrs	7 juggles	14 juggles	21 juggles/Most
Prizes	T- Shirt	T-Shirt	Gift Card to Red Grape for a Kids Pizza or Pasta!

Rules:

1. The soccer ball must be the same size you play your games with or smaller, and be correctly inflated (not flat!)
2. You can juggle with any part of your body you can use on the soccer field (no hands/arms obviously!) but only touches with any part of the foot count. You may start with the ball in your hands to drop it. If you use your foot to lift the ball to start the juggle, that counts as one.
3. The ball cannot touch the same foot more than 3 times in a row. (To prevent players from just using their dominant foot)
4. Most Juggles wins per grouping. Enter as many times as you want and we will use your best score!
5. Video your juggling and post on our Sonoma Valley United Facebook Page or tag @SonomaValleyUnited on your upload video post on your personal Facebook page, Instagram Page or Direct Message or email to taryn@sonomavalleyunited.org no later than midnight on Thursday, April 30th.

Information:

What is Juggling?

The definition of soccer juggling is the act of keeping the ball off the ground by using any part of the body except the hands and arms. Juggling is normally performed with the foot and knee. However, some can even incorporate the shoulders, chest and back.

How Does Juggling Help my Child in Soccer?

Aside from being a fun cardio workout juggling can help a child become more comfortable and confident using all surfaces of their foot on the ball. It helps with control and touch, reinforcing core skills such as dribbling, passing, shooting is one of the best teaching skills for development volleying skills (where a ball is struck from the foot while still in the air). Balance and speed on the ball is also refined as children learn to quickly correct themselves to save a ball from the ground.

How to Start

The best way to start is typically to focus on the feet first. Holding the ball in both hands drop the ball onto the strongest foot and kick it back up to the hands. Repeat this until comfortable and then switch to the weaker foot – once down and then back to the hands. Once your child is comfortable have them try from the hands and then twice to the foot and then back to the hands. See if they can go from hands to strong foot to weak foot and then back up to the hands as an alternative. Really try to get your child to practice with both feet. And keep building from two. Next time try hands, three foot touches and then hands. Keep building and see how high you can get.

I have the Basics, now what?

Try to incorporate different surfaces of the feet. Drop the ball to the inside or outside surfaces of the foot. Perhaps mix it up dropping from hands to laces, to outside, to inside and back to laces. See how many different foot surfaces you can use in your juggle. Then progress onto different parts of the body such as using the knees and head.

Do the same for knees. Drop the ball from the hands and knee it back to the hands. Keep building with the knees.

Try starting the juggle from the ground instead of the hands. Roll the ball back onto the foot and lift. Don’t worry, it takes a lot of practice! Just keep going!