Every once in a while our coach will do something different for the end of practice. A couple days ago rather than finishing practice with a conditioning segment or a shooting segment, we played 6 ball soccer. 6 ball soccer is exactly what it sounds like, we put the lacrosse nets away and roll out two soccer goals on opposing sides of the field. With out team split in two, he rolls our 6 soccer balls and blows the whistle. One of the most fun things that we get to do other than play lacrosse is six ball soccer.
The lacrosse field is slightly larger than a soccer field, being 110 yards long and 60 yards wide, it offers a little more space. However, we are playing soccer with 45 players and 6 balls. Certain rules and regulations are kept in tact, while others could not be more ignored. We are allowed one goalie, but no offsides calls and no penalties. This changes the dynamic of the game drastically as it turns into long over passes and then a scrum in front of the night for possession. Each goal is counted by a coach who is designated to keep track through all the chaos. The skill of the game is obsolete as so many players are rushing at the ball carrier, dribbling becomes somewhat useless to a certain extent. Though some guys on the team played soccer through high school, many of them are ex football or basketball players. The soccer guys show skill and solid footwork, but to shine against 10 defenders makes it difficult.
For the offensive minded players, which ends up being the majority of guys, many of them sit within 20 yards of the goal hoping an overpass will land at their feet and with one swing can kick in a goal past a busy net-minder. The games quickly become an offensively heavy game with little to no defenders.
As a goal keeper they are seeing shots at all times from all different angles. Often times players will send long balls in from the midline distracting a few defenders while another ball is being sent in from the other direction. It is nearly impossible to keep track of all the soccer balls being sent over and then back and forth. To give you a frame of reference we played for 15 minutes and amassed over 40 total goals.
In no way shape of form is a true form of soccer, but none the less and enjoyable form based from the fundamental platforms of soccer.
This sounds extremely fun! With so many players and balls on the field, is 6 ball soccer physically demanding in any sort of way? What do you do if someone is fouled? I imagine it would be hard to call some fouls based on the amount of players on the field. Are there set pieces as well?