FIFA's "Laws of the Game" are published annually and are the
official rules. For current rules and field sizes, go to "Laws of
the Game" at www.fifa.com or check with your soccer association. The
official field size can range from 50 to 100 yards wide by 100 to
130 yards long. However, the rules allow field sizes to be reduced
for women, players with disabilities and for players under 16 and
over 35 years of age. Field sizes used by youth leagues vary
greatly.
Recreational Players Will Have More Fun & Learn More on a
Smaller Field. One of the worst mistakes a recreational league
can make is to have teams playing on oversized fields. The reason
is simple: on a smaller field the players will have more touches &
more fun. The field size should be proportionate to the player
size, and recreational teams should play on smaller fields than
select teams. If a field is too large, recreational players will
spend most of their time running & will be worn out by half-time.
When players are tired & playing on an overly large field, it is
easy for the game to degenerate to "Boom-ball". It is also more
difficult to teach tactics & team play, such as support, on an
overly large field. Smaller fields are much better suited to
players who are average athletes, are slower, or lacking stamina,
as are 50% to 75% of all recreational players. How large should
the field be? If an adult over-30 novice recreational team plays
on a 60-yard x 100-yard field (most play on this size or smaller
because it is more fun), then youth recreational teams should play
on proportionately sized fields. The size of youth fields should
be based on the size of the step and the length of the kick of
each age group relative to adults. For example, if a 12-year old's
step is about 80% that of an adult, then the field size should be
80% of the adult size, or about 50-yards x 80-yards. Dimensions
for recreational teams might be as below:
