Soccer for Kids -- on Concrete? :)

When my son was 4, he played indoor soccer on a hardwood gym floor - first minute of the first game of the season, I was scooping him off the floor to rush to the ER to have his face stitched up - he got mowed down by a kid and went chin first... it was nasty - you could see bone - we never did indoor soccer after that...

If it is rubberized a bit, and the kids are in protective gear, (heck, even minimal gear... just something to keep the friction from tearing up the skin in a fall.)I don't see a problem with it. 5 year olds are pretty close to the ground anyway. ;)

Growing up, we lived where it snowed pretty much the entire time we were in school. There was NO WAY to have organized games in 3-6 feet of snow. For gym class we played all sorts of outdoor games on the gym's HARD floors... Including soccer. Never had any injuries. :)

Heck, my brothers used to play tackle football in a parking lot near our house. Lots and lots of scrapes, but nothing too serious.

No stories, but I would go to the sport store and pick up some knee pads. Not the hard learn to bike kind, but just a little something to protect his skin from the road rash.

I live in Canada and for half of the year there is snow on the ground so we play indoor soccer in a gym on a hard surface. My son has two pairs of soccer shoes, one with cleats for the grass in the summer, one without for the gym in winter. We've never needed knee pads or anything of the sort.

I played indoor soccer as a kid and it was sometimes on the hardwood gym floor and sometimes on the smooth concrete floor at the local rec center. You learn different skills than the kids who play on grass do, but as long as he has good cushiony supportive sneakers, it's fine!

All I can say is COOOOL! I think that would be fun! I have played soccer since I was five years old and went to college on a split sports/academic scholarship to play soccer for one of the best teams ever....The Penn State Nittany Lions! I think this is pretty cool to play on a rubberized surface. Very unique! I wish you could of told us where you are abroad. I would love to know what countries play the sport in this venue. I have only played on a grass field or practiced in an indoor arena with astro-turf.

It sounds like Futsal - very popular overseas, gaining popularity in the US. They play on a hard surface court (typically basketball courts around here) with a heavier ball. It's all about ball handling, the ball's too heavy to kick and run so the game demands skill, it's also very fast because it's a hard surface. My kids have played and love it, nice break from outdoor soccer in the elements on an enormous field and great for skill development.

There are a lot of knee and shin injuries in soccer to begin with. If there is not give not a good idea