Pickup Soccer

This game is located at the DC/Maryland Border in Silver Spring. We'll use the Tennis Courts across Juniper-Blair Park where there are Night Lights shining on an enclosed arena. This area is enjoyable because it allows for more touches on the ball, with more movement around the field. THIS IS ON A TENNIS COURT. WE DO NOT WEAR CLEATS. WE WEAR FUTSAL SHOES, TENNIS SHOES; ANYTHING WITH NO SPIKES. Pinnies and goals will be provided. Bring a ball if you have one. We usually get 10+ more players not on meetup — we'll add those to whatever we get here and see if we can have a game. More than competitive, we all want to play good futsal and make it fun and entertaining for all. No warm sided matches here — new and advanced players are welcomed. Here, we want to get active and have fun in the evenings after work

RSVP or DO NOT COME OUT TO THE EVENT! Bring DARK and WHITE shirt to keep the teams even. This is a friendly game, please keep aggressive plays out of the game and keep it competitive but friendly. For safety, please wear safety gear. If you slide tackle or show aggressive behavior, you will be kicked out of the group.

This game is located at the DC/Maryland Border in Silver Spring. We'll use the Tennis Courts across Juniper-Blair Park where there are Night Lights shining on an enclosed arena. This area is enjoyable because it allows for more touches on the ball, with more movement around the field. THIS IS ON A TENNIS COURT. WE DO NOT WEAR CLEATS. WE WEAR FUTSAL SHOES, TENNIS SHOES; ANYTHING WITH NO SPIKES. Pinnies and goals will be provided. Bring a ball if you have one. We usually get 10+ more players not on meetup — we'll add those to whatever we get here and see if we can have a game. More than competitive, we all want to play good futsal and make it fun and entertaining for all. No warm sided matches here — new and advanced players are welcomed. Here, we want to get active and have fun in the evenings after work

● Ultra-light ball (\~1/8th as heavy as a normal 5). This allows zero chances of ball causing brain injury. (Hence the name, Soccer Zero.) It's also nice to do toe kicks! ● Injury-based foul system. This means that the rules apply even for same-team-side fouls, too. You can use your hands to protect yourself from the ball; hand balls are only called if you did it to gain an advantage. Yellow cards will cause the fouler to sit out for 120 seconds. Strong kicks of balls to anyone's head, called "face kicks", or nuts (for male players only), are yellow-card fouls even though the ball is so light it doesn't matter as much. This penalizes inconsiderate play, something we really do care about. Reckless players or anyone getting a red card is banned. (Before heading, you need to have an idea of where other nearby players are.) So, as an example, if you kicked the ball at high speed to your own teammate's head you still have to sit out for 2 minutes. ● No out of bounds. This makes it more interesting and easier to ref. ● No offsides. ● No goalies for the senior team. (The senior team is the one that is ahead in points.) This rule is used in place of an offsides rule, since it implies you cannot win by sticking some fat player who stands in front of their relatively small Pugg goal all day long. We define a goalie to be any defender intentionally within the "goal area". In turn, this *goal area* is defined as the ground in front of the goal covered by the top of the goal, were the goal to be tipped forwards onto the ground, similar to what would happen if the wind blew strongly from behind and the stakes were not secured. ● Goal resizing. Sometimes a strong player comes on mid-game after teams were picked by the two captains. If someone like Ronaldo joins a team and/or both captains agree to goal resizing to make the game more balanced the game will be stopped and the goal sizes altered to make it more even. Please don't suggest team shuffling as a better method. It destroys the team spirit. If the switched player sucks, it will add insult to injury to him or her. On the other hand, if the switched player is good, past points stack against him or her, which also destroys the game integrity, much of which is about trying to get your team to win. Goal resizing and point multiplying (each point counts as 2 for the junior team) maintains game integrity and helps maintain balance and game intensity. Games are in Silver Spring, MD. They are reffed. Clean red and blue pinnies are supplied when needed. A weekly invitation including a recap of the prior week's game is sent out to any players who want to read it. See here (https://www.meetup.com/safersoccer/boards/thread/23643732/0/). RSVPs are required. The reason is that it should increase their own enjoyment. You see, the ideal number of players for a pickup soccer game is perhaps 6x6 - 8x8; some players won't attend if they think the turnout will be low, and others will just assume the game will be cancelled even though we always play. (As a practical matter, smaller games are less fun since the comics won't have the audience they need, but, they do have two hidden benefits: shorter, more intense games/workouts and fewer face kicks/yellow cards. So we play no matter how small or large.) So non-RSVPers are a little short sighted, since they don't seem to want to maximize their own enjoyment in the long run. Rational and sane players who have a good chance of attending RSVP a week early here [and in the subgroup](https://www.meetup.com/safersoccer/). Location map (cut & paste url into a browser)(park on Plyers Mill): secure.meetupstatic.com/photos/event/2/1/7/2/600_364808562.jpeg

* Come enjoy a fun & casual game! * Be 15 mins early so that we can pick teams that are balanced for everyone’s enjoyment * Mandatory: Bring BOTH a white shirt and a black shirt * This is RECREATIONAL, fun play & we don't keep score so take it easy :-) * $12 to play. PayPal Karyn or Zelle Zane in advance of the game. * PayPal Link: paypal.me/VRBLSoccer Follow the shirt rules, be considerate, and remember that this is *not* a competitive fast-paced game. Directions: drive by the outdoor fields, and when you reach the South Run Rec Center building, drive behind it, where you will find the indoor field and parking.

Younkin Branch Library (Ashville) meeting space is now reserved for any and all interested in or enthused by playing a game of chess. The second Thursday of each month, 6:00pm to 7:50pm. First gathering is Thursday, May 11th. No fees. Chess sets provided; however, you may bring your own if you wish.