Before you play
The short version: a grown-up is always in the loop. At practice, that's the coach running the game. At the park or in the backyard, that's the parent or guardian who said it was OK. Everything on this site is here to help that judgment, never to replace it.
These are coaching ideas, not instructions
The games on Soccer Fun are general coaching ideas — the kind experienced coaches trade in the parking lot after practice. They're informational only. Nothing here is professional advice, medical advice, or a substitute for your league's rules or your own coaching training. If a game asks something of your players that doesn't sit right with you, trust your gut: change it or skip it.
At practice: a responsible adult runs the game
Games used at practice are written assuming a responsible adult sets them up, supervises them, and can stop them at any moment. You're the one who can see the field, the weather, the age and ability of your players, and the ankle that's still a little tender from last week. Walk the space first, clear anything worth tripping over, size the game to your group, and pull the plug on any round the instant something looks off.
At the park: kids play, families make the rules
The Kids area points to games kids pick out and play themselves — playground games with a ball, the kind kids have always organized on their own. Those pages are written assuming your family's normal rules apply: a parent or guardian is OK with where you are, who's with you, and what you're playing. We tell kids the same thing on every kids page — ask your grown-up first, bring a buddy, and walk the space before you play. Soccer Fun never supervises anyone: the site is a menu of games, and your family decides when and where they get played.
Play at your own risk
Soccer is a running, bumping, occasionally falling-down sport, and no page of instructions changes that. By using the games on this site you accept that participation — playing, practicing, coaching, supervising, whether the game was planned at practice or picked out by kids at the park — is at your own risk. Soccer Fun and the people behind it are not liable for injuries, losses, or damages of any kind arising from the use of anything published here. We say that plainly not to scare you, but because it's true of every game ever played on grass.
About heading the ball
We respect US Soccer's heading guidance: the youngest players shouldn't head the ball at all, in games or in practice. Games on this site aimed at U11-and-under avoid heading entirely, and any game that involves heading is published for U13+ only. Your league or club may have stricter rules than that — when they do, their rules win.
Safety notes on game pages
Some games carry a short safety note flagging the thing most likely to go sideways — sharks who tackle like linebackers, a serve that should stay on the ground. Those notes are starting points from our own practices, not complete lists. Your eyes on your field beat our note every time.
Questions about any of this? Get in touch — a real person reads it. Curious what this site knows about you? Almost nothing, on purpose — the privacy page says it plainly.