Learningtoplay

Opportunities for the Team

A pathway for every team

Many recreational plus soccer leagues have struggled to develop players across the state and far too many talented players have either slipped through the cracks, or have stopped playing soccer because they weren’t provided with the best platform suitable to their development. There are many recreational leagues run by cities that do not follow the US Youth Soccer Guidelines, but we do. Small-sided games with formats that include: 4 v 4 (U-7-U-8), 5 v 5 (U-9-U-10), and 6 v 6 (U-11-U-12) have proven to be beneficial to the development of players all over the world. Oftentimes, when we visit leagues around the State of Maryland, we see U-10 players on a field of 60 x 40 yards playing 11 v 11 with full size 8 x 24 goals, and that doesn’t help the player’s development. Players in leagues with this playing format have been proven that they do not develop into good soccer players because they just aren’t getting enough touches on the ball.

The MDSL was created to fight this problem by bringing the top player developmental clubs for recreational players together to form this league, and to provide top notch coaching for beginner players. As teams improve, they will be able to move on to classic and/or travel soccer in the long run, but first players must continue on the path of #learningtoplay.

Developmental Games

Players and Parents are competitive and want to win. So do we! However, we realize that youth soccer at the U-6 – U-8 levels is not about winning, but about teaching players how to be competitive with the focus on development.

Learn from the Best

Unlike other recreational youth soccer leagues across the state, the MDSL follows the US Youth Soccer Guidelines that have been set forth to develop players as young as 5 years old. Practices are meant to teach players the game and so are the actual games at this age. Coaches will stop the game on the field from time to time inorder to teach players basics such as how to spread out, when to dribble, and how to take chances to score on the field.