Denver Kickers Recreational Soccer

Welcome to the Denver Kickers.  43 years of soccer history - developing a successful rec. program. We are a non-profit organization that offers developmental soccer for children ages 3.5 to 11.5.

OUR MISSION: Promote and organize the life-long game of soccer in the state of Colorado in order to provide healthy lifestyles for all ages, educate coaches and youth players, involve and teach parents, and develop players.

Registration Forms

Youth Soccer FAQ

For questions regarding the Kickers Kids Program (ages 3.5 to 6.5), please contact Theresa Reed at 303-940-7649.

For questions regarding the Youth Teams (ages 6.5 to 11.5), please contact Steve Rock at 303-467-2773.

TEACHING TECHNIQUE: Learning to play soccer should be fun. It should be enjoyable for the kids as well as the parents. We take a non competitive view of soccer at these ages. There is plenty of time for them to be competitive at older ages. Various soccer skills are taught and developed. Tuesday and Thursday are practice days where the kids will learn skills which they can apply during game day which is Saturday. The older kids are put into different groups and/or teams each week to learn how to work with different kids and different coaches. We will introduce the team and coach concept to the older kids. The younger kids and their parents will work together so parents bring your shoes!

SKILL COORDINATORS: Many skills coordinators are actual players from the Kickers national or premier soccer teams using their skills to teach the kids.

COACHES: All coaches have or are looking to obtain a coaches license. We would like to start the coaching concept at U7 and older. All coaches are under the direction of the Kickers staff. Coaches are required to take a class geared to the Kickers program. This class will be offered this winter.

SKILL LEVEL (FLEXIBILITY): While other organizations have assigned teams at one age group, we can move players to play with their appropriate developmental level. We can move a new player into a beginning level team. Those that have played since inception may need to move up a level. Remember that your child can learn by showing others and challenging them. When he/she needs to be challenged we can move them up.

AGE GROUPS: Although we can be flexible with our age groups to challenge players, when we participate in tournaments we will have to register the team by ages.

GOALS: Although our main goal is to teach the kids soccer skills and apply them in a game setting, we allow all kids the opportunity to have fun and enjoy the skills they learn. Your kids will be playing soccer games for the rest of their lives. Let’s teach them the skills they need first, the fun they can have with those skills and then how to apply those skills in the game. While everyone else has practices, we play soccer. We call Tuesday and Thursday soccer skills day. Saturday is game day. We want Tuesday and Thursday to be as much fun as game day.

GAMES: To enjoy soccer, a parent should look for the skills. “That was an excellent skill”, a “great pass”, and an “awesome play”; the result of which was a goal or prevented a goal. There is no kicking the ball, it is a dribbling skill, a passing skill, making a move and shooting on goal. A very skillful game is much more fun to watch then kids bunching in a group, running end to end trying to score a goal. There are kids that can defend the goal. There are kids who can set up another player for a goal. There are those that can score a goal. Let’s let the kids try all these things.

ROTATING COACHES: The older groups need to reduce the familiar coach factor so they can develop new skills and start becoming accustomed to change. If the child remains in their comfort zone (same coach) for too long it is tough to get them to advance to the next level.

GAME DAY RULE: We do not want the kids to react to a parent’s perception of what the parent believes should be done on the field. Please encourage your kids to play and have fun. The strategy will come later. It is not how your child out does his own team and then the other team, it is how your child is a part of the team and works with that team. Many kids become conditioned to the parent’s voice and react to it, which is more than likely opposite of what the coach instructed the player to do. Please, let the kids show the skills they learned by watching each other, not by pleasing the parent. A game is not pushing the ball from one end of the field to the other, it is watching how the kids develop, show the skills they learned, and perform skills during a game.

EQUIPMENT:Identify your size 4 soccer ball (size 3 will work for ages 3 and 4). Make sure your water bottle is filled with water. Shin guards are encouraged, after all we are kicking a ball and at times shins get in the way. Socks, shorts and shin guards can usually be obtained inexpensively from Target, Wal-Mart and K-Mart. Laced tennis shoes are recommended as other types usually fall off while kicking the ball. Small soccer shoes with cleats are also available at many soccer stores in the area. Take the time to double knot your soccer shoe. If the coach has to devote time to tying shoes, we have missed out on more soccer fun.

KIDS PARTICIPATION: Don’t be surprised if we play different games, some with and some without the soccer ball! The kids themselves added a “Kickers hill roll” which features a roll down the Kickers hill at the end of some practices.

PARENTS PARTICIPATION: At the U5 and U6 ages we encourage the parents to learn the skills and participate right along with the kids. As the kids advance above U6 you may want to take the next step and be their coach!

QUESTIONS:  Call Steve Rock: 303-467-2773 

The Denver Kickers is a non-profit 501(c)(3) amateur corporation
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