pickup soccer rules and etiquette for your first game

Pickup soccer is a game the players organize themselves. There's no league, no coach and usually no referee. People turn up at a park, a turf field or a gym, split into two teams and play.

Most games are small-sided, five to seven a side, and they borrow from the Laws of the Game without following every one. Each group keeps its own habits, which is why the same few questions come up every time someone new arrives.

Most groups split teams by shirt color. Someone says "lights here, darks there," then moves a player or two to even things out. That's why regulars tell you to bring a white shirt and a dark one, and to skip stripes, grays and pale blue, which could pass for either side.

Other ways you'll see teams made:

• two captains pick in turns
• someone counts off "one, two, one, two" down the line
• the organizer splits players by age, skill and fitness so the sides are close, which is what one Lexington pickup group asks its players to do

If you arrive after kick-off, don't run straight on. Ask which team is short and join that one.

Goalkeeping changes more between groups than any other rule.

• No keepers. Common with small goals, where a keeper would cover most of the target.
• Rotating keeper. Everyone takes a turn. One New Jersey Meetup group puts every player in goal for 7 minutes at a time unless someone volunteers to stay there all game.
• Keeper optional. Some groups let a team put someone in goal if it wants to, hands and all.

If you don't mind going in goal, say so when teams are picked. It's the job most players avoid, so the offer goes a long way.

Park games often use pop-up goals, cones or two bags as posts. With small goals there's little point shooting from distance, so expect short passes and lots of play around the goal.

On a rented turf field you play with whatever goals are there. Some five-a-side games add a head-height rule, where a ball played above head height gives the other team a free kick. England's FA lists a height limit as an optional rule for small-sided football, so ask before you chip someone.

With only two teams, the game can run for the whole session with a water break or two. With three or more teams, games get short so nobody waits long: a few minutes, or first to a set number of goals, with the winners staying on.

The city of Raleigh's futsal rules are a good model. Games last 10 minutes or end when a team scores five, the winners stay on, and in a tie the team that scored the equalizer stays.

After a goal, the team that conceded kicks off. That's how the Laws of the Game do it, so assume that unless someone says otherwise.

When the ball goes out over the sideline, the restart depends on the game:

• Throw-ins are the normal restart on a full-size field, as in the Laws of the Game.
• Kick-ins are common in small-sided and futsal-style games. You place the ball on the line and pass it in with your foot. Under the English FA's small-sided rules, you can't score directly from a kick-in and opponents stand 3 meters back.

Offside is the other thing to ask about. Some groups skip it and only call obvious goal-hanging. One Meetup group's rule is simply that "obvious offsides are called."

Many pickup groups ban slide tackles. Even in the English FA's small-sided rules, sliding in to play the ball while an opponent is playing it gives away a direct free kick, and pickup groups are stricter still: the Lexington group stops play and gives a warning.

Stay on your feet and pull out of a 50-50 if someone could get hurt. The same goes for hard fouls in general. The people you're playing with have work tomorrow.

With no referee, you call fouls on yourself. If you trip someone, stop, say sorry and give the ball back. One group asks players who foul to step back and play "dead" for five seconds, say "my bad" and check the other player is okay.

If someone calls a foul on you and you disagree, let it go and play on. An argument stops the game for everyone. Small things, like an accidental handball, often don't stop play at all.

Bring a light shirt and a dark shirt, shin guards if you own them, and water. Some groups hand out bibs, but don't count on it.

Shoes depend on the surface:

Games on public park grass can be free. Games on a rented field split the booking between the players, and some groups also charge a small fee to cover balls, bibs and running costs.

Pay when the organizer asks, before you play if you can. Nobody wants to chase people for money after a game.

Teams get picked at the start, so turn up 10 minutes early to change shoes and warm up. If you arrive late, the teams are set and you may have to wait for a gap.

If you can't make it, drop out as early as you can so someone else gets your spot. Some groups remove players who keep cancelling late or turning up late.

Most pickup games mix levels, and the regulars expect it. The most useful things a newcomer can do are simple: pass early, track back, and chase the ball when your shot goes wide. If you're nervous, play at the back until you settle in.

Nobody keeps stats. In Scrim, the app we make for pickup games, levels come from turning up, never from skill, which matches how pickup works anyway: the player everyone wants back is the one who shows up.

Ask at local parks and turf centers, look for pickup groups on Meetup, or read how to find pickup soccer near you. Scrim lists public games near you, soonest first, and shows who's playing and how many spots are left before you take one.