Smaller brand of soccer adds to pace at tournament

Soccer Six event wraps up with finals today

Published Sun, Jul 27, 2008 12:00 AM

By SAM McDOWELL
smcdowell@islandpacket.com
843-706-8123

The game is so unique that it's hardly even recognizable to soccer players themselves.

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Soccer Six Moonlight Madness 14, taking place this weekend at Chaplin Park on Hilton Head Island, provides a completely different format for the sport -- 6-on-6 teams competing on 60x40-yard fields with smaller goals and balls.

Not many players are learning the difficulty of the adjustment faster than Rachel Breitfelder and Van Le, a couple of semi-professional soccer players for the Atlanta Silverbacks, an outdoor soccer squad in the Greater Atlanta Women's Soccer Association 11-on-11 league.

"It's not really even the same sport," said Breitfelder, who played the 6-on-6 format for the first time Saturday. "The pace is the biggest difference."

Indeed, the game is played at a much faster rate. And the disparity is so great that Breitfelder said she often found herself out of position in her first game playing for C-Town, which is a team that consists of players from several different areas in Georgia. That is, of course, if there are any true positions in the 6-on-6 format.

"I've learned that you just kind of go wherever," said Breitfelder, 27, who played for three years as a midfielder at Georgia Tech. "Everybody has to play everything."

Le at least has had experience in the Soccer Six format in years past. She played in the Soccer Six Moonlight Madness four years ago and sporadically plays in other similar tournaments.

But that doesn't make the adjustment any easier. Like many other participants in this weekend's event, Le's niche remains outdoor 11-on-11 soccer, which she plays during both the spring and the fall. She was actually part of the professional Silverbacks squad for the past two years, a team so competitive that it included Canadian national team member Sharolta Nonen.

"If you take a girl that has less skill but has good agility, she can make up for her mistakes easier out here," Le said. "She'd get smoked in 11-on-11 but not out here because the game is about agility and not endurance. It's quite a change."

A change that not a lot of current soccer players can make so smoothly. The shorter fields also lead to crowded play, forcing the players to distribute the ball to a teammate more quickly. Le and Breitfelder each said playing in such a format may help their reactive skills for the 11-on-11 format in the future.

"You don't have time to think," Le said. "You have to make faster decisions. You can't dribble the ball. You have to pass it immediately. That's a hard adjustment."

C-Town, which has added players this year, found out how hard that adjustment is in its opening games at Chaplin Park. The team fell to 0-2 after a 2-1 afternoon loss Saturday to Sporting Charlotte. Breitfelder provided the team's lone score in the contest.

Soccer Six Moonlight Madness 14

Chaplin Park, Hilton Head Island

Today's championship games

Women's B

11 a.m.

Field 1

Women's A

11 a.m.

Field 2

Co-ed B

noon

Field 3

Co-ed A

1 p.m.

TBD

Men's B

1 p.m.

TBD

Men's 30-and-over

2 p.m.

TBD

Men's A

2 p.m.

TBD

Smaller brand of soccer adds to pace at tournament