Soccer Practice Wall

When my middle son started soccer last fall, a friend of mine suggested the boys use a soccer wall to practice kicks against. She has a wonderful permanent wall constructed in her back yard.

Sinking posts in cement and screwing a more formidably built wall to the posts would have been ideal. But to be honest, I didn't have the money for the supplies, and wasn't sure how much the boys would use it.

For now, I simply used what we had on hand to try out the idea. Here was my plan.

• First, find a good spot that can take stray balls sailing through.
• Use a string line to make sure the posts will be aligned enough to attach the wall.
• Drive three or four large metal fence posts into the ground, spaced around 4 feet apart, along the line.
• Attach an eight foot by six foot section of privacy fence using large wire ties at top and bottom. A wall with thicker slats will take more aggressive play, but I simply used a section we had taken down from another place in the yard. We used a few upright logs to help return wide kicks.

I'm delighted to say, they love it! It gets used constantly. They use it like a soccer goal to practice their skills, but they also found it works great as a backstop for their wiffle ball games! Maybe someday we'll put in a permanent wall, but this works fine for now!

Thanks, Daree, for a great idea!