Pickup Soccer in LA

Where are the best pickup soccer venues in the greater Los Angeles area?

-- Bankole O

Los Angeles is an enormous city, and soccer is a popular sport. You can find games being played just about everywhere!

If you're looking to avoid organized leagues, there's soccer played on a regular basis at Rancho Park, Pan Pacific Park, the Westwood Rec Center, and Mar Vista Park (they have a new-ish turf field which is frequently booked, but there is a lot of pickup soccer during the day and in the adjacent park). You can also find pickup soccer in Elysian Park and certain areas in and around Griffith Park. On rare occasion, you can find pickup sand-soccer on the beaches. I frequently see games near USC at the corner of Adams and Hoover, and the fields just south/west of the Coliseum are used quite a bit. Remember that a lot of these places host regular league play so you'd have to avoid times when the fields are reserved.

I haven't even touched on the Valley, East LA, and South Bay, which are three of the most active soccer regions of our megalopolis! (Balboa Park has a lot of soccer, speaking of the Valley.)

If you want something a bit more organized, South Bay Sports offers leagues that are pretty casual about attendance.

Here's an important tip ... don't look for pickup soccer at schools! No matter how good your intentions, campus security (LAPD, at many schools) isn't going to be too thrilled about a stranger wondering around their facilities. Public parks are the better option.

A call to the Home Depot Center wasn't immediately returned, but we have a hunch that facility (including a large number of fields outside the main stadium) isn't open to the public without a reservation.

If anybody has suggestions for Bankole and our fellow footie fanatics, please drop us a comment with places you like to play.

AP photo by Nathan Bilow.