Game for practicing soccer skills

• US 5,290,043 A
• Filed: 05/14/1993
• Issued: 03/01/1994
• Est. Priority Date: 05/14/1993
• Status: Expired due to Fees

• Current Assignee: Blagoje Vidinic
• Original Assignee: Blagoje Vidinic
• Inventors: Vidinic, Blagoje
• Primary Examiner(s): Grieb, William H.
• Application Number:
  US08/062,967
• Time in Patent Office: 291 Days
• Field of Search: 273/411, 273/398, 273/371, 273/400, 273/401, 273/402, 273/DIG. 17, 273/DIG. 18, 273/DIG. 26, 273/DIG. 30, 434/260
• US Class Current: 473/446
• CPC Class Codes: A43B 23/24 Ornamental buckles; Other ornaments for shoes without fastening function
• CPC Class Codes: A43B 3/0078 provided with logos, letters, signatures or the like decoration A43B23/24 takes precedence
• CPC Class Codes: A43B 5/02 Football boots or shoes, i.e. for soccer, football or rugby
• CPC Class Codes: A43B 5/025 characterised by an element which improves the contact between the ball and the footwear
• CPC Class Codes: A63B 2024/004 Multiple detectors or sensors each defining a different zone
• CPC Class Codes: A63B 63/00 Targets or goals for ball games golf cups A63B57/40
• CPC Class Codes: A63B 69/002 for football American-football dummies A63B69/34
• CPC Class Codes: A63B 69/0097 Ball rebound walls with holes or in combination with nets A63B63/00
• CPC Class Codes: Y10S 273/18 Shoe mounted
• CPC Class Codes: Y10S 273/26 Point counters and score indicators
• CPC Class Codes: Y10S 273/30 Hooked pile fabric fastener

Abstract

A game for improving soccer skills is provided which has a target preferably in the shape of a soccer goal. The target has a number of different sections which correspond to different point values based on the degree of difficulty in reaching the particular section The section boxes should be differentiated from one another in an easily identifiable manner, such as by color. Another element of game involves providing a mechanism for coordinating the different sections of the target to a particular section of the foot. This may be done, for example, by providing a shoe with different colored designations for various locations on the shoe. To play the game, one or more players take turns kicking a soccer ball from a set distance at the target. The player chooses which target section will be aimed for and takes notice of the color of the section. The player then kicks the ball with the portion of the shoe having the color which matches the chosen section. If the player hits the matching section of the target, the player receives the indicated value of points.

Claims

1. A game for practicing soccer skills by kicking a ball towards a target, the game comprising:

a target divided into sections, the target having means for differentiating each section from the others, and

means for differentiating portions of a shoe worn by a player of the game so that each portion of the shoe corresponds to a section of the target,

whereby a player is awarded points by kicking a ball at a set distance from the target with a chosen one of said portions of the shoe to hit the section of the target corresponding to said chosen portion of the shoe, each section having a given point value.

2. The game of claim 1, wherein the target is a rectangle having a length slightly less than half its height so as to resemble the shape of a soccer goal.

3. The game of claim 2, wherein the target is approximately 110 cm in length and approximately 60 cm in height.

4. The game of claim 1, wherein the number of target sections and the number of shoe portions coordinated therewith are equal.

5. The game of claim 4, wherein there are five target sections and five shoe portions.

6. The game of claim 1, wherein the unique target differentiating means and the corresponding shoe portion differentiating means are colors.

7. The game of claim 1, wherein the unique target differentiating means and the corresponding shoe portion differentiating means are numbers.

8. The game of claim 1, wherein the unique target differentiating means and the corresponding shoe portion differentiating means are designs.

9. The game of claim 1, wherein there are five target sections and five shoe portions corresponding thereto, the target differentiating means and the shoe portion differentiating means being five different colors, and the shoe portion differentiating means comprises a set of five different colored stickers or Velcro®

-backed patches for attachment to the shoe in various locations.

10. The game of claim 1, wherein the shoe portion differentiating means is part of a shoe structure.

11. The game of claim 1, wherein the shoe portion differentiating means comprises a set of identifiers for attaching to different portions of a shoe.

12. The game of claim 11, wherein the identifiers are stickers.

13. The game of claim 11, wherein the identifiers are Velcro®

-backed patches.

14. The game of claim 2, wherein the target comprises vertically oriented sections.

15. The game of claim 14, wherein the target comprises at least five vertically oriented sections.

16. The game of claim 15, wherein the sections are of equal length, and the two outermost sections are approximately equal in height to the target and the three innermost sections are approximately equal to half the height of the target and are located in the lower half of the target.

17. The game of claim 16, wherein the target comprises five sections.

18. The game of claim 1, further comprising an indicator which automatically shows when a particular target section has been hit by the ball.