SoccerTots, HoopsterTots offer free demo classes

"The soccer ball is smaller, of course," says Laura Adams, director of San Francisco's SoccerTots program, which will host a week of free demo classes in locations throughout the city starting Saturday.

If 18 months sounds a little young to begin thinking of a career as the next Mia Hamm or Landon Donovan, consider that at that stage, a toddler is just beginning to develop the kind of motor skills that will serve them in sports.

SoccerTots works with kids from 18 months to 6 years old and helps them develop their physical coordination - balance, agility and control - as well as team skills in weekly noncompetitive classes. The students - about 10 to 14 per class - are coached by an energetic young staff, many of whom majored in physical education, Adams says.

SoccerTots, HoopsterTots offer free demo classes