Mikasa Serious Soccer Ball

We got these as inexpensive practice balls for my boys. They get daily use and have held up fabulously well. They have a nice soft cover that feels like a more expensive ball. The referees in our games regularly choose these to use as game balls since they look and feel so great. They hold air well. We've yet to have to fill them with air again after initially filling when we got them several months ago. I'm now back to order more to donate to the school for recess play.

My kids own 2 of these. and 2 franklin ones. These Mikasa's are their go to. It is cushioned, even their coach prefers them for penalty kicks. One of them we've had in the backyard for 4 years, which has been sitting out in the elements, rain and snow (20F-110F) and extreme heat. and the thing while faded (practically creme color now), and has cracks, still is durable. kicks great, and has a better bounce than most newer balls.

Great ball -- I typically have purchased a ball based on price which means we get the $10 ball in the bin from the store at the beginning of soccer season because I figure we'll lose it at some point. Lately, they've been coming apart just 4-6 weeks in. I decided to "splurge" on this $14 ball with the great reviews and I am so glad I did. My 9-year old son AND his teammates AND the refs all seem to love this ball. The team always brings this to the center of the field as one of two for the refs to choose from as game ball and it has been chosen EVERY time, most of the time as the ball to start with even (not thrown down the side to sit by the goal net. We're 6 weeks in (it has been through rain, mud and extreme heat) and it still looks new. Even my husband, the soccer guru, asked me how expensive this ball was as it has been holding up so well.

I have purchased 3 of these in the past year or so in size 4 and 5. The overall quality of the ball is inconsistent, but I gave it 4 stars because they were all at least decent and 2 have put up with a lot of abuse and are still holding air and performing on the pitch. Even the one I had to retire was good for a few months of tough play, so it's hard to complain.Good feel on the foot (this is the preferred ball at my local pick-up game), mostly holds air well and doesn't look anywhere near as cheap as it is. I made the mistake of buying a hand-stitched ball for about 5 times the price of this thing and won't ever go back. There may be appropriate times/places that would call for something more expensive, but if you just need a ball to kick around that you'll enjoy this is probably as good as it gets. My apologies if you wind up with one that isn't up to par, but I felt that 2 out of 3 was pretty good considering the price was less than $20.

I have coached youth club soccer - Rec, Competitive and School Leagues for the past several years, and anyone who does that knows that you can go through balls very quickly. If you buy cheap balls, they fall apart quickly, and end up being not so cheap... often a pain in the butt, too having to pump them back up frequently. Most of the balls in this price range have poor feel and are too hard when properly inflated for many kids to enthusiastically play balls with their head and other body parts.On the flip side, more expensive balls often "go missing", and run up your equipment costs quickly.These Mikasa balls are by far the best all around value I have found. They are high quality, hold air well, have a soft cover the kids will play (headers, chest, etc), along with a good feel. And when they get lost or stolen, or finally wear out, they are pretty inexpensive to replace. They are the only practice balls I buy any more.The one negative I would cite is that probably one in five balls I receive doesn't hold air and I send them back. Not a big deal to me because Amazon covers the shipping, and I get the replacement ball very quickly.

I can't comment on durability, but out of the box (and it did come inflated) Its a quality ball. The cover feel soft to the touch, making it particularly suitable to the 9 yr old girl who it is purchased for. It doesn't have the "shiny" exterior that her town-provided balls have. Perhaps this will result in lower long term durability, but we shall see. So far I thing the ball is great and is priced well to boot!Update June: We may have lost this ball but I wouldnt hesitate to get another one. Great ball.. I like the soft exterior.

Note that I bought this for playing by myself or with my dad, I am not an 'official' player:I was looking around for a soccer ball for a while and most of what I saw was fairly expensive, so when I saw this I thought it was worth giving a try. It. Was. Worth. It. The ball is durable and it makes exercising easier for me because I find soccer fun. I would highly recommend this, also note that it comes deflated (it says in the product description but I'll put it here too).

Both of my daughters use this for their practice ball. 3x per week for 1.5 hours a day. Plus many games. For ages 8-12 it's an awesome ball for the price. Almost every game either the ref, our coach or one of the other coaches winds up using their practice balls for the game. Out of 14-28 balls to chose from they always seem to grab this one as the main game ball.They just have a really nice feel to them. I've had no issues with them other than my little Boston terrier chewing them up from time to time. I bought about five of them now but only because my dog chewed them up not because they really wore out or anything.