Taken from soccerhelp.com
The referee will toss a coin to decide which team kicks off first & in which direction they face when they kick off. In the second half, the teams switch sides of the field & the team that received the first kick off gets to kick off to start the second half. Each time a goal is scored, the team that didn't score gets to kick off. At each kick off, the ball is placed in the center of the "Center Mark" (on the half-way line) & both teams must be on their own half of the field & the receiving team must stay outside the Center Circle until the ball is "kicked". Moving the ball any constitutes a "kick off", even if it only goes an inch. However, the ball must move forward on the "kick off". The "kicker" may not touch the ball again until someone else (on either team) has touched it. However, the "kicker" may put his foot on top of the ball & barely move it forward so a teammate standing nearby can dribble it or pass it backward or forward. Even though a goal may be scored on a direct kick off (i.e., another player is not required to touch it first), it is better to teach your players to control the ball on a kick off instead of just kicking it away. However, kicking it deep to the corner & rapidly "pushing up" to try to steal the ball back is a viable strategy that pro teams even use occasionally. Some coaches teach passing the ball backward on kick off (after it has been touched by the kicker). Before you try this, see Tip No. 7, "Steal Their Kick-Off", in Chapter 1. Don't spend a lot of time teaching fancy kick-offs; there are so few in a game that it's not worth it. My favorite kick-off is to put your CMF (center midfielder) & CF (center forward) beside the ball, the other F's & MF's spread out on the halfway line, & the FB's a long pass behind. The CMF taps the ball to the CF & at the same time the CMF & the other F's & MF's run forward & get open for a pass. The CF quickly passes the ball to an open teammate or passes it to open space. This is simple, easy to teach, teaches ball control, starts with a good shape & is hard to defend. Also, you get the ball away from your goal and even if you turn it over it is on the other teams side of the field.
I have to say in all the years playing and watching football I never knew that this was the case