Portsmouth Pirates Competitive Soccer Club
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Portsmouth Pirates Competitive Soccer Club |
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Co-ed & Girls Under 10 (U10) Soccer Information, 2008
GUIDELINES & PROCEDURES Program Start Dates and Times: For Co-ed U10, the dates/times will be as follows:
Remaining Training Sessions:
Games at Glen Park
Championship Tournament Saturday, Oct 25th
Winter/Spring 2009 U10 Tryouts Week of Oct 27th
For Girl’s U10, the dates/times will be as follows:
Two Practices a week with and/or a scrimmage/game a week September 8th - end of October - Schedule TBD
Winter/Spring 2009 U10 Team Formation at the end of October after full Fall evaluation period Registration:
Registration will generally occur starting in June for the upcoming Fall Season and again in December/January for the upcoming Spring Season. Upon completing the registration process and before the season begins, the coaches will receive a copy of who has registered and paid. No athlete will be permitted to participate in practices or tryouts without being properly registered. Parents are strongly encouraged for organizational purposes to pre-register. Register online at http://www.youthleaguesusa.com/sri/08-09/111/fall/Welcome.html.
Program Insight:
In order to accomplish this goal the athlete is expected to play two (2) seasons of soccer - fall and spring and should play in at least one (1) winter season of indoor soccer. The Pirate Competitive Soccer Program is a commitment in time for both the parents and child/athlete. Your dedication as a parent volunteer is almost as important as the dedication of your child/athlete in making this program successful. A player’s attendance at practice sessions and games is vital to the player’s development and over-all performance of his/her team.
In addition to teaching soccer skills and team play, good sportsmanship is an important part of our Program. Both the athlete and his/her parent must abide by a “Conduct Code” that exhibits the requisites of good sportsmanship. Another policy in which the Pirates have adopted is called the “Zero Tolerance” Policy. The Zero Tolerance Policy is present at all times to protect our referees. Both the Pirates “Conduct Code” and “Zero Tolerance” Policy can be found on the Pirates web site at http://www.pysa.com/pirates/conduct.htm and should be reviewed prior to the beginning of the soccer year.
Coaching/training for most teams begins in late August or early September and will continue through mid-to-late November. Coaching/training will resume again for the winter season in early January and will continue through mid-to-late March. Travel coaching/training begins in mid-to-late March and ends in early-to-mid June. During the Fall and Spring seasons, most teams typically practice/train for 1-2 hours 2 times per week. During the winter season, most teams practice/train once per week. The duration and frequency of the practices is left to the discretion of the coach. Please keep the following objectives of the Pirates Travel Program in mind:
PYSA (Portsmouth Youth Soccer Association) offers a recreational in-house program in the summer for those players looking for a non-competitive program.
TEAM FORMATION AND THE U10 TRYOUT PROCESS Age Qualification:
The Portsmouth Pirates field U10 teams in both a Coe-ed (Boys/Girls) division and a Girl’s Division. Female athletes have the option of trying out for either the Co-ed teams or for the Girl’s teams.
The usual number of teams can range from as few as (3) to as many as (4 or 5) in this age group. Teams are typically grouped as “A” (most competitive) to “C” (least competitive). The word “competitive” here, at the U10 level, refers to the child/athlete’s desire to play soccer and player ability.
Roster Size:
Co-ed Fall Developmental Program:
The Fall format is considered to be a 6-8 week developmental program starting in early September and continuing until late October culminating in a series of tryouts. During the Fall, the U10 Age Level Coordinators (“A” coaches) will work with the coaching group (i.e., coaches) to form fair, balanced teams that will not reflect the teams for the Spring season. Players will be assigned evenly to these teams based upon their age, experience, and ability. The teams will include 8-10 players to maximize playing time. Note that players may move between various groups so parent/player requests for certain coaches will not be entertained.
This age group will practice twice weekly at the same location. Players are expected to attend at least one practice session a week but should speak with the Age Level Coordinator if they will miss any sessions so that they are aware of the situation. Practice is the fundamental element of this Program and it is important that players try to make a commitment to attend the sessions.
Each coach will be provided with a “coaching” binder containing specific practice plans for each practice and all teams will follow the same plan during the Fall season. For example, Thursday is for passing practice. The Age Level Coordinator will ensure that all players receive the same level of instruction by coordinating all details with the coaching group.
In addition, refereed games will be scheduled for Saturday mornings and teams will have a “professional” soccer designation. Games may be mixed within the Girls and Coed groups plus some games will occur between the two groups. There will also be a one day tournament that will be held in the late Fall .
The Age Level Coordinator will also coordinate with the Director Of Coaches in setting up and holding developmental clinics with the clinicians selected by the Pirates Club.
Tournament teams for the Natick and Barrington Tournaments in the Fall will be formed based upon the interest level of the coaches and the players. Tournament team selection and formation will be done with a consensus from all coaches within the coaching group.
At the end of the Fall season, tryouts for the upcoming competitive Spring season will be held and are described in the following Tryouts section.
Girls Fall Developmental Program:
Practice times and fall teams will be determined after developmental sessions (late in the Fall coaches will meet to establish Spring competitive teams based on evaluation which includes inter-league and co-ed scrimmages, division to play in, coaches and goals for Spring competitive play) this will be developed during the Fall, it may include adding additional dates based on coaches inputs.
The Fall format is to be a 6-8 week program starting in early September and continuing until late October. Players will be assigned to the teams based upon their age, experience, and ability. The teams will include 9-12 players to maximize playing time.
This age group will practice twice weekly at the same location. Group practices will be evaluated to determine if all players would benefit from a particular skill session. In addition, refereed games will be scheduled for weekends which will include games with other towns or inter-league verse coed or girls teams.
The Age Level Coordinator will also coordinate with the Director of Coaches in setting up and holding developmental clinics with the clinicians selected by the Pirates Club. Coaches will work to develop interest to have teams attend the Natick and/or Barrington Tournaments in the fall, based upon the interest level of the coaches and the players.
The Tryouts:
Children are strongly encouraged to attend all tryouts sessions described above so that the Evaluation Team can have an adequate opportunity to evaluate player skills. However, if a child cannot attend a session during this tryout period, he/she should notify their respective Age Level Coordinator in advance of the conflict so that other arrangements can be made.
During the tryout sessions, all players should wear their Pirates shirts ( returning players should wear their game uniform shirt with their name on the back, first year players should wear their red U8 t-shirts, and players who have not played with the Pirates prior to this year should wear a regular t-shirt ), shorts, shin guards and soccer shoes. Players should also bring a water bottle and a size 4 soccer ball. Jewelry is strictly prohibited.
While parents are welcomed to watch tryouts, it is requested that parents do so from a distance and not interfere with or distract the players by shouting instructions, encouragement or criticism. Even positive encouragement can be a distraction to the other players on the field. Parents are encouraged to help prepare their child for tryouts by ensuring the player is well rested and hydrated before tryouts. At the end of the session, don’t forget to tell your child that he/she played well. Remember tryouts can be very stressful for some children, don’t add to the pressure by placing too many expectations on them. Inevitably, some of your child’s friends will be placed on a different team from your child. Try to be supportive and remind your child that he/she will make new friends with his/her teammates. Many lifelong friendships got their start on the soccer field. The main objective of the tryout process is to place the players onto Travel Teams, where each team is comprised of players of similar ability and dedication with the most talented and dedicated players being placed on the “A” team. Experience has shown us that an individual player will achieve the most success and make the most developmental progress over the course of the season if that player is competing at the proper level for his ability.
Once the tryout period is completed, the respective Age Level Coordinators and their Evaluation Teams will meet to assess their findings and conclusions. During the assessment process, the Evaluation Team must consider the tryout evaluation of each player, the coach’s evaluation of the player, the child/athlete’s desire to play, to learn soccer, and the player’s ability.
Once the Evaluation Teams have made their decisions, the parents/children will be notified. Notification will generally take place within one to two weeks from the date of the last tryout session (no later than the end of November).
Players will be evaluated both individually and in small group scrimmages. Then, if time permits, the children will play in a 6 v 6 game. In the scrimmage, players will play a 3 v 3 or 4 v 4 game lasting for 10 minutes then rotations will take place. During the scrimmage process, “Ball Handling” (group passing, receiving, volleying, and juggling), “Positioning” (field awareness), “Kicking”, “Transition Speed”, “Tackling” and “Communication” with team-mates (team-play) will all be evaluated.
Tryout Evaluation Scoring System:
The U10 Girls Tryout Evaluation Team will consist of U10 Girls Coordinator (Tim Burns), all interested coaches (TBD) and independent evaluators (John Tomlinson and other Pirates coaches) at the end of the Fall session based on evaluations over the fFll season to determine Spring season competitive teams.
The scoring system for returning players will be weighted toward the results of the group and individual assessments conducted during tryouts but will also take into account player commitment and attitude as well as input from previous coaches.
For an athlete who did not participate in the Pirate Travel Program during the previous spring season, the Scoring System will be as follows:
Selection of Coaches:
TRAINING AND COACHING Practices:
Players are expected to attend at least one practice session a week but should speak with the Age Level Coordinator or Coach if they will miss any sessions so that they are aware of the situation. Practice is the fundamental element of this Program and it is important that players try to make a commitment to attend practice sessions.
Weekly Training Sessions:
Field Positions: GAME PARTICIPATION
The only other exception to this rule will be in the case of disciplinary action. Should an athlete miss a practice without a valid excuse, be excessively tardy to practice on multiple occasions, become disruptive during practices or games, or develop a “bad” attitude the trainer/coach or manager may, at their discretion, take away playing time. The athlete will be given prior notice of this possibility.
CONFLICT
COST
PARENTAL INVOLVEMENT Participation & Committment:
Parents’ support for their child’s team and the Pirates are necessary for this volunteer organization. Parent duties range from snack duties at games to Board members as well as volunteering for selected duties at our Portsmouth Invitational Soccer Tournament. It is expected that each parent/family volunteer a minimum of 2 hours during the Portsmouth Invitational Tournament in June.
FURTHER INFORMATION
Revision 4, August 2008 |