Should my child play up?
Children may be rostered on a team in an older division (i.e. 'play up'), if they are within one year of normal registration for that division. We do not generally encourage the practice of playing up. Parents should only consider this if their child is physically and emotionally ready to play at the higher level. It is typically pretty obvious if this is the case – the player is not challenged in the younger division. “Want to play up” must be entered in the special requests section of the online form. For more information, please click here.
My daughter is a pretty aggressive player. May she play on a boy’s team?
Female players are allowed to register for the Boys division of their age group, if they wish (again, we do not generally recommend this). However, boys may not register for a Girls division. If you want to roster your daughter on a Boys division team, please enter “Want to play on a boys team” in the special requests section of the online form. For more information, please click here.
What is the MYSA U6 Academy?
The U6 division will consist of a series of clinics and pickup games, with no pre-specified teams (2 sessions per week, on Saturday mornings and Monday evenings). In all sessions, players will have training drills and games for about half of the session, and then play 3v3 pickup games for the other half. The goal is to introduce the players to the game of soccer, teach them the basic skills necessary to succeed and, most importantly, to have fun. Coaches should work together to train all of the players, based on a curriculum created by certified soccer coaches, with the goal of developing the players in preparation for the U8 division. The U6 division is coed. We also encourage parents interested in coaching to volunteer to help. These clinics are training for coaches, as well as players. Don’t worry if you have no experience - if you are interested in helping, please volunteer to coach and we will have some clinics to help you learn the basics.
How are the schedules determined for U8-U18?
In the U8 through the U18 divisions, players will be assigned to teams, according to our team selection process (outlined below). Practice times are completely up to your team’s coach, and cannot be adjusted by MYSA. No player will be moved from a team due to conflicts with practice or game times, and no registration fees can be refunded. The only way to guarantee a specific practice day or time is to volunteer to coach a team. No games will be scheduled before 12:45pm on Sundays. Most games will be scheduled for Saturdays.
Why are there games scheduled out of Monongalia County?
At U8, there are enough teams for all games to be scheduled within MYSA, at the Laurel Point or Cheat Lake fields.
Starting at U10, the teams become larger, and MYSA has fewer teams. U10 teams typically have only 1 game out of MYSA. U12 and U14 teams play more of their games at other locations in the area (e.g. Kingwood, Uniontown, Grafton, etc.). In particular, U14, U16 and U18 teams will probably play half of their games out of town, due to the limited number of teams in the local area. All U14 and U16 home games will probably be at the Laurel Point fields.
How do I select a Soccer Buddy for my child?
On the registration form, please note that a player may select a “Soccer Buddy”. You may only select ONE Soccer Buddy for your child - please do not enter more than one name (if you do, we will ignore all of the names). If two children select each other, then every effort will be made to place those two children on the same team. However, we cannot absolutely guarantee that this will be done. Please note that EACH of the two players must select the other, or any choice made will be ignored. For example, if David selects Evan as his soccer buddy, but Evan selects John, then these Soccer Buddy entries will be ignored. However, if David selects Evan, and Evan selects David, then all efforts will be made to place David and Evan on the same team. This also applies to those who have siblings that want to play together. They must put each other down as their buddies. Please note that any two parents that wish to coach together must list each other's children as Soccer Buddies on their respective forms. This is the ONLY way that two children can be intentionally placed on the same team. Finally, if the two children put down different preferred locations (e.g. one puts Laurel Point, the other puts Cheat Lake), they will not be placed together on the same team. Talk to the parents of the soccer buddy before you register!
How are the teams selected?
MYSA has a well-defined team selection process for the U8-U18 age groups, which works as follows: All available coaches in the division attend a meeting. Only head coaches may participate in the team selection process. The coaches' children are automatically assigned to their parents’ teams (for obvious reasons), as are those children’s soccer buddies, if the forms have been filled in correctly. All of the remaining players are sorted into piles by the coaches (for example, if there are 5 teams in the division, the coaches sort the remaining players into 5 piles). The coaches are instructed to try to make these piles as even as possible, and they do not know which pile they will receive. There are some rules - for example, any travel players must be evenly distributed throughout the piles. When all of the coaches agree that the piles are as even as possible, the piles are placed into envelopes. The coaches randomly take one of the envelopes, and that is their team (combined with their child and his or her soccer buddy). No trades or player movement are allowed, from that point forward. Those are the teams, and the process is considered to be final.
With this system, the coaches are encouraged to make the teams as even as possible, as they do not know which pile they will receive. Also, all children have an equal chance of being placed on any specific coach’s team, and coaches who are not able to make the meeting are not penalized for not being present (one of the envelopes is simply assigned to him or her). Please be advised that at least two Board members attend all team selection meetings, and that we will ensure that this process is followed. Anyone who wishes to watch the team selection process is may attend the meetings and watch quietly, but only head coaches may participate in the process. Once the envelopes have been assigned to the coaches, the teams are final. The MYSA President has the final say on all team selection matters.
Why isn’t my child just assigned to the same team as last season?
MYSA forms new teams each season for several reasons:
1. We have many new players each season. Some children only play spring or fall and some are new soccer players.
2. We are trying to make the teams evenly matched with each other within MYSA, so that the players have more fun in games and are challenged to improve their skills.
3. Our coaches are volunteers, and many only coach spring or fall.
This spring we may elect to try keeping the U14 teams together from the Fall. This still hasn’t been completely decided yet but is under advisement right now. This is being considered because our older teams are at a somewhat disadvantage when facing other counties. The other counties are not as large as our so their teams typically stay together year after year which puts our players considerably behind them in team skills. This Spring will be a trial for this system.
How many players will you register?
Our main limitation in accepting registrations is the number of volunteer coaches available. Our second limitation is field space. We will take as many players in each division as possible, based on the number of available coaches and field space. If we have more players in a division than we can handle, we will have to refund some registrations and not accept those players that registered last, I’m afraid. The only way that you can guarantee a place for your child is to volunteer to coach his or her team.
Can I yell at the referees?
Please note that MYSA has a strict zero tolerance policy, when it comes to abuse of players, coaches or officials. Any violation of this policy will result in removal from the fields and potential expulsion from MYSA. We are serious about this. If you register your child to play on our fields, we expect you to uphold and support this policy. We simply will not tolerate any negative comments on our fields regarding any aspect of the games taking place (especially any negative comments directed towards our referees). The goal is to make this as fun as possible for the kids, and to develop their soccer skills, team work, and self-esteem. Winning games is a very low priority, in rec soccer.
But the referee blew the call – shouldn’t I make sure he never forgets it?
We have a shortage of referees in Monongalia County. Almost all of our referees are youth who are a few years older than the players. They are new referees. While they are required to take a USSF Referee training course to be official referees, and have studied the rules and procedures of refereeing, they are human and will make a few mistakes. They are learning how to referee in a game situation, as our players are learning to play. Someday a few of our referees will work at competitive soccer games, including high school, college, and possibly even professional levels. If you have a complaint about very poor referee performance, please contact our referee assignor or our president at president@monsoccer.org.
Where should I park at the Cheat Lake fields?
Please note that parking is strictly limited to clearly marked parking spots in the Cheat Lake School parking lots. Any vehicle parked in an unmarked spot in the Cheat Lake School lots may be towed at the owner’s expense. The parking spots (especially in the lower lot) are laid out to ensure proper access to the fields by emergency vehicles, if necessary. Parking on the hill leading down to the lower fields is completely prohibited. Please do not park in the neighboring subdivisions. Our parents have got to do a better job at following these rules. We haven’t towed anyone for a long time but we are going to have to start. There is no reason we can’t park at the top of the hill and walk down. It also falls on us to point out those who we see disobeying the parking restrictions or speeding down the hill. We all have kids walking in the parking areas so there is no reason anyone should be speeding in those areas. Nobody is going to be penalized if they are a little late for practice or a game. If at all possible, leave the lower parking area for coaches with equipment, parents with small children and/or grandparents. All of this is especially crucial during the times that the U6’s are having their practices because the fields are extremely crowded.
Absolutely no alcohol or tobacco products are allowed on the MYSA fields or any school property!
Please remember that MYSA does have a dog policy. We do not encourage anyone bringing a dog to the fields but if you do bring a dog to the fields it must be on a leash no longer than 6 feet in length and handled by a responsible person. You are also responsible for cleaning up any excrement that might occur. You can see the full policy on our website at www.monsoccer.org.
Please also to remember to slow down at Laurel Point. Especially during extremely dry times. The dust that kicks up when you attend Laurel Point is not good for our neighbors and we have had many complaints. If we all just slow down a little we can control this dust a lot better.
Club MYSA
We again want to emphasize that we view MYSA as a single soccer club. All players on MYSA teams are members of MYSA, and we should support everyone wearing a MYSA jersey, no matter what team he or she is on. When watching your child play, please remember that the children on the other “team” are also part of MYSA, and members of our club. Please support them, as much as you support your child’s team. The goal is to provide all players with a positive soccer experience, and all of us are responsible for achieving that goal for every child, no matter what team he or she is on. Please think of all players as being members of our club, not just those on your particular team.
If you have any questions please contact us.
Registration: registrar@monoccer.org – Noel Peries
Coaching: coaching@monsoccer.org – Dave Huckaby
All other questions: president@monsoccer.org – Rob Wolfe
See you on the fields!