GCAA Rec Soccer Walk-in Registrations

I just e-mailed my hubby at work to see if he be interested in doing it. He is on a softball team ...not sure if he will have the time. We'll see.

 

I would be happy to give you some pointers on how NOT to handle the kids, based on years of personal experience...:lol:

 

Hahaha

 

My hubby didn't know a thing about soccer...and his first season coaching the team went undefeated, and won the tournament. I think it had a lot to do with the team he ended up with though! But then the second season he lost 2 of his best players and they still did very, very good, and made it to the championship game! So you'd be surprised!

 

Sorry folks... I stay very busy and do not have time to check this forum very often. I know a lot of people frequent this forum and that is why we like to post our sports registration announcements here.

I think most of the questions that were asked were answered... if not please feel free to email any questions directly to me at info@gcaasoccer.com. You are assured of getting a quick response that is honest and accurate to your questions. I check this email box at least 10 times a day (and this fourm maybe once a day or once a week???).

A couple of comments to some of the posts:

Yes, there is still a waitlist for several age groups (especially U06 and U08 ). And we still need coaches in every league. And yes, historically we have been quite fortunate to be able to find coaches so that any kid who wants to play was able to. However, this season is looking quite grim right now. We have about a week to go in registrations and already need about 5 coaches in U06 and at least 8 coaches in U08. The only way any kids will be allowed to be fully signed up and paid for at tomorrow's walk-in registration will be if several coaches step up between now and then or if the parent agrees to coach at the walk-in registration. If you coach a team, then your child is guaranteed a chance to play in that they are automatically assigned to your team. So if your child is last on the waitlist and you coach... then your child immediately comes off the waitlist (ahead of all of the other kids). As an ALL-VOLUNTEER organization, this is best way (an currently the only incentive we can offer) to get the many needed coaches.

There are several contributing factors to the coach shortage this season... 1) team roster sizes have been cut back... this is part of the implementation of the small-sided games (although we are still well short of having even the same number of coaches we had last season with the larger teams)

2) this same problem has happened in the past, but in previous years the organization has "drafted" coaches on the player draft days. Basically all of the parent would show up for draft day and an announcement would be made that 3 coaches were needed in order to start the draft process. And then everyone would stand around until 3 people stepped forward to coach. This is not only a very unorganized way of doing things, it also is not safe for any of our kids. Now we have implemented a mandatory background check on every coach, assistant coach, or team parent in our program. This simple process gives us all a little piece of mind when allowing other adults to have contact with our children.

3) we have increased the number of Challenge teams in our organization and all of the new coaches in Challenge were long-time Rec Coaches (taking away from an already limited coaching pool).

Anyway (another long and infamous post from me)... but we do need coaches. If any of you are interested in coaching... please sign up. If you don't know anything about soccer, it is not hard. We try to help you as much as possible by providing a short mandatory class at the beginning of the season, on our website we provide links to other website with good coaching tips and drills, and this season (for the first time) we have secured some dates for some NCYSA coaching classes. These classes are only $25 each and are intended for people who have no soccer knowledge, a little soccer experience, or even coaches who have coached for several seasons. I've taken other classes and coached for 3 seasons but will still be taking these classes. You can find additional info about these classes on our website at www.gcaasoccer.com#coachtraining. (Please understand we would offer these classes for free if we could, but this money is paid to NCYSA, not to our organization. All registrations are handled by the NCYSA office. We are simply hosting the classes. The normal cost is $35 per person, but since we are members of NCYSA the cost is only $25 per person. If you are going to sign up for one of these classes, you will need to do it soon. We must have at least 15 people register or the class will be cancelled.)

Even with all of this help we are providing, please realize that coaching does take a little commitment. A good coach should spend a couple of hours before the season getting ready by reviewing rules and doing some basic research on the web to find some age appropriate drills. Then before every practice a coach should take 15 minutes to make a practice plan (determine which drills to run during that practice). But most importantly, a good coach must be patient, enjoy working with a small group of kids, and the desire to have fun.

And just to be clear, our organization does require a few things from a coach:
1) must complete a background check (cost $10)
2) Must be responsible for finding a team sponsor ($350 per team... U04 is $300). This is a team requirement and so coaches are encouraged to get the other parents on the team to help. Together they must find a sponsor.
3) May need to provide some training aids (soccer balls, cones, whistle, "pinnies" or net jerseys, etc.)... again coaches are encouraged to get parents to help gather these supplies. (By the way, the soccer committee is working toward being able to provide some of these things in the future... it is simply not in our budget right now.)

Sorry that was so long... again. But I want to make sure everyone understands what is going on at our organization. I would rather provide too much information than not enough and leave people guessing (or simply complaining because they don't understand why things are like they are.)

Thanks,
Jeff Martin
GCAA Rec Soccer Chairperson

 

I am so excited...my daughter signed up for U6 soccer. Anyone in the U6 teams.

 

Yep.

 

Awesome I just hope I will soon know what night practice will be so I can go ahead and sign the girls up for dance.