Hi All, I know it seems early... but Spring Soccer is now open. Spring Soccer actually starts in late Winter!!! We always try to finish the season before school ends so as not to interfere with family summer vacations. We had a great 2008 Fall Rec Soccer season at GCAA. Overall, I think the season was a great success. I saw a lot of smiling faces around the fields each game day. I also noticed that the skill level in our kids improved as the season went along. So I think we accomplished two of our major goals this season: 1) to have fun and 2) to improve skills. The small-sided games seem to really be helping in achieving these goals. We have reduced (not completely removed) our focus on competition and seeing who is the “best” or “worst” team each season and are now really focused on the individual kids playing soccer. Each kid must be given the chance to have fun and to improve. This past season was our first season being fully NCYSA small-sided game compliant and overall it seemed to go very well. As we move forward over the next few seasons, you may see minor tweaks here and there as we continue to tune our program to get the best experience for our kids. But any changes would likely be very minor. At this time no significant changes are planned for the Spring. The parents this season did a great job in helping to create a positive environment on the fields for the kids too. There was much less “coaching” from the parents this season and a lot more “cheering” when the kids did something good on the field (obviously this helps to reduce tension between the parents too... hard to be upset when everyone is having fun). These are all part of the program improvements we are trying to make for our Rec Soccer program at GCAA. I want to encourage all of our parents to continue to be great spectators and supporters of our players in our future seasons. Our Spring Registration for Rec Soccer is now open. Registrations close on Saturday, January 24th. Typically teams are kept together from the Fall season into the Spring season. There are some scenarios where teams could be broken up (for example, not enough returning players or coach does not return), but we do our best to keep players together as much as possible. All new players will be assigned to teams to fill open roster spots or to start new teams where necessary. All U4, U6, and U8 players will get a new jersey (t-shirt) and socks in the Spring. For the U10 and up players, you will have an option to purchase a new uniform package ($20 added to the standard Registration Fee). This purchase will not be required if your child is returning to the same team and did not outgrow, wear out, or lose their uniform from the Fall. If you want a new uniform for your child you may purchase it anyway if you want, but it is not required. During the registration process you will be given the opportunity to purchase a uniform. If the child did not play this past Fall at GCAA then the uniform purchase IS REQUIRED and you MUST MANUALLY ADD IT TO YOUR CART when registering. There are two small changes for the registration process this Spring season. First, we will have only 1 Walk-In Registration day this season. Please check our website (www.gcaasoccer.com) for all dates for the Spring season. Second, we no longer accept checks for registrations or jersey purchases. All payments will need to be made with a credit card or with cash. I hope to see more smiling faces in our Spring Season. And if you have friends or neighbors with children who might be interested in playing soccer with us, please invite them to register too. Remember, registrations end January 24th and roster space is based on parents volunteering to coach. So don’t wait to register and, if you can or are interested, please volunteer to coach. Thanks, Jeff Martin Rec Soccer Chairperson and GCAA Board Member info@gcaasoccer.com www.gcaasoccer.com
Ok... so we had some problems with our old soccer registration system that has forced us to switch to a new one. It is now up and running and accepting registrations for Spring Soccer. Hurry and sign up soon... registrations end Jan 24th (no late registrations). Our Walk-in Registrations will be on Saturday, Jan 17th from 9 AM until Noon. Since this is a new system... everyone is required to create a new account with us. No big deal... only takes a couple of minutes to run through the entire procedure. One other new thing... we are no longer accepting checks for registrations... Credit Card and Cash only. See my first post for more details. www.gcaasoccer.com Any questions... email me at info@gcaasoccer.com Thanks, Jeff Martin GCAA Rec Soccer Chairperson and Board Member
Quick reminder... Our only walk-in registration for Spring Soccer is tomorrow, Saturday, Jan 17th from 9 AM until Noon. Online registrations will continue until next Saturday (Jan 24th). We also desperately need more U06 and U08 coaches. If you have any questions about coaching, please feel free to contact me at info@gcaasoccer.com. We are currently waitlisting kids in these leagues until we can get more coaches signed up. Also remember we are no longer accepting checks for registrations... Credit Card and Cash only. See my first post for more details. Or go to our website www.gcaasoccer.com Any questions... email me at info@gcaasoccer.com Thanks, Jeff Martin GCAA Rec Soccer Chairperson and Board Member
Ape - I would go to the GCAA website and check it out, all the info is up. I believe it said baseball registration ends on the 24th as well, but not 100% positive, as my son won't be doing it again this spring. But t-ball falls under baseball, so check it out!
