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District Recreational Soccer - Detailed Description
This program is managed by the district (St Charles Youth Soccer Association), and teams play against other teams throughout the district. There is a big jump from mini-soccer to youth soccer, as these games are played on a 3/4 size field with 9 players per side. Referees are provided by the district, the games follow FIFA rules (amended as necessary for the age of the participants), and scores are kept. Players learn positional play at this level. Boys and girls play on separate teams, and do not play against each other. Players use a size 4 ball.
The season runs from early May to the end of June with playoffs in September and championship games at the end of September, and into early October. For the playoffs, the teams are split into two groups based on the standings through the round-robin section held in May and June. The top teams playoff with other top teams from other districts for the City Championship. The remaining teams play within their district to determine the winner of the St Charles Cup All teams thus have a chance at winning a trophy at the end of the season. Players are randomly assigned to teams.
Players born in 1998 and 2000 play on Monday and Wednesday evenings, while players born in 1999 and 2001 play on Tuesday and Thursday evenings. Thus, each year, a player will alternate between playing on Mondays/Wednesdays and Tuesday/Thursdays.
The roster for youth soccer is up to 14 players per team. The coach, assistant coaches, and managers are normally parents of players on the team, and quite often have progressed from being a mini-soccer coach. The Manitoba Soccer Association runs a Community Youth Coaching Clinic, which provides information about managing players, learning drills, and training techniques. The CYSA pays the fees for all coaches to attend and acquire their Youth Coaching Clinic Level, which is a WYSA requirement. Developing coaching skills is a priority for both the CYSA and the St Charles District, with the latter providing a professional coaching development officer to help community coaches improve their knowledge and skills.
All coaches and assistant coaches must have a CPIC (criminal police check) and CAR (child abuse registry) check before they are allowed to be on the bench. Coaches and assistants must possess an ID card with their picture on it. Where a coach is a different gender than the players, then a person of the same sex as the players must be present on the bench (but that person can be any parent - a CPIC/CAR check need not be performed for them).
For each game, one parent from each team volunteers to act as a linesman, signalling when the ball goes out of bounds. In addition, one parent acts as a referee liaison, assisting the referee if necessary to help keep the spectators from verbally (or physically) abusing team members or the referee. No abuse is tolerated - a spectator who abuses the referee or players in any manner will be required to leave. If they do not, the game may be forfeited to the other team.
Practice locations are assigned to teams. With games being held on weekday evenings, practices are normally held on weekends. Practices are of significant importance at this level, as the necessary technical and tactical skills cannot be learned just by playing the game. The emphasis in practice is on developing basic skills involving controlling the ball (dribbling, receiving, stopping), passing, and shooting. Team play and positional play are also taught.
Created by: CYSA Webmaster -- Last updated:Dec 23, 2009
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