U19 anyone?

Managed to get out and do the line on a U19 game this weekend. These kids are fast & whine a lot. They want to have you whistle every infraction for their opponents, but want you to 'let them play' when it comes to their actions. There was the usual amount of pushing and pulling, the CR handed out simultaneous red cards,mbut got the restart wrong. Now, it could be logical to want to restart with a dropped ball,but one foul preceded the misconduct (because after the foul play stopped, making the following action misconduct) so the restart shoud be a DFK for the other team. We had a spectacular save on my end, which resulted in a deflection. The defense fouled the kicker which resulted in a PK - but I wonder if we should have cautioned the defender for USB. I am going to rethink this each time a foul occurs in the penalty area...

Practice, anyone?

One kid showed up to practice today... I'm not sure why everyone seems to think Spring soccer doesn't matter. The games are real, butler are lucky to field the minimum numbers of players. We get blown out, but the kids don't show up to practice, so it's a vicious circle.

Our Spring Team has a name!

All the players who attended the game go to vote.

The winner:  The Blue Fire!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Game #2

Played our second game.  Have to say...we were terrible!  Got crushed during the first half; players taking the ball from teammates; keepers forgetting to use their hands, players showing up at the last minute.

However, after a big pep talk at halftime, it was like parting the Red Sea. My forwards started staying forward, my keeper grabbed the ball, and instead of being outscored 6-0 in the 2nd half, we were outscored 2-0!  Even better, we managed to get the ball towards the opposing goal!  Missed the midfield, however.

What I still can't figure out, is why the players will BACK UP when the other team gets the ball. It is quite odd; they will run towards the ball, but when the opposing team get it, instead of aggressively heading for the ball, they will back up.  I guess they think that they are somehow stopping the ball, but all they do is give the other team time to go around them.

That's is what we are going to work on next week!

Claming my blog in technorati!

I need to post this SECRET CODE:  URKC2JU3R5KB

We'll see if this works!

How to create a Region Web site, Part II

Expanding on yesterday's post of page types, this is broken down by the type of information consumer.
(The formatting didn't port very well, so I am going to make it an ordered list...)

 

The breakdown is the information consumer, what type of information they need, then the page(s).

 

 

Parent -> Looking for: Registration

• Announcements
• Calendar
• Registration Information Page
• Registration Checklists

Parent -> Looking for: Team Info

•  Calendar
• Team Listings (Coach info)
• Directory (Commissioner, RCA, ARC, RC)
• Game Schedules
• Statistics
• Regional Guidelines

Parent -> Looking for: Game Info

• Calendar 
• Team Listings
• Game Schedules
• Field Listings
• Field Conditions

Parent -> Wanting to make: Complaint

• Announcements
• Regional Guidelines
• Directory (Registrar, Commissioner, RCA,RRA, ARC, RC, Board)
• Parent Handbook

Parent -> Wanting to: Volunteer

• Announcements
• Calendar
• Volunteer Listing
• Directory (Board)

Coach -> Looking for: Information

• Announcements
• Calendar
• Team Listings
• Game Schedules
• Stats
• Field Listings
• Field Condition
• Directory (Commissioner, RCA, ARC, RC, Board)
• Training
• Regional Guidelines

Coach -> Wanting to make: Complaint

• Announcements
• Regional Guidelines
• Directory ( Commissioner, RCA,RRA, ARC, RC) 

 

Referee -> Looking for: Information

• Announcements
• Calendar
• Game Schedules
• Refschedule.com
• Field Listings
• Field Condition
• Laws of the Game (FIFA, AYSO National Guidelines)
• Regional Guidelines
• Directory (DRI, RRA, Board)

Referee:  Looking to make: Complaint

• Announcements
• Regional Guidelines
• Laws of the Game
• Directory ( DRI, RRA, RC)

Board Member: RC, ARC

• Announcements
• Calendar
• Directory (Board)
• eAYSO

Board Member: RCA (Regional Coach Administrator)

• Announcements
• Calendar
• Team Listings (Coach info)
• eAYSO
• Regional Guidelines
• Parent Handbook
• Directory (Board)

Board Member: RRA (Regional Referee Administrator)

•  Announcements
• Calendar
• Laws of the Game
• Refschedule.com
• Directory (Board)

Board Member: Commissioner

• Announcements
• Calendar
• Parent Handbook
• Commissioner Guidelines
• eAYSO
• Directory (Board)

Volunteer:

•  Announcements
• Calendar
• Volunteer Listing
• Directory (Board)

How to create a Region Website, Part I

Our website sucks.  We are convening a committee to discuss changes.  Here's my contribution as to what we need at a minimum...

Web site design considerations




Main Page

1. Important announcements

2. Calendar

3. Field status

4. Links

a. Info pages

b. Board contact info

c. Area pages



Information Page(s)



1. Team Pages

a. Schedules

b. Standings/Stats

c. Team information

d. Contact information (Coaches)



2. Coaches Pages

a. Information

b. Training

c. Class schedules

d. Rules/guidelines

e. Coach management contact info



3. Referee Pages

a. Information

b. Training

c. Class Schedules

d. Rules/Guidelines

e. Referee management contact info



4. Field information

a. Field locations

b. Field maps

c. Field status

d. Field management contact info





5. Volunteer pages

a. Positions

b. Open positions

c. Board contact list

Tournement Prep docs

Here is our starting, working document:

Divisions: U8, U10 and U12 (consider U14)



Locations

Need to check field availability and then work through number of teams per division based on field set up.

Volunteers needed

• Tournament Director

• Assistant Tournament Director

• Referee Coordinator

• Tournament Treasurer

• Scheduler

• Statistician

• U8 Division Coordinator

• U10 Division Coordinator

• U12 Division Coordinator

• Registration and Check-In Coordinator

• Volunteer Coordinator

o Field Director(s)
o T-shirt Sales Coordinator – one per location

• Sponsorship/Marketing/PR Outreach Coordinator

o Food/Vendor Coordinator



Cost for Tournament

• Develop budget – fields, t-shirts, trophies/medals/pins/patches…..anything else?

• Registration cost per team

• Referee deposit per team



Dates to Consider



• Application submitted to National for approval.

• Deadline for applications being received.



** Sales Tax/Business License/Checking Account **



Budgetary Items

• Rental Items

o Communications Devices (Radios?)

o Canopies – each venue

o Tables – Per Venue

 Registration/Check in

 Referee Check in

 Sales (if needed)

o Chairs – 2 per table

o Wi-fi/Hotspot

o Computer/laptop(s)/printer(s)

o EMS/Security

o Generator(s) – if needed

o Field space



• Purchase items

o Water

o Signage (per venue for professional appearance)

 Referee/Check in/Sales/etc

• May be offset by sponsors

o Printing

 Game cards

 Rosters

 Brochures/Maps/Info

• May be offset by sponsors

o Snack stand (if used)

 What would we sell?

o Corner flags, goals, nets (as needed), chalk, paint

o Team swag

 T-Shirt, pin

o Coach swag

 T-Shirt, pin, hat

o Referee swag

 T-Shirt, pin, patch, coin

o Sale items

 Sweat shirts

 T-shirts

 Hats

 Ball

Turkey Tournament 2012

As I mentioned, we are looking at a 'Turkey Tournament' this year.  This is a continuation of one that was in Redondo Beach for many years.  What I like about this trounament, in particular, is that it is for the kids of the people who make it all work - the volunteers.  While some of the kids are among the better players, many are...not.  This is one way they will get to have that tournament experience that can be a lot of fun.  There is a hierarchy involved:  VIP buddies, Youth Referees, Children of: Board Members, Referees, Coaches.

Registration - its not just for soccer

Bruce cleaned out the storage compartment and found 10 giant tubs of Region clothing, turkey tournament (dated!) sweaters, and hoodies.

We sold $1000 worth of items at the first registration event!

Turkey Tournament, anyone?

Had a long discussion with Van today; we are exploring resurrecting our (1 time) Turkey Tournament, the successor to the (many year) Redondo Beach Turkey tournament.

I enjoyed the tournament, because it was for kids whose parents volunteered.  My kids have never been great at soccer, so having this tournament was pretty fun for them.  There are several tournaments during this time frame, but they really don't address the volunteer aspect.

We've sort of decided that we will try to go with U8-U12; I don't recall any U8 tournaments around here.  However...U8 by definition is non-competetive, how do you change a season of learning into a tournament focusing on victory?

My thought was to make it a 'sportsmanship' event for the U8-ers; but how do you differentiate in a meaningful way?

Our Region's web page sucks!

Our web page sucks.  It is generated via D4 sports, but it never worked very well.  I see other region's sites, and they all seem so much better than ours.

We are about to form a web page commitee to decide what we want on it.

I think the web page should have a calendar of events, a main area with important announcements, info for parents, info for coaches, info for referees, game schedules, standings, and maps to the fields.

Spring League is upon us!

Spring League is upon us!

I have to admit, Shutterfly is a GREAT tool for team management.  They have a deal with AYSO to generate the teams automatically, and it is fantastic!  We got an email stating that several thousand sites need to be setup to keep the deal going, and I really hope that they keep it!

Besides having the roster automatically generated, you can add and change the rosters.  You can add photos.  You can put in the practice schedules and games with the address; parents can get a map autogenerated.  And the system will automatically email reminders for each event.  You can assign things like the snack schedule, or let parents sign up themselves.  You can send mass emails to the whole team, and parents can up load photos and videos to share.

All in all, it makes managing the team a piece of cake!

I spent a little time tidying up the roster with new players, then entered the games and 1st meeting, then sent out a mass email to everyone so they can view it and sign up for snacks and refereeing.

Shutterfly - not just for photo albums anymore!

12 years and counting...

Wow.  We started playing soccer 12 years ago; since that time I've been a coach, a referee, a referee instructor, referee instructor evaluator, statistician, an Assistant Regional Comissioner, and Director or Referee Instruction.  My blogging here has been sporadic; I doubt that anyone has ever read these pages (except me).  But I press on...

Our region's leadership has been a problem for the past 5 years.  The RC was checking out his 2nd year - to be fair, his predecessor had done some serious damage to the volunteer infrastructure and the new guy was done.  The next RC finished the job, driving away most of the serious volunteers, and keeping sycophants and cronies around, ignoring the regional guidelines for her self serving purposes, and generally screwing up the region and driving away whole families.

We have a new RC now; we have a board that seems willing to work hard together - but we still are having trouble with lone wolfs making unilateral decisions affecting other people and their jobs.  This has already lead to the registrar resigning in disgust. 

Hopefully, all will get better; it can hardly get any worse!

Season starts Saturday!

Well, we are here at the brink.
I managed to meet the BU8 team today; we picked a name.
Since the uniforms were black and white, it came down to the wire for Dark Eagles, and Killer Whales.
Dark Eagles won!

We then had a little practice; we'll see how we do on Saturday!

Sportsmanship Matters - part two

Here is something I wrote for the parents, to explain the new policy:

Sportsmanship: fair play, respect for opponents, and gracious behavior in winning or losing.


Sportsmanship matters: The coaches and referees are volunteering their time – not just for this game, but also in practice, training, and certification. They deserve to be treated as you would expect to be treated.

Sportsmanship matters: Kids make mistakes; shouting directions at them is at best confusing, at worst contradictory to what the coach is directing and training them to do. Let them play, and they will learn to make decisions on the field.

Sportsmanship matters: The referee team has been extensively trained in the Laws of the Game; their knowledge of the Laws and nuances of the Game may be more extensive than yours. Certainly shouting at the referee won’t improve the game, and can lead to loss of points and dismissal from the field!

Sportsmanship matters: The Region, the referees, the coaches, and the players are all counting on YOU, the parents, to be good role models.

Sportsmanship matters: So much, that the Board has instituted a new regulation: teams which don’t earn at least 95% of the maximum sportsmanship points for the year are not eligible for the playoffs. There are 25 possible sportsmanship points each game – losing 2 points every game will make a team ineligible!



Coach’s and player’s behavior can affect sportsmanship points, but so can spectator’s behavior. Of the five categories for sportsmanship, two are related to spectators. Below is an excerpt from the Region’s sportsmanship guidelines that are given to each referee – the sole arbiter of sportsmanship during a game.

These deductions are per incident during the game, and are cumulative.

Conduct of Spectators

For a warning or caution -1

For a send off -5

Violation of the standards of good sportsmanship -1

Noticeable acts of good sportsmanship toward other team +1

Courtesy towards Referee (includes comments about referee calls)

Discourtesy by a coach -1

Discourtesy by a player -1

Discourtesy by a spectator -1

Noticeable acts of courtesy +1

Sportsmanship Matters

I got tired of sportsmanship being a sidebar.
Our coaches can ignore sportsmanship completely, perhaps miss a game or two and move right on.
Normally sportsmanship is a tie-breaker; however the top teams rarely are close enough that they would be in a tie - so there was no real reason to cultivate sportsmanship.

Last year we tried tying sportsmanship to the points accrued; for instance, if the team would have normally scored 10 points for a 3-0 shutout, but only receved 90% of the sportsmanship points (missed 2 points, for instance) - the team would only receive 9 points.

This really only affected a few of the mid-level teams, so once again was not a real attention getter.

THIS year, we have a new plan:  if a team fails to maintain 95% of their maximum sportsmanship points - they are not eligible for playoffs, after season play, etc...

We have met the enemy, and he is us...

Well, our RC had a family emergency, and had to leave the state.
As you may know...August is a KEY time in the life of a region - Games start in September!

So a number of concerned board members got together and started doing what needed doing:
We found and assigned division commissioners.
We tried to prep the field(s).
We inventoried our goals (poor shape).
We generated our calendar:

1. We set regular meeting dates.
2. We set a field prep date.
3. We set a field marking date.
4. We set coaching class dates!
5. (Referees were already handled...)
6. We set a field lottery date.
7. We set a date to FORM TEAMS!
8. We set a date to get the game schedule out.
9. We set Coaches meeting dates.

We got more done in two weeks than what got done in the last four months!

EXTRA program?

We just had a meeting on the EXTRA program.

The thought is the we are losing AYSO players to club; and that is bad.
I think it is bad that club as watered down their programs so much that their entry level teams are in reality on par with AYSO teams.  The other thought was that we establish an Academy Training program that is outside of AYSO and club, and players play in the EXTRA team depending on skill and training.

I am opposed to having the Extra play at the same time as our regular season; I feel that players will abandon their "regular" team whenever there is a training or game conflict with the Extra program, which isn't fair to their teammates.  Right now it looks like the plan is to play in Extra during the spring, where it will be an elite level above recreational and select.

I suggested that we stay inside AYSO's national program, for insurance and other liablility protection.

More to follow...

2011 is on the way!

Here we are, on the cusp of the 2011 season. A perennial problem for most regions is Referee retention.  One of the major factors (cited in various publications and verified by our own experience) in losing referees is having to deal with abusive parents and coaches. It doesn't help that we take our brand new, inexperienced referees and throw them into the U10 division - which is both our largest divisions and the first competitive one for many parents, and they really don't know how to behave properly!

One of the ways to combat abusive people is to make sure the referee is confident in their skills; another is make sure that they have a place to go with concerns and questions.

I called this"putting a face on the referee program"; since most of the referees get nine hours of face time with the instructional staff and then we push them out the door.

At the U10 field we put up a pop-up tent, tried to staff it up for the day, and passed out a flyer with some sort of training point.  It also was a place for them to put down their referee bag and hang out with their peers and staff.

I think it was fairly successful, and I am hoping that we have planted the seed for retention.