OUR MISSION: Our mission is to develop sound young men and women that will be the leaders of tomorrow. Our coaches are dedicated to teaching the fundamentals of teamwork and good sportsmanship through soccer. Villages Soccer offers training and instruction to athletes ages 4 and up, during the spring and fall seasons, as well as weekly camps during the summer. Support the sport! _____________________________________________________________ At Villages Soccer, we differ from other clubs, first and foremost, by taking the focus away from the score of the game, which is often a very misleading measurement of improvement. Rather, we emphasize the individual player's development. Everything else becomes secondary and everything else will follow.
The tactical aspect of the game is taught primarily through the use of small-sided games with various and progressive objectives. We want our players to learn through game experience, instead of the constant prompting from coaches, so that they become decision makers on the soccer field.
The Villages Soccer Association is aware that development takes time. Therefore, patience is what we expect and demand. Patience from the coaches, the parents and the players is a key to our success. We want every single child that enters our club to fall in love with the game and to enjoy and play soccer for life! What ages can play soccer with Villages Soccer? The "age group" of a soccer player is determined on August 1 of each year. Your "age group" holds throughout the academic year until the next summer. The youngest players for the Villages Soccer are "U6" which stands for "Under 6. You have to be 4 or 5 years old to play U6. For 2011-2012 academic year, a child must have been at least 4 years old by July 31, 2011. You have to be 6 or 7 to play U8, etc. In the Spring and Fall, we run leagues U6 through U18. If you want to sign-up for an upcoming season's program go here: "Sign Up to Play" You can also use this same link to review your existing season's program. We encourage you to go back often to review your family participant's registration and team status information. Who runs the Villages Soccer? The Villages Soccer program is a community based organization. Under the guidance of the BASL Soccer, Villages Soccer benefits from their centralized administration and professional management. Being community based, there is almost always some assistance needed with various tasks throughout the seasons, so please feel welcome to contact us and get involved! Who chooses the coaches? Coaches are volunteers who love the game and desire to support youth activities in our community. They often follow their children as they grow in the sport. BASL supports our coaches with professional assistance on a BASL run training day each week. Often older age group teams and their coaches might elect to do team practices in addition to our arranged training time each week. Confer with your team's coach regarding additional team practice time. If I sign my child up, how much will s/he get to play? Our typical seasons are 7-8 weeks long, usually spread over 8-10 weeks because of holidays or weather cancellations. For all U6-U10 teams, everybody plays at least half of the game. Beyond that, playing time is determined by the coach, based on a player's practice participation, enthusiasm and the tactical needs of that particular game. I've heard through the grapevine that Villages Soccer is "competitive". What does that mean? Our U6-U10 program (Pre-K-5th grade) is strictly recreational. No scores are posted within our house-league program nor are standings kept. Team formation is based on registration receipt and is done by a computer algorithm. We emphasize individual player development rather than winning as a team at these ages. We emphasize teaching soccer skills "the right way" in a fun, age-appropriate, game-based environment. We also emphasize the importance of good sportsmanship with players, parents, and referees. There are no tryouts or player evaluations of any sort. You just sign up and we get you on a team! During the sign-up procedure we request information on what school your child is attending. We do use this information to try to develop "neighborhood" teams with children attending the same schools if possible. This way your child may recognize a few of their friends within their team. It also allows for the development of an informal middle and high-school feeder system for better development of those school soccer programs. Where/When will the Villages Soccer games be played? League games will be played at Palencia Park located within the Palencia Village off of Philips Highway and 9 Mile Road (International Golf Parkway). These games will be conducted on Saturday mornings. We try to arrange games so that players with interests in multiple sports can compete in those sports as well. However, there are times where schedule conflicts cannot be avoided. Who coaches the teams?
U6-U14. Parent coaches are the direct game-day coaches and also are expected to be leaders for their team's training sessions. Please let us know if you are interested in being a parent-coach. My child has signed up for soccer. When will I hear something? Updates regarding team assignments and coaching assignments are posted on the www.villagessoccer.com web site and updated regularly. Team and coaching assignments are done based on the date that registration is received. Coaches are to contact players approximately 1 week prior to practice. If your child has not been contacted, you are urged to check the web site. If no coach has been assigned to your child, that usually means the club is still working to obtain a volunteer coach. If the club is unable to get a parent or other volunteer to step up, we will work with BASL to provide coaches and trainers to help out and ensure top quality. BASL has over 3000 active adult soccer players in our area, many of them licensed and experienced trainers. We're going to our first practice next week. What should we bring? A big smile, a water bottle, shin guards with socks that cover them and a ball. (U5-U8: size 3; U9-U12: size 4; U13+ size 5) Soccer cleats are preferred, but sneakers are acceptable for the youngest ages. Cleats are recommended for U10 and older players. Soccer cleats are different from baseball cleats in that they do not have a central cleat in the front toe area. If you have rubber baseball or multi-purpose shoes that have a central, front cleat, just cut the front stud off. No metal cleats are allowed. Are there special rules for the younger kids or do they play the regular game? As part of US Soccer, we play "small-sided games" on smaller fields in our younger age divisions. We strongly endorse these small-sided games because they give greater opportunities for every player to touch the ball and achieve success, something that is critically important for our younger players. There are some other simplifying rules as well. You can see all of them on the appropriate age group program pages, but here are the highlights:
What about tournaments? Generally, U10 and older teams make the decision whether to play in extra tournaments on their own. Villages Soccer will enter tournaments after the Fall 2012 season. Until then, teams are responsible for their own entry fees. |
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Soccer At Our Parks! Villages Soccer is managed by BASL Soccer and is a proud member of the Villages Athletic Association. We provide youth soccer training and instruction to the children of the World Golf Village area, ages 4 and up. Our mission is to develop sound young men and women that will be the leaders of tomorrow. Our coaches are dedicated to teaching the fundamentals of teamwork and good sportsmanship through soccer. Support the sport!  |
General Information |