Parent Info Packet 2010

At the Annual General Meeting on Monday, March 30, 2010, team representatives will be asked to vote on Park City Soccer Club Club fees for the 2010-2011 program year.
Proposed Club fees for the coming year are as follow:
.      Full-year and U10 League teams: $1275
.      High school level teams: $900
.      U9 boys and girls teams: $1000

Fee changes

Is it necessary to raise fees this year?
There is no change to participation fees this year. The Board made every attempt to provide increased levels of training, tournaments, camps, and other opportunities for players, without increasing fees. High school teams train with Park City Soccer Club outside of the high school training and competition season, which amounts to 9 months of training with Park City Soccer Club. This includes winter training, tournaments, team and functional training and more to keep these players in competitive shape year-round. Remember that it is advantageous to pay Club fees in full at tryouts, as those who choose to break up fees over three payments will pay a $25 per family service fee per payment for the second and third payments.

What do fees pay for, for full-time, X-League, and high school level teams?
Park City Soccer Club fees pay for:
§        Year-round training
§        Salaries for professional coaching
§        Indoor winter training in the Field House
§        Fall and spring competition seasons
§        State competition fees
§        Referee fees
§        Goalie training
§        June summer training camp included with fees (June 21-24), August camp player discount as part of Park City Soccer Club membership (August 16-19).
§        Two tournaments per year, including the Park City Extreme tournament in August, and one other tournament of each team’s choosing.
§        Field fees
§        Team equipment
§        General Park City Soccer Club administrative costs: Web site, post office box, printing, etc.

Will there be additional expenses throughout the year, or is this the only fee we will be expected to pay?
The Board has made every effort to make the registration fee all-inclusive for a year-round program. Other expenses depend on individual team choices. Each team is allowed the flexibility to attend additional tournaments at the recommendation of their coach, approval of the coaching director, and approval by the majority of team members/families. If teams make this choice, there will be additional costs, including a portion of the entry fee, coaches’ expenses, and personal travel expenses. Also, teams often decide to do off-season competition (futsal or indoor league in SLC), which has an additional cost. This is up to individual coaches, teams and players. Some players choose to participate in additional training for personal growth and improvement, such as private coaching or TOSH acceleration training, at their own expense. Finally, if teams plan social functions, or provide gifts or tips to coaches, these expenses are arranged and paid for by the families on that team.

Will fees be paid all at once, or broken down into multiple payments?
It is critical that families honor their financial responsibility to the Club. Late payments are problematic for the Board treasurer, and we rely on on-time payments to allow us to pay our coaches and other expenses in a timely manner. Families are encouraged to pay their entire Club fee at registration. If this is not possible, arrangements may be made to pay fees in three installments: $650 at registration (many Club costs are front loaded), $325 at the end of September and $300 in Mid January. An additional $25 service fee, per transaction, for both the second and third payments will be charged.

Players receiving partial or full scholarships are still expected to pay $325 for the “hard costs” associated with their participation. If families are not able to make the payment in full at registration, they may make an initial payment of $125 at registration/tryouts. The remaining balance will be required to be paid in two installments $100 due July 1^stand $100 due Sept 1^st, or arrangements for payments to meet this obligation, may be made with the Club treasurer when scholarships are granted in June.

B teams will be limited to 25% of the team being on scholarships. The Club will pay up to $100 toward scholarship player’s team tournament costs for those players receiving a 75% scholarship. All scholarship players will be required to return their uniform to the Club when they stop playing with Park City Soccer Club. Scholarships will be awarded based on financial need, special hardship and merit. All scholarship players/parents will be required to volunteer 4-6 hours during the year.

*Note that only families whose payments and obligations have been met in a timely manner in the past will be permitted to participate in a payment plan. Those who have not made their payments on time previously will be required to pay their obligation in full at registration.

Are new uniforms necessary this year? Do we pay a uniform fee?
New uniforms are not necessary this year for the majority of the club. New uniforms are only required for new players or for age groups moving from the “starter” uniform to the full club uniform. Parents will be required to pay for uniforms outside of the annual tuition for participation. The current cost of the full club uniform is $285.00. That fee includes three shorts, three jerseys, socks, bag and warm-ups with a jacket. The uniform should be purchased with the idea it will last a participant 3 full years of use. New or replacement pieces are available to order through a club uniform representative.

What is the Club’s policy on scholarships, and what is the process for scholarship recipient selection?
A scholarship committee has been established to evaluate scholarship applications and award Club scholarships, based on financial need, special hardship and merit. Also, corporate donations to the scholarship fund are being cultivated for the benefit of our players receiving scholarships.

As described above, most families that seek scholarships are required to pay some amount toward the Club fees. Scholarships are not offered to recruit top rated players.

What information is on the Club’s Web site?
The Web site (www.parkcitysoccer.org) is used as a tool to provide information on off-season training opportunities, tournament information and if team managers are active in updating their team pages, team status, photos and game results. Please check the Web site frequently for updates and information. Also visit the Utah Youth Soccer Association Web site (www.utahyouthsoccer.net) for information on soccer statewide.

Other club information

These are guidelines from the coaching staff and may be altered for the benefit of the team, participant and club.

If there are two teams in an age group, how will the “A” team and “B” team be selected? What will the role of each team be?
If an age group is lucky enough to be able to field two teams, the teams will be divided according to player ability by the coaching staff. The A team is considered most ready for the highest level of competition possible, with the B team more focused on player skill development and competition in a lower division. The “B” team should not be considered “development” in terms of equal play for all players (that is the role of recreational soccer programs). As “B” players progress in their ability, they may be given the opportunity after tryouts to move up to the “A” team. Likewise, if an “A” team player might benefit from increased playing time, he or she might be encouraged to move to the “B” team for the next program year. All player movement is at the discretion of the Coaching Director and the coaches involved.

Once a player is selected to a team, will the player remain on that team for the program year?
The size of the selected teams will vary according to individual age groups, and coaches retain the right to add additional skill-appropriate players who might move into the area during the summer months that follow tryouts. In addition, the coaches and coaching director may choose to move players from “A” to “B,” or “B” to “A” teams at mid-year. A player named to a “B” team, if he or she exhibits demonstrable skill improvement over the summer, may be eligible for movement to the “A” team in August, prior to the fall game season. These decisions will be made based on player performance, attitude and commitment. As always, the “best players play.” This is competitive soccer, and players will be expected to continually advance their skills as they move through the program year. Players on both “A” and “B” teams will often train together, and support one another’s games.

What is the Practice Roster and how does it work?
The practice roster is a tool developed to allow invited players to train with the club without holding a place on a team roster. There are players who come to the club and want to play but there may not be space on a roster or their skill level may not be adequate for this player to hold a roster spot. The practice roster allows this player to develop their skills with the team for a monthly fee.   Practice roster players are required to have a UYSA tournament pass; they are eligible to participate in tournaments as well as practice with a team. They are not eligible for regular season game play. Participation on the practice roster is by a coach’s invitation only. All non-rostered players practicing with the club are required to be placed on the practice roster.

What will be the tryout schedule this year?
Tryouts will be held on multiple days over a two-week period to allow a more comprehensive evaluation of all players. Tryout this year will be held May 17-21, and May 24-28, tentatively scheduled at Willow Creek Park.

What does training consist of throughout the year?
The Club offers two summer camps, the Park City Soccer Club Academy, additional training with individual coaches, functional training, drop-in training, goalie training and a longer schedule of team training in the spring, fall and winter training seasons. Our schedule now reflects year-round play for Park City Soccer Club players.

This summer’s Park City Soccer Club camps will be held June 22-25 (cost included in player fees) and August 17-20 (nominal fee of $125 for Park City Soccer Club players to participate, and $225 for players from the community at large.

What kind of player feedback can parents expect?
Coaches will provide regular feedback to their players. Parents can contact their individual coach to set up an appointment to discuss their player’s individual development. This appointment should be set up ahead of time for a specific time and place. The time before or after practice or a game should not be used for this appointment unless previously arranged. If the parent or coach would like to discuss a specific incident, the coach is required to wait 24 hours after the incident before discussing it with a parent. This “cooling off” period allows the coach, parents and players to put some distance between themselves and the incident. This appointment time should be used constructively by coaches and parents to focus on the players’ individual strengths and areas for improvement, and ensure that the player has a clear understanding of their performance abilities, in order to set specific performance goals.How can parents be involved in assisting teams and supporting coaches?
Parents can be involved in assisting their teams at the direction and delegation of the team manager. Our volunteer team managers are fabulous and have a huge job to do. There is always some piece of this responsibility that can be handed off to a dedicated parent volunteer. Parents can support coaches by controlling their emotions on the sidelines and addressing any issues that come up with the coaches directly, and in a timely manner. If a positive outcome is not achieved after a discussion with the coach, the parent can contact the Coaching Director and if necessary, a Board member with the concern. This is the most efficient method for a group of people to respond to an issue consistently.

How will the Club communicate among the Board, coaches, team manager and parents?
Communication methods the Board uses include:
§         An informational meeting prior to tryouts to address parent and Club expectations and guidelines
§         Regularly scheduled team meetings (prior to spring play, in June, at a minimum) to address team issues and information
§         Meetings between coaches, team managers and the Board during the year
§         Club Web site for dissemination of information
§         Club-wide meetings and socials

How will the Club address consistency and progression for X-League players?
The Board handles the managerial, financial, and legal aspects of running the Club. The Coaching Director is given license over the programming aspects of the Club. The Coaching Director is currently reviewing our options with X-league and may eventually choose to develop our own program and forego X-league at the U-9 and incorporate U-9 teams into the newly created academy for U-8’s. X-league creates problems with roster size limitations, the options for multiple team play, schedule and travel. Currently, PCSC is maintaining the X-league as a developmental program to prepare players for the Competition League, according to UYSA guidelines.   “Developmental” however, does not mean all players will get equal playing time. Playing time in competitive soccer is based on demonstrated player ability. If an individual player and his/her parents are not satisfied with the amount of game time he/she is getting, please discuss it with the team coach with an open mind, and a willingness to seek additional training and/or self practice outside of the regular team training sessions.

What is the Academy Program being talked about for younger players?
Park City Soccer Club is introducing an academy program for players age 7-10 to serve as a “bridge” between recreation soccer and our full year competition program.    A pilot program will run this spring and will continue this fall. The constraints of UYSA’s X-league make it very difficult for Park City Soccer Club to build adequate sized teams at young ages in our community. Park City Soccer Club staff will oversee the program.   These teams would participate in games with teams from other clubs of similar age and development. These players are required to have a UYSA “rec” card, although their teams are not administered under the UYSA umbrella.
Costs for Spring 2010 (through June 3): $150
Cost for Fall 2010 (July 15-October 31, 2010): $250 estimated
Cost for Spring 2011 (January 15 – May 31, 2011): $250 estimated

What can younger players do to prepare for competitive soccer?
The “Spring Indoor Soccer Academy” is run by Basin Recreation in conjunction with Park City Soccer Club coaches. This is a seven week program for 5-10 year olds. Ages 5-6 practice 1 hour per week, ages 7-10 will practice 2 hours per week. For more information, please contact Basin Recreation.

Why do coaches sometimes coach more than one team?
Players in the Park City Soccer Club are coached by former and current professional soccer players. To attract and retain these highly qualified coaches in our program, we must help them to be able to afford living in Park City by paying a fair wage, and allowing them the flexibility to coach two teams. We hope that by doing this, they will have less need to take on outside jobs that would conflict with their love of coaching soccer.

Is it possible to avoid scheduling conflicts between teams that share coaches?
Every effort is made to avoid scheduling conflicts between teams that share coaches. Unfortunately, our schedule is determined by UYSA. The schedule must accommodate a variety of variables including field and referee availability, balance between home and away games, hours of daylight, etc. There are approximately 60 divisions of teams in UYSA this spring, with an average of at least 9 teams per division, totaling well over 500 teams. With each team playing 2 games per week, and no play in Utah on Sundays, this averages over 50 games per day during the week statewide, and approximately 150 games on Saturday. UYSA schedules over 20 games per week for PC Soccer Club alone. When high school teams are added to the scheduling process, it becomes quite complicated indeed. There is a great deal of pressure involved in trying to schedule a season of play, and as a Club, we have no control over what the State gives us.

How will scheduling conflicts be handled, and how will they be communicated to parents?
The coach and the team managers of the teams involved will sit down together and sort out the schedule, trying to divide the coach’s time equally between the two teams affected. Reschedules are also possible, and encouraged, when they are easy to accomplish; sometimes this is as simple as changing a game time or switching Home vs. Away play with another date during the season, so the coach can have two back-to-back home games and attend both. This alternative will be part of the process as well, and both teams will be expected to participate. No team has priority over another, regardless of how long a coach has been with either team. Also, in any instance in which scheduling conflicts negatively affect a coach’s teams, the Coaching Director is prepared to step into the coach’s position wherever needed to cover his/her team.

What is the Club’s position on tournaments?
The Board and the Coaching Director feel that tournament play is essential to Club soccer and therefore anticipate all teams will participate in a minimum of two tournaments annually. It is preferable for teams to attend three, four or more tournaments, depending on the team’s age and level of play. Families can expect that one or more of these tournaments will be held out of state. Also, the Coaching Director expects that we will be participating in more winter tournaments, for older players in particular, to involve the players in full-field competitions during the winter months.

Due to the foresight of current and former Board members, The Club has taken the necessary steps with UYSA to host our own tournament in Park City. Our tournament is currently a Comp League Tournament, held during Arts Festival in Park City, the first weekend in August. Heather Fox is our tournament committee chair, and is currently taking names of people interested in joining the tournament committee.

In addition to our home tournament, the Club provides for the registration fees for one other tournament for each team. Teams who choose to participate in additional tournaments do so at their own expense.

Please note that the Park City Extreme Cup tournament is the primary fundraiser for the Club. Members of the tournament committee are seeking community corporate sponsorship to support our Club tournament. If you are able to assist with sponsorship, either through your company or contacts you may have, please contact Ginger Reis at ginger@altitudeem.com

The Park City Extreme Cup is a very important event for our Club, and requires a great deal of work and planning. Therefore, please note that each family will be required to volunteer at least two shifts during the tournament for each player in their family. If you are not able to volunteer during the tournament, you must serve four volunteer hours during tournament planning. We need everyone’s help to ensure a top-quality event, a great experience for all the players, and a successful fundraising effort.

How will the Board provide support for team managers?
The Board considers the volunteer team managers our link to each individual team, and provides support through team manager meetings and a team manager handbook with input from both team managers and Board members. The Board is committed to ensuring strong, effective communication with team managers, and meeting as necessary to address Club issues. The Board has also identified support positions to help the team managers manage the many details of coordinating their teams and making arrangements.

Thank you for your active involvement in the Park City Soccer Club. We are committed to working in partnership with you to ensure the strongest possible competitive soccer opportunities for all the players of PC Soccer Club!

The Park City Soccer Club Board of Directors for 2010 -11