Mebane Youth Soccer Association

Parents and Coaches,

As August begins, we’re busy working to assign a record number of players to teams across 12 Recreational divisions. We’ve adjusted our dates a bit:

Week of Aug 10th: Rosters out, coaches contact teams
August 16th: Rec Practices Start
September 10th: Rec Matches Start

Coach and Team Manager workshops will be held in mid August (dates coming soon)

We still need coaches at a number of age groups to ensure everyone gets a chance to play this season. At the younger age groups, if you are good with kids, you can coach. We will provide training and equipment for you. At the older age groups – we really need some experienced coaches to consider coaching a team their child is not on, or some assistant coaches to finally make the jump to head coaching.

U5 Boys: need 1-2 more
U5 Girls: need 1-2 more
U6 Boys: need 6 more
U6 Girls: need 3 more
U7 Boys: need 1 more
U7 Girls: OK
U8 Boys: OK
U8 Girls: need 1 more
U10 Coed: need 4-5 more
U12 Coed: need 3-4 more
U14 Coed: OK
HS Coed: need 1 more

[Take your child's age on July 31st, add one and put a U in front to get their 'soccer age' like 'U'nder 5 or 'U'nder 12 (includes U11)]

Please contact Alan Huffman at [email protected] if you are interested in coaching or have questions. He will get you in touch with the proper division coordinator as well as our Director of Coaching who can help you with preparing for your team. If you coached last year – don’t assume we know you plan to continue coaching. If you aren’t listed here: http://soccersys.mebanesoccer.us/teams.php then let Alan know you still want to coach!

As you can see, we need a LOT of coaches. It can be a scary prospect to agree to take a team, but it can also be a very rewarding experience. We’ve managed not to turn any players away for 8 years now and would like to keep that streak alive – so consider volunteering today!

We expect to have over 95 Recreational teams this season. Every one of those teams will need a team manager. Once teams are announced, if you think you can help your coach with team administration, please let them know. The league provides an extensive handbook to help you manage a team: http://mebanesoccer.us/files/2008/10/MYSATeamManagerHandbook_v1_3.pdf

Due to a number of factors (coed split in U5-U8, U8 (1yr) to U10 (2yr), coaches aging up or retiring, etc) this Fall will see *significant* upheaval in terms of team rosters. So there is a VERY strong chance your child may not play for a team they’ve been on for a few years or if they are, the team may be very different. This is not a bad thing. It will allow us to re-balance and ensure all divisions are made up of competitive teams. This means some more effort is required as we assign coaches, identify sponsors, and so on. So we appreciate your patience.

Once rosters are assigned, links to paperwork will appear in your online parent accounts. Complete that paperwork and bring it to your first practice along with your $30 registration fee.

We also are facing a significant issue with field space this year. The soccer complex was in rough shape after the Spring season, so we’ve decided to keep it closed until after Labor Day to allow the turf as much recovery time as possible. This means all practices will be at alternative locations (Mebane Baseball Fields, the Eurosport Soccer Center near Buckhorn Rd, etc) in August. So for the first three weeks, most Rec teams will likely only have ONE practice a week. When the complex opens in September, we should be able to provide teams with a 2nd practice slot like always. However, we will still be utilizing other facilities throughout the Fall. So if your team does not practice at the main complex, don’t take it as some type of ‘hardship’. The turf at the baseball fields is in great shape and the Eurosport Soccer Center is a fantastic facility. Our league is growing and the days of everything being located at one facility are coming to an end, so please be prepared for that.

Enjoy the rest of your summer and we’ll see you on the fields soon!