2011 FYSA Teams
June 20, 2011
Dear FYSA Parents,
Today marks the end of another school year for kids in Falmouth as we all look forward with great excitement to summer in Maine, a very precious time.
Before you completely check out for summer, I wanted to provide you with some important dates for your calendar as well as share with you some background on the team placement process and other valuable information.
First, please mark your calendars with the following important dates:
- Week of August 15th –Many teams will be start practicing this week. Coaches will be in touch with you by early August to let you know your team’s fall practice schedule. Also FYSA will be running mini age specific training camps each day this week – details will be sent out shortly. These sessions will be a great way to get players excited for the season as well as learning experience for coaches who are encouraged to observe.
- Sunday, August 28, 2011 – The fall travel season begins August 28th with the FIRST league games. All league games are on Sundays with a possible Saturday game or two during the season.
- Labor Day weekend – all teams are entered in the Cumberland Soccer Club Labor Day weekend tournament. Teams play just one day - either Saturday or Sunday. The schedule will be distributed as soon as it is published.
- Columbus Day weekend (October 8-10, 2011) – the Falmouth Fall Classic – a very important fundraiser and community event for FYSA. All parents are asked to volunteer as much as possible, but a minimum of two hours per player they have in the program. We are celebrating the 17th year of this soccer tradition and need involvement of the entire FYSA community. Also – if you have any connections with clubs outside the Greater Portland area who you think might like to come to our tournament – please contact Janet Dye janetldye@gmail.com and Louise Hester annikahester@aol.com, co-directors of the FFC, so we can invite new teams to our tournament.
Secondly, as has been the practice for many years, FYSA posts the teams for the fall travel season after the conclusion of the school year as we have learned in the past that despite best efforts, some team placements are not always what a player was hoping for and by waiting until after school is over, we have found it is easier for players to manage the news of their placement better.
The team placement process is taken very seriously by the FYSA board and I want to share with you an overview of the process that the FYSA board, various committees, evaluators and coaches have gone through to create the fall 2011 teams.
First, after the fall 2010 season ended, the board spent time assessing how teams had been formed historically and ways to enhance the process. From this review, a preliminary document which outlines the player placement process was created. Following is an overview for the various age groups:
U9 – Best efforts, with input from parents of the age group and others knowledgeable about the age group, players are evenly distributed between the various U9 teams. This process is performed by the Coaching Committee.
U10 & U11 – at the end of the prior season (when players were U9 & U10), player rankings are requested from the then head coaches. These rankings are used to as best as possible, evenly distribute the players between the teams being formed at each age group. New players who were not ranked are evenly distributed between teams. It is up to the Coaching Committee to make an effort to have some familiarity with these players to ensure balanced teams. This process is performed by the Coaching Committee.
U12 – at the end of the U11 season, head coaches are asked to complete an evaluation form on each player which provides a little more insight and detail on the level and attributes of each player. The Coaching Committee reviews these evaluations when determining U12 teams. Players who did not play during the U11 season will be placed as best as possible. This process is performed by the Coaching Committee.
U13 & U14 – Two evaluation sessions were held with the head coaches from the previous season along with a minimum of one independent evaluator per head coach evaluating players. All head coaches and independent evaluators were required to attend both sessions to ensure consistent and fair evaluations. All evaluators/coaches used scoring categories to rate players in various aspects including technical skills, athleticism, attitude and more. In addition, all players were force ranked 1 through the number of players participating. All evaluation sheets were collected after each session by one individual who inputted the ratings into one aggregate scoring sheet which were then used at a meeting of the evaluators (and coaches in some cases) to determine teams. All team placements were run by the head coaches involved in evaluations and the independent evaluators before being finalized. This process is performed by the Evaluation Committee.
Once teams were established, the Coaching Committee meet and using coaching applications received and coaching evaluations from the fall 2010 season (these were very important to the process) head coaches were assigned to all teams. Assistant coaches are assigned by the recommendation of the coaching committee with confirmation by the selected head coach. All coaches were required to complete a coaching application and will need to have a background check performed and proper coaching credentials in place before the season starts.
We have over 335 players that we placed on teams this spring and we take this process very seriously with a great deal of discussion, care and review. If you have any questions on this process, please feel free to give one of us a call.
Also while on our website, please check out under the “FYSA News” section (upper right side) the listing of 2011 Summer Soccer Camps.
Have a wonderful summer and we will see you on the pitch in August!
Colette Twigg (415-1607), President (colette.twigg@yahoo.com)
Ron Lydick (310-8055), Coaching Committee-Chairperson
Sandra Wendland (233-7788), Evaluation Committee-Chairperson
PARENTS PLEASE NOTE:
FYSA is a non-profit organization that relies heavily on parent
involvement for a successful program. There are many opportunities
for you to be involved, and we encourage you to please help out
where you can, be it a coach, team administrator or board member. In
addition, FYSA's annual Fall Classic tournament is our sole fund
raising effort each year. It is an expectation that every family who
has a child playing on a FYSA team cover at least one volunteering
shift during the tournament. Much more on the Fall Classic in the
months to come.
FYSA News
Mark your Calendar
October 6-8, 2012: Falmouth Fall Classic
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