GRAND LAKE UNITED
Everything you need to know…in no particular order !!!
ASSOCIATION & LEAGUE
OSYSA (Ohio South Youth Soccer Association) / MVYSA (Miami Valley Youth Soccer Association)
SPONSORSHIP
We have packages available where local businesses can sponsor our club or teams, helping defray some of our costs.
WHAT IS A “CARDED” PLAYER?
Once a player signs the MVYSA Membership Form, they are “carded” to that club for the Fall and Spring seasons. This basically means they are unable to be recruited (except for guest playing) to play for another club until the day after Memorial Day. It also means that the player is pretty much “under contract” to that club. This is a system that is universally used in American soccer. There are circumstances where a player can leave a club, but those are rare.
Just because a player is carded with GLU, they are not “forced” to play either season nor are they required to pay the season fee. In other words, if a player only wants to play the Fall season, they can do that and only pay the Fall fee. They are, however, still carded and “under contract” with the club during the following Spring season.
INDIVIDUAL TRAINING SESSIONS
If you or your player would like a 1-on-1 training or evaluation, please contact your head coach.
SCRIMMAGE TOURNAMENT
Every pre-season, we try to organize a pre-season round-robin scrimmage with GLU teams and other area clubs. We solicit donations during the scrimmage to benefit TopSoccer, which enables children and adults with physical and mental disabilities to play soccer.
SEASONS
Fall: Mid-August thru October
Winter (Indoor): November thru February
Spring: Mid-March thru May
We are on Facebook at “Grand Lake United”
PLAYING UP
Playing up (having your child play in an older age group) is an option that may be presented to you by the coaches, and is at that point a decision of the parents. No player will be forced to play up unless personnel and roster needs make it necessary.
Starting in Fall 2016, U9’s can ONLY play up to U10. All others can play up as many years as they want, but we do not recommend playing up more than 2 years.
FEES
· New players = $240 for first season (includes first uniform)
· Returning players = $170 per season
** Fees supply you with 8 league games and 2 tournaments per season
** There may, of course, be some other things you can pay for, such as camps, optional tournaments, indoor season, uniform updates etc. Even after doing a camp, an optional tournament, and indoor, you still pay less than other clubs in the area and have much more autonomy to make your own decisions.
** We have a strict “No Pay, No Play” policy. Fees must be paid in full to participate in games and tournaments. You may participate in practices if you have not paid in full, but you must be paid in full for games and tournaments.
UNIFORMS / SPIRIT WEAR
Albert Sporting Goods in St. Marys is the supplier:
121 Spring Street, St. Mary’s. OH, 45885 (419-394-4012)
Team managers typically coordinate uniform and Spirit Wear orders
CAMPS
There are many camps throughout the year that are encouraged, but not mandatory:
· Coerver Camp – August – Botkins
· MVYSA Camps – typically in July – one week for goalies / one week for strikers
· Challenger Sports
· Camps runs by local high schools
· ODP
· Etc.
TRYOUTS / CUTS
· All players, new and returning need to register and be at May tryouts
· Unless we simply do not have a spot on a roster, we will not cut any player that tries out
· MAY TRYOUTS ONLY = An invitation will be sent within 48 hours after the tryout, with a cutoff date to accept. If a player does not accept by the date, they may risk losing their spot
ONE-SPORT SPECIALIZATION
While we believe kids should be “well-rounded,” we still expect them to be dedicated to the team once they have committed
OVERALL PHILOSOPHY
Successful youth sports programs must achieve the following to survive and thrive:
· Fun – if you spend this much time, money and effort on something, you had better have a good time doing it
· Development - we will always try to develop for the next age level. Our long-term goal is to develop players to play well at the high school level. College players get there because of their own extra efforts, as only 3% of all high school players will play in college, with only 1% getting a full-ride scholarship. Kids have a much better shot of college scholarships through academics.
· Decent On-Field Results - shoot for at least a .500 record – many times, if club teams lose too much, players will become frustrated and quit and parents will not want to pay if you don’t get at least an average on-field result. We should not expect to win every game, but we will expect the players to bring 100% effort.
ATTENDANCE
While we understand that kids will do and should do other activities, we have a philosophy:
· Since this is a “select” / “club” sport, attendance at practices and games is expected. If your child is not attending regularly, concerns about playing time, development, or team performance may not be taken seriously. If you intend to speak up, you need to show up.
· An unexcused absence occurs when we have no contact from parents relating to the absence. We understand things come up – all we ask is the courtesy of notifying the coaching staff if you have to miss or an emergency comes up.
· Players that miss games or practices for whatever reason should expect that playing time may be negatively affected. It’s not fair for players who show up all the time to have playing time taken by someone who doesn’t.
KICKIN’ IT IN THE DARK 3 v 3 TOURNEY
· All teams will participate in GLU’s “Kickin’ It In The Dark” 3 v 3 tourney in July. It is the major GLU fundraiser of the year, held in Wapak.
FUN STUFF
We like to do fun “off-the-field” stuff as well:
· Watching high school and college games together
· Columbus Crew games
· Being ball gatherers at girls and boys high school soccer games
· Etc.
GUEST PLAY POLICY
· From time-to-time, players may be asked to “guest play”
· Guest-play may be “intra-club” or “inter-club”
· IMPORTANT – if your player intends on guest playing for another club, please notify your head coach as well as the Secretary of GLU. This helps us monitor two things: 1) Players have a limited amount of guest play games per year, and 2) It helps us monitor the relationship between the player and the host club to make sure no recruiting violations are occurring.
PRACTICES
Practices are set by each team’s head coach.
VIDEOGRAPHER / PHOTOGRAPHER
We encourage anyone who has the desire to take video and photos of the players in action and submit them to the club for publication on our website and/or Facebook.
FLIP GIVE
Flip Give is a program that allows anybody to shop online for items they may have already purchased, but with a percentage of the purchase being given back to the club.
SPIRIT PACK
There is a link on the website for SpiritWear orders