2015 Spring Important Dates
Coaches Training- Thursday, February 19th or Saturday, February 21st
First practice: Week of March 2nd
Parent Meeting: End of First Practice on March 2nd or 3rd
Uniforms Distributed: Week of April 6th
First Soccer Games: Saturday, April 11th (Arrive 15 mins early)
Mid Season Coaches Appreciation Meal: Wednesday, April 15th, 2015
Breakfast at Chick-fil-a starting at 7:00am or Lunch starting at 12:00pm
Picture day: Saturday, April 18th (Different Game Times)
Week Night games: Weeks of: April 20th/21st and May 4th/5th
Coaches Appreciation Weekend: Saturday, May 9th
“End of Season” Bash: Saturday, May 16th after each game at Park
Final games: Saturday, May 16th
ROAR Soccer Club Spring 2015 Manual www.roarsports.org
Welcome to ROAR Spring Soccer!
Dear Soccer Coaches,
Welcome to another season of ROAR Soccer. We are very excited to have you as part of our ROAR coaching staff.
ROAR is an outreach program whose main purpose is to share the good news of Jesus Christ through our involvement in the community. The impact of ROAR does not come from what we do in the office but from your involvement with the kids on the field. We thank you for taking the time to spend with them. Whether you are teaching children rules about soccer or talking to parents after a game, you are showing the love of Christ to these precious families.
Please make sure to read this manual all the way through. In this manual you will get information on:
· Pillars and Philosophy of ROAR
· Little Kickers Rules
· Series A Rules
· MLS Rules
· Premier Rules
· Practice Information
· Game Information
· Coaches Information
· “End of Year” Bash at Westminster Park
· Your Testimony
· Important Dates
We thank you again for all your of hard work and love!! Blessings.
Brent Williams, ROAR Director
Email:
Office: 803-366-7627
Lulu Merrill, Assistant ROAR Director
Email:
ROAR Mission and Vision Statements
Mission Statement: To Glorify God and to see lives transformed by Christ through sports.
Vision Statement: To reach, make, and train people of York County to become disciples by building relationships and sharing the gospel through sports and summer camps.
Our Mission Statement is accomplished through:
o Prayer
o Building relationships
o Devotions
Philosophy (Pillars of ROAR Sports)
Mission Field
“So God created man in His own image...” Genesis 1:27
People are valued not because of their performance, title, role, etc. but because they are made in the image of God.
ROAR Soccer is a league of encouragement. The greatest way to motivate is to affirm and encourage children for the effort they are putting forth. Yelling and screaming at kids is demoralizing and poorly represents Christ. You can ruin your testimony, as well as ROAR’s, with one simple word or tone of voice. Please keep the precious ears of your players on your mind and heart. Every child is of equal value regardless of his or her athletic ability. We want to assure children and their parents that their child will get equal playing time even if their skills are less than that of their teammates.
Equal Playing Time
All players get equal playing time on the field. Please insure that you keep up with those who sit out so that everyone has equal playing time.
Prayer before Game Starts
Both teams will meet at the center court to start the game off with prayer. The home team will lead prayer. Please pray for safety, unity, great time, and of course, fun!
The Other Team is NOT the Enemy
We want to have a field full of encouragement and good times so please remind your players that the other team is not bad. If there is a situation with a parent/coach or a foul that you think a player on the other team is committing please follow the steps below:
1. Call a time out and ask the other coach to step to the side. Without involving any other parents, coaches, or players, talk over what concerns you have and come up with an agreement on what actions need to be taken.
2. If the same issue arises after this conversation, call for a time out, ask the coach to step to the side, and call over Brent, Lulu, or a Commissioner to help with the situation.
3. If the first two steps cannot resolve the situation, either the player, parent, or coach will be asked to sit out for the rest of the game or leave the fields.
Relationships and Representation
Relationships are the key to influence. All of our coaches represent ROAR as a whole. We ask that you remember that you are representing God, an organization, and your family. We encourage you to know your players and their parents and allow them get to know you. Show them that you care and want to help in any way you can. The more you can interact with the kids and their parents the greater opportunities you will have to make an impact. Make sure you have a parents’ meeting at the first practice and use the rosters prepared for them with parent’s names as well as the names of the children participating. This will help to facilitate relationships among the parents.
Teachable Moments
Teachable moments are those times when you are in the middle of practice or a game and your team/player is actually feeling the results of sin in sports. This is a great time to teach character issues. Take a time out or pull a child to the side if he/she is:
· Frustrated about losing
· Rubbing it in to other players if winning
· Upset about teammates not passing the ball
· Not sharing the ball with others
These are moments where you can encourage the child (or the parent) in grace and wisdom.
Competition
Competition is everywhere. We believe that competition is not sinful at all, but problems can arise when your team starts losing or a child is not listening. ROAR holds our coaches accountable for their actions so we encourage you to take time to pray and think through before you act on feelings of frustration and anger.
3D-Devotionals
Every practice includes a 10 minute devotional that can be done with your team before or after practice. We have prepared some devotionals that can be found in the devotionals section of your coach’s notebook. 3D-Devotionals include a skill that is introduced in practice and then applied to the devotion. It is VERY IMPORTANT for you to review your devotional before practice to get an idea of how to relate the skill and devotional. We also encourage you to invite parents to the devotion so that they too can hear the Word as their children hear it!
Consistency
We want kids to have fun AND to develop good habits for the future. Additionally, it is our goal to create a safe environment in which we can develop children in their skills. To this end, we encourage your consistency with rules at all times. For example: If a player does not throw a ball in correctly, you do not have to give it over to the other team but rather have the player throw in again while you explain the correct technique.
ROAR Soccer Club Rules
ROAR Soccer Club is divided into 4 Divisions:
Little Kickers (4K-5K) Boys and Girls combined
· 10 teams with 10 per team
· 5 vs. 5 with Pug Goals (no goalie)
· Four 10-minute quarters
· 1 minute break between quarters
· 3-minute break between 2nd and 3rd quarter
· Games start at 8:30am (Arrive at 8:15am)
Series A (1st-2nd) Boys and Girls combined
· 10 teams with 10 per team
· 6 vs.6 (One of whom is the Goalie)
· Four 10-minute quarters
· 1 minute break between quarters
· 3-minute break between 2nd and 3rd quarter
· Games start at 11:00am (Arrive at 10:45am)
MLS/Premier (3rd-6th) Boys and Girls Separated
· 4 Boy and 4 Girl teams with 10-12 per team
· 8 vs. 8 (One of whom is the Goalie)
· (Two) 22-minute halves
· 5-minute half
· Free substitution with equal playing time for all players (Look at Substitution Rule)
· Regulation U9 Goals and Field Dimensions
· Games start either at 9:00am or 10:15am (Arrive 15 mins early)
· Boys on MLS/Premier Field 1; Girls on MLS/Premier Field 2 for games
· Coaches must stay in “Coaching Box”- Details Below
· Off-Sides will be enforced
· Penalty Shots (Look at rule below)
· All Parents must sit on the opposite side of the field from the benches to ensure quality of play for coaches and parents
Little Kickers Rules:
· All Games will start at or before 8:30am
· Each Game will start with prayer; Both teams will meet in the middle of the field
· Home Team will open in prayer
· Every child must play equal time providing he/she is able and willing. When a quarter is over, all players on the bench must come in to play the next quarter!
· No off-sides rule enforced
· No hand balls which includes arms. Hand balls are enforced
· No penalty shots!
· Can use head – need to teach proper technique.
· No goalie: Teams are not allowed to put a player on top of the half circle near the goal. All players must “move” with the ball as it goes up/down and left/right! If the ball is on one side of the field, the other team must be with it!
· Goal Kicks: are awarded when attacking team kicks the ball over the end-line (also called the goal line). Ball can be placed anywhere on the half circle to be kicked in to start play again.
· Corner kicks: are awarded if defensive team kicks ball over their goal line.
· Balls that travel across the sideline will be put back in play by use of a throw-in. You’ll need to teach proper skill for a throw-in. Ball must go behind players head while throwing in the ball and come straight over their head and release ball when its slightly behind your head. Let arms follow through. Both feet on the ground and may not step over the line.
· Bad Throw Ins will be enforced. Child will get a second chance to throw in again but if this results in another bad throw in, the ball must be turned over to the other team.
· Play continues until whistle blows. Coaches please blow whistle when ball goes out of bounds and have team throw it in.
· No pushing with hands or arms.
· No kicking, slide tackles, or dangerous play allowed – penalty will be an indirect kick for opposing team. Note: no direct kicks will be given under any circumstances for our league.
· After goal, ball returns to centerline and is kicked off by team that was scored upon.
· Games will be refereed by the coaches (Little Kickers and Series A).
· After game, teams line up and shake one another’s hands.
· Please leave the field (clean) with your team ASAP as the next game starts immediately.
Series A Rules:
· All Games will start at or before 11:00am
· Each Game will start with prayer; Both teams will meet in the middle of the field
· Home Team will open in prayer
· Every child must play equal time providing he/she is able and willing. When a quarter is over, all players on the bench must come in to play the next quarter!
· No off-sides rule enforced.
· No hand balls which includes arms except for the goalie. Hand balls are enforced
· No penalty shots!
· Can use head – need to teach proper technique.
· Goal Kicks: are awarded when attacking team kicks the ball over end-line (also called goal line). Ball can be placed anywhere on the goal box to be kicked in to start play again.
· Corner kicks: are awarded if defensive team kicks ball over their goal line.
· Balls that travel across the sideline will be put back in play by use of a throw-in. You’ll need to teach proper skill for a throw-in. Ball must go behind players head while throwing in the ball and come straight over their head and release ball when its slightly behind your head. Let arms follow through. Both feet on the ground and may not step over the line.
· Bad Throw Ins will be enforced. Child will get a second chance to throw in again but if this results in another bad throw in, the ball must be turned over to the other team.
· Play continues until whistle blows. Coaches please blow whistle when ball goes out of bounds and have team throw it in.
· No pushing with hands or arms.
· No kicking, slide tackles, or dangerous play allowed – penalty will be an indirect kick for opposing team. Note: no direct kicks will be given under any circumstances for our league.
· After goal, ball returns to centerline and kicked off by team that was scored upon.
· Games will be refereed by the coaches (Little Kickers and Series A)
· After game, teams line up and shake one another’s hands.
· Please leave the field (clean) with your team ASAP as the next game starts immediately.
MLS/Premier Rules:
· All Games will start at or before 9:00am or 10:15am
· Each Game will start and end with prayer
· Off-sides rule enforced.
· No hand balls which includes arms except for the goalie. Hand balls are enforced
· Penalty shots will be assessed on intentional fouls inside the “18”. Whoever the foul is against must kick the penalty shot.
· Can use head – need to teach proper technique.
· Goal Kicks: are awarded when attacking team kicks the ball over end-line (also called goal line). Can be placed anywhere on the 6yrd. box to be kicked in to start play again.