WOYSA 2007 / 2008 Season
Questions & Answers

Q: What is different this year?

Answer: WOYSA has now made the transition to the USSF mandatory fall – spring season. The 2007 / 2008 season will begin with the first fall games on Saturday, September 8 th , 2007 . There will be a seven week fall session ending on Saturday October 25 th , 2007 . Recreational league soccer play will then break for the winter, and resume a seven week spring session in May of 2008.

Q: How will this change the way we’ve always registered to play soccer in the past?

Answer: Coaches were given registration forms to hand out to the players on their teams on the final weekend of this spring session (June 23 rd ). Parents or guardians will have until July 21 st to mail in the completed forms to WOYSA. There is also “walk-in registration” scheduled for Saturday July 21 st at Shove Park Field House, from 9:00 till 11:00 am.

All registrations received which are postmarked by July 21 st , will be guaranteed placement for the 2007 / 2008 season. Registrations postmarked after July 21 st will be placed in a waiting list. If space is available to fill in individual team rosters within any Division, these registrations will be given to that Division Director for assignment.

Q: How will we be notified about our child(s) placement on a team?

Answer: Division Directors will make placements prior to the August 22nd coaches meeting. Coaches will be given their rosters at this time and begin contacting players. You should expect to hear from them sometime shortly after this date. 

WOYSA will make every attempt to grant player and parent requests for placement on teams or with specific coaches. However your child may be reassigned a different team depending on the situation. Please remember that assignments made by WOYSA Directors are final.

Q: How much will the Registration fee be for the 2007 / 2008 season and what is included?

Answer: $65. The registration fee includes the cost for providing each (U8 thru U12) player with a new uniform, the total costs for referees game fees, team equipment issued to coaches (soccer balls, goalie jerseys, first aid kits, etc.) training classes for our volunteer coaches and referees, field and equipment maintenance and repair, background checks for every coach & parent volunteer, and the medical and liability insurance that WOYSA is required to carry for every player, coach, assistant, referee and league volunteer.

In addition to these annual costs WOYSA has allocated funds toward the development of new playing fields over the past several years, including the Pope Memorial Soccer Park in Lakeland and a second field at Bishop Ludden High School.

This season we will be facing the added challenge of renovations at Camillus Middle School and Split Rock Elementary School . Between these two sites, we will loose the availability of five playing fields to schedule games on.

We will incur expenses for preparing replacement fields for use the next two years while these locations undergo renovations. Game time scheduling and team practices may be affected by field availability as well.

From 2001 thru 2005 WOYSA's registration fee was $55. In 2006 the fee was $60. We believe that our registration fee is a comparable value based on other recreational youth soccer organizations in Central New York including;

• Baldwinsville Youth Soccer - $75 for fall & spring league play.
• Fulton Youth Soccer - $80 for fall & spring league play
• Marcellus Youth Soccer - $50 fall & spring league play (league costs are offset by entry fees to the Marcellus soccer tournament & concession revenues)
• Fayetteville-Manlius Soccer Club - $30 for fall only
• Oswego Youth Soccer Association - $45 for spring only league play

Q: What determines the age division in which my son/daughter will play?

Answer: Players will be placed in divisions based on their “soccer age”. The “age matrix” which determines your son/daughters age will be posted on our website and the age groupings will be shown on the registration form.

Players may request to “play up” into another age division, but may not “play down” into a younger one. These requests will be decided by league officials on a case by case basis.

Q: How do the various age divisions teach my child the game of soccer?

Answer: Our micro soccer program is available for children ages four thru seven, based on the age matrix table found on our website. The micro soccer program consists of a weekly one hour session, emphasizing learning of soccer skills thru fun & game activities. There are no "teams" at this stage and no "traditional" games played.

Volunteers from local high school soccer teams work with the children on these activities. Parental participation is encouraged as a way to assist our volunteers, and enable parents to also learn the game with their children. In the latter stages of the micro-soccer program, the kids will play small sided (4v4) games shooting at pugg goals for fun.

When players graduate to the U8 Division, they are sorted into co-ed teams and play a 7 v 7 game format with goals and keepers. One game is played weekly on Saturdays, and parents can expect coaches to schedule one practice each week, typically on a weeknight at a time and place of the coaches choosing.

In the U10 and U12 divisions, teams are sorted by gender. Games are played using an 8 v 8 format with goals and keepers. One game is played weekly on Saturdays, and parents can expect coaches to schedule at least one practice each week, typically on a weeknight at a time and place of the coaches choosing.

Coaches are expected to attend coaches educational clinics, in which they will learn age appropriate skills to teach their players. In addition, these clinics may cover topics such as injury prevention, nutrition, teaching young players and rules of the game.

Q: What are the rules for playing soccer ?

Answer: The WOYSA age appropriate rules are posted on our website at www.woysa.org . Click on the link “ Coaches ” on the Home Page, then click on the link WOYSA Soccer Rules .

For those wishing a more advanced look at the “Laws of the Game”, you can find these at www.drblank.com/soccer “The Laws of the Game”.

In addition, there are specific rules and guidelines for parents which can be found by clicking on the Parental Responsibilities link. Please take the time to read and understand these rules.

The emphasis of our “House” Recreational soccer program is to have FUN! Anyone wanting to take the game to the next level for competition and commitment may register in our Travel Division.

The two rules we emphasize in our Recreational Program the most are;

1. No One shall distract or talk to the referee(s) during play. Any questions about calls or explanations of rulings shall be made during the stoppage of play between the periods and should be in the presence of both coaches and both referees.

Expectations by parents should be based on their child having fun, developing skills and wanting to continue playing. Parents are encouraged to cheer for their children and the players on the other team in a positive manner. Do not criticize your child, their teammates or coaches, members of the other team, or the referees. 

2. Let the coach, coach. Please refrain from coaching players from the sidelines during games, this is the responsibility of the coach. Additional directions may be confusing to players who have been told by the coach what is expected of them.

There will always be a need for volunteers in our organization. Step forward and volunteer to help out as a team coach, assistant coach or team parent volunteer.

Q: Who can I contact with additional questions?

Answer: Go to the index on the Home Page of our website, and click on Contact Information. Check the DIVISION DIRECTORS list for your son/daughters group and email any questions you may have to them.

Q: I would like to see additional changes made to this soccer program. What can I do about it?

Answer: Great Question!! The dates and times of board meetings can be found on the league website. We invite you to attend these meetings and make your thoughts known to Board members. Better yet, have a direct say in WOYSA policy making. Become a board member or organization volunteer. The amount of time to fulfill the various positions varies, commit what you can. The satisfaction you get from helping the over 1,000 boys, girls, coaches and assistants is priceless.