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Abbotsford Soccer
Club Registration
I hereby certify & agree to carry out fully all rules & regulations of
the Abbotsford Soccer Association (ASA) WAIVER AGREEMENT:
In consideration to play under the auspices of the ASA, I do hereby, for
myself, parents and or guardians, heirs, executors, administrators, and
assigns, remiss, release and forever discharge the ASA, its officers,
successors, member associations and anyone acting on their behalf from
all manner of litigation, damage claims or demands in law or in equity,
which I may have or acquire by reason of personal injuries to myself,
loss or damage to myself or property, which may occur during or by
reason of my participation in practices or games under its jurisdiction.
This certificate has been issued at the discretion of the association
and may be suspended by them for cause.
REFUND POLICY No refund issued if a player participates in a game - All
requests for a refund must be made in writing and must be received prior
to August 15th of the year in which the season is to start. Up until
this time a refund of the registration fee less $50 per player will be
forwarded to the player, parent or guardian. Requests for refunds
received between August the 15th and September 1st will be eligible to
receive 50% of the registration fee.
NO REQUESTS FOR REFUNDS WILL BE ACCEPTED AFTER SEPTEMBER 1ST
Mail all requests for refund to:
ASA Box 492, Abbotsford, BC, V2S 5Z5
How does our
Club work
There
is a lot of misunderstanding and mystery as to how the club runs.
Hopefully this will help you understand the process. Please take a few
minutes and read this, a lot of time could be saved if we all knew a
little more of the process.
First of all we are a club, not a league. Our club is a part of the
Fraser Valley Soccer Association for Boys and Central Fraser Valley
Girls for Girls. These groups or Districts collect our fees and are the
link between our club and the British Columbia Soccer Association. The
BCSA in turn are registered to the Canadian Soccer Association, who is
affiliated to FIFA. Each of those bodies gets a cut of your
registration fees.
This is how soccer is run in the World!
Our teams/leagues/cups are organized this way.
Any group of clubs may form a league in order to provide competition for
their players. These leagues have to be approved by BC Soccer and must
conform to certain standards. Sometimes it takes several districts to
ensure enough teams are in a league. (This is why you may see 4
District or 5 District on the league scheduling) You may see that for
example Gold and Silver teams are in 9 District but bronze/red may be in
4 districts. ) This is because there are more bronze teams than gold.
The girls have slightly different names/districts but the logic remains
the same.
The Select League for Boys and the Metro League for girls have been set
up to offer a high level of competition. These teams play in the
Provincial or A Cup. Winners of the Provincial Cup represent B.C. at
Nationals at U14, U16 and U18. These Championships are played all over
Canada during the Thanksgiving weekend annually. The U13s and U 15s
only play to provincial Championships.
The B Cup is played for by gold silver and upper level bronze teams
except for U13 gold teams who play for the Provincial A Cup as the
Select/Metro system does not start until U14. Each district declares a
champion from U13 to U18, who then go on to play other Lower Mainland
District Champions. This culminates with a Coastal Championship.
Finalists go onto Provincial B Cup Championships during July
Bronze, Red teams normally play to a conclusion within their individual
District, Girls silver B teams play in a C Cup.
Sometimes to conclude leagues there is a “League or Conference Cup”
that totally confuses everyone as they are often not advertised at the
beginning of the season and are mixed up with District and Provincial
Championships. Next season we will work to make the Districts and
leagues get a schedule out which makes sense to everyone.
Our big job within the club is to organize the 2000 young players we
sign, into teams.
We have to attempt to satisfy the needs of players, friends, parents,
babysitters, carpoolers, people who do not want to play with each other,
etc, etc whilst attempting to achieve the aims of the club, which is to
strengthen the sport in our club, province and country, by getting
players to play at the level at which he or she is challenged and can
improve. Our aim is to give every player in the club the opportunity
and environment to reach their potential if they so desire. Our
programmes try to give all players the opportunity to play university
soccer. We are realistic and accept that some players will not reach
that level. Our job is to make sure that everyone gets the chance.
Our season starts with registration, which starts as close to March 1st
as possible. It is completed by June 15th.
All players will register and pay the flat fee as determined by the
club executive. We encourage registration on line, but registration may
be completed at the office during business hours or at the extra times
advertised on the ASA web page and newspapers. There is an added cost
of $5 for office visit registrations.
Traditionally, team selections for U11 to U18 players begin in May.
Teams will be selected to play at the Select, Metro, Gold, Silver and
Silver A Levels. At this point we try and find out what players want to
be involved in our Development programmes.
During May, “squads” of about 45 players will be selected and, over a
period, teams will be selected. We expect the squads to be completed by
the June 15th. At this point the players for the above
teams will be withdrawn from the system, leaving the players in the
system for the bronze, silver B and red teams. Bronze Boys coaches will
be selecting players who want to play at a little higher level than the
red system. Beginning July 1st we need to nominate teams we
are entering. This starts with Select teams and concludes with bronze,
silver B and red teams. This should all be concluded by August 1st.
Various districts then make up the leagues and divisions. The club
has no say in where we go, we recommend where we would like to see teams
go, but we have to accept that schedulers have many clubs to consider
when scheduling.
We need volunteers who will look after the administration of all the age
groups. We have to diversify the work over the next couple of years. If
certain key people in this club decided to quit we would have some
serious problems as there is not a very good system in place for
hierarchal change. Many of our problems are caused by too few people
having to do too may jobs. A few good people with a couple of hours to
spare here and there would solve many problems. Two years ago we
decided to institute a volunteer fee (as do a majority of clubs) this
would mean that we could pay a little to people to do the jobs we could
not get volunteers for. We were forced to abandon the idea but
volunteers still did not step forward. Up to a few years ago coaches
had to pay for lime and mark fields prior to games. Now all fields are
lined and nets are up (unless they get stolen). It has become easier
for coaches to look after the players and not worry about other
matters. You do not have to become part of the “board” unless you wish
to stand. You never know, you may enjoy learning how to look after a
club of 2500 players of the greatest game in the world !
We as a club hated to turn players away and we tended to allow late
registration that completely messes up all planning. Last year we
registered over 400 players after registration is complete. This year
we will not do that, we will advertise dates and how to register and
observe the registration dates.
Reorganization for 2008/2009
The Select League for Boys has made the intelligent decision to have
leagues at U14, U16 and U18, which are the National Years. There will
be no U15 or U17 League. There will be Division 1 and Division 2 at
U14, U16 and U18.
There will be free movement between teams and players may be selected
to play Division 1 or Division 2 each week. Players will train together
and teams will selected by the coaches based on their playing and
training performances. Games may be played, Friday evenings, Saturdays
or Sundays and it is possible that that a player could play 2 games on a
weekend. We have done this at U18 Boys Select level for the past
season and it has been most successful. Teams have to be fixed on
January 15th annually for Cup Play. Generally, we will have
the younger boys playing in the second division and the older in the
first. We say generally because team selection will be based on
performance and not on age.
The regulations regarding girls’ play do not allow us play under those
conditions. We are working on it but until such time as it happens we
will train the girls in the club in exactly the same way, but as far as
playing is concerned, they have to be allocated to a specific team and
there will be no movement of players.
We want to make sure that players get the training they require so we
have changed our training system for the next season. The schools of
excellence will no longer exist in their current format. Although they
have been successful and many good players have been produced, the
timing is not ideal and many kids who want to be involved are unable to
do so.
We have divided the club into three sections, at U11 to U18 for both
boys and girls. All training fees will be extra to the basic
registration fee.
Programme A
An age group Head Coach will be hired for each of the Following groups,
U11, U12, U14, U16 and U18 Boys and Girls. All Mariners will be involved
The system for the Mariners Teams will include training twice a week
for one and a half hours each. All sessions will be under the
supervision of either the Club Head Coach or the Age Group Head Coach.
The Head Coaches will also be in attendance at matches on a rotating
basis.
There will be no Development Fees or School of Excellence fees. The
costs for Mariners will be $70 per month from September to April.
All payments must be made by direct deposit if the payment of $560 is
not made “up front”
U11 and U12 will pay $40 per month September to April or $320 “up front”
Programme
B
There will be a second level of training for Gold, Silver and Silver A
teams.
Training for these teams will take place twice a week and will have a
similar method to the current Development system.
Players involved in this system will pay $200 for the season’s training.
Payments may be made either at the beginning of the season or monthly by
direct debit at $25 per month. The Head Coach for this group will rotate
around the teams in a similar way to the current development system.
Teams for this system will be chosen as they are selected. They may be
Gold, Silver, Silver A, Bronze or Silver B. Teams will apply for
training in this system and will be recommended by the Head Coach.
Programme C
The Hurricane teams are all teams remaining after the above teams are
selected. These teams are aimed at players who want to play soccer but
do not want to get involved in a formal training system. They will
probably play in the Red, Bronze or the Silver B Leagues. They will
train, once weekly, and play in the appropriate league on the Weekends.
There is no further charge for the Hurricane system players beyond the
club registration fee. There will be a scouting system in place amongst
all the coaches to ensure that players are not missed who may be capable
and desirous of playing at higher levels. There will be opportunities
for all coaches at this level to be “mentored” by coaches in the “A” or
“B” programmes
The
Mini Programme
At U6 and U7 the Wee Kickers will remain untouched. There are no teams
and virtually no “coaching”. The object of these two years is to try
and get the youngsters familiar with the ball and gives them total
freedom, free of adult interference. It is successful if the player has
a love for the game after the two years. The Wee Kicker’s season runs
from July through October annually. We ask that the Wee Kickers
register as early as possible as numbers are always limited and we have
limited time to organize after registration is complete
At U8, we have the opportunity to stream the youngsters. Some
players/parents want to set off on the development ladder and some just
purely want to play. The kids who want to develop also aim to have fun
but there is a purpose in their training which is difficult to achieve
within the team system. This system carries on through U10.
The development system is called the Academicals and incurs a further
charge of $160 per year that may be paid at $20 per month by direct
debit. Qualified coaches supervise the Academicals programme with the
Head Coach in charge. Academicals programme is co-ed.
The team programme is called the Mini Kickers. Players are assigned to a
team and play weekly at Exhibition Ball Diamonds. Our first priority
during team selection is to ensure parity amongst the teams. There is no
further charge for Mini Kickers beyond the annual registration fees.
The Mini Kicker programme runs through U10.
At U10, Academical players will be taken over by a Head Coach for twice
weekly training.
The cost will increase to $30 monthly or $240 for the season.
Fields
Fields are always a problem and will always be so. We have to apply to
the City during July annually to get our allocation of fields. These
are given to us sometime during August. It is then necessary to fit all
our programmes onto the fields allocated to us and that is sometimes a
challenge. Things have improved with the new turf field but the problems
will not be totally solved for several years yet.
As far as match fields are concerned we are currently unable to allocate
a home field and time for a specific team in all cases as there are not
enough fields to go around. If, for example, a majority of our games
were at home on a particular weekend, we can have up to 70 games to work
into a tight field schedule. We receive the schedules usually very late
and the games have to be slotted in. When fields are allocated, the
referees need to be taken into consideration. We have a limited number
of refs in the club and they have to be used efficiently. For example,
if we were allocated a game on a specific field at noon and another at 4
we would probably move one game to 2 pm so we could get the referees
back to back. We could then move him on if necessary.
It is necessary to make a home schedule on a weekly basis that is
published on our web site by Tuesday each week.
Kit
We are getting more efficient at the ordering and distribution of kit
each year.
We order kit by the beginning of the year. Numbers are based on the
number of teams from the current season. We order 16 shirts and a
goalkeeper sweater for each team playing 11 a side, and 14 shirts and a
G.K. sweater for each 8 a side team, recognizing that in the younger and
smaller teams, the same player is not the goalkeeper all the time.
At that point we do not know which team anyone will be playing on and
have no idea of individual sizing.
Kit is sized based on averages of several clubs around the Lower
Mainland
Kit comes to us in June and if we have all got registered and coaches
were in place it would become easy to get the kit to them, solve any
sizing problems and have the kit ready to go in August for pre season.
Instead, we are struggling with the kit up to October.
Hopefully this will give some idea how the club is organized. If we get
the registration and the coaches organized in a timely fashion, the rest
will fall into place.
Summary
U6 and U7 The Wee
Kickers
Season July to October
Twice a week July to September, once a week September and October
(September when ball diamonds are available)
Registration fee $175 no further
fees
U8, U9 and10 Mini Kickers
Season September to end of February 21,
Train once per week outside until October on fields and nights at
coaches’ discretion. Once per week in school gyms thereafter. Coaches
are asked to request evenings and gyms but there are no guarantees as we
are given the allocation by School Board. The teams play once per week
on a Saturday at the ball diamonds, at Exhibition Park.
Registration Fee $175 no further fees
Academicals
Season September to end of February 21,
` Train twice per week and one game on a Saturday. Training
venues will be decided when field allocations are complete, but we would
like to get the Academicals more aligned with the mainstream development
programmes.
As well as training players the Academicals trains coaches. All
programmes are supervised by qualified coaches, but parent/volunteer
coaches often carry out some programmes. When the club registration is
complete we will write to all players eligible for Academicals and
further programme descriptions
Registration Fee $175
U8 and U9 Monthly Coaching fees $20 per month or $160
pre season
U10 Coaching Fees $25 per month or $200 pre season
U11 and U12
Season September to end of February.
Development
teams
(up to 3 of each gender)
Training will continue into April
Teams play 8 a side, they train twice weekly.
Play on small school field with smaller goals. They may play anywhere
on the Lower Mainland
Registration Fees $235
U11 and U12 Coaching Fees $40 per month or $320 pre season
Non Development Teams
Remaining Players will be allocated to teams, we attempt to limit teams
to no more than 12 per team to ensure ample playing time. Usually the
travel for these teams is limited to the Fraser Valley. Training is
normally at a Ball Diamond, either Ellwood or Ex Park.
Registration Fees $235 no further fees
U13 to U18
Registration Fees $235
Further fees apply to the following
A Programme Players $70 per month
B Programme Players $25 per month
C Programme Players No Further Fees
There is a $5 admin fee for all registrations made in person in the
office.
There is a $50 late Fee for any registrations made after June 15th
NSF cheques are subject to a $25 service fee. Player registration is
revoked until full payment is made.
For parents in need of financial assistance please check out Kids Sport
http://www.sport.bc.ca/programs/kidSportBC/
Obviously the one factor we cannot control is the weather. This can
play havoc with our programmes. Our turf field is going to help but may
not be able to completely solve our problems as we will not know how
much turf time we will have until August each year.
All players will receive shirt, shorts and socks. These are the
property of the Abbotsford Club, until the completion of the season,
when they will become the property of player. In the event of a player
quitting during the season the shirt must be returned to allow the
replacement to play. At the end of the season a replacement shirt of
similar value will be issued to the original player.
Be sure to read and agree to the Refund policy before registering.
We are very excited to announce that we have just received a $25,000
sponsorship from SoccerCity which will directly benefit all players
within the club. All registered Abby players will receive a card worth
$10 each that can be used at a SoccerCity store. The new store in town
is eagerly anticipated. We thank SoccerCity for their continued support
of our club.
All players will receive a Family Pass worth $45 to all home games of
the the Abbotsford Mariners men’s team who will be competing in the
United Soccer League’s Western Conference of the PDL. This high level
league will bring teams such as the Whitecaps, Brigham Young University,
Tacoma, Spokane, and Yakima into Abbotsford and we hope as many young
players as possible will come and enjoy this high standard of soccer.
The games will be held at Bateman Park.
There is a tax credit available now for players 16 year old and
younger. Abbotsford Soccer considers that the whole amount paid in
registration fees is eligible as all is necessary for the child to
play. Please note that in the following document it states that it is
not necessary to include the receipt with the Income tax return. It
does state that receipts must be retained for 6 years. Please check at
http://www.cra-arc.gc.ca/fitness/#il.
Although the above rules, regulations etc are necessary to administrate
the club, the district and the province, we all must remember that
soccer is played on the field and should be played by the kids with a
sense of pleasure and enjoyment. It is a simple game, often over
complicated by coaches and parents. We at the club level do our very
best to ensure that game is played with a sense of fairness and joy, but
we need the help of all our members.
Have a great season!!
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