If you are injured
during game play contact the Safety
Director for the proper injury forms.
A Reminder that the last day for registration is going to be on September 3, 2008. We will be having a walk up registration at Tempe Sports Complex on September 2, 2008 starting at 6PM. Checks made to "AYSO 5005" ,please. New players please bring copy of drivers license and signed waiver. Thanks! SFA TEAM
A Reminder about AYSO Principles and What Makes Our League Different
The next season of soccer is quickly approaching. The board of AYSO Region 5005 is excited for the new season to begin as we are sure the rest of you are. It is an exciting time because we are all looking forward to playing each and every Sunday night throughout the season. It's with this in mind that we want to remind everyone of the philosophy behind AYSO in general and how they apply to our league. AYSO was founded upon five principles. These principles are:
Everyone Plays
Balanced Teams
Open Registration
Positive Coaching
Good Sportsmanship
While the principles are the same they are interpreted slightly differently by the adult leagues than they are for the children. The youth regions divide the players into groups based upon age and location and they switch them up every season to divide the talent evenly between teams. In the adult league we don't have the player base to divide by age and we have found that players are more likely to return if they can continue to play on a particular team or change teams if they need to. So, instead of dividing divisions by age we divide them based on competitiveness. We have three divisions and the teams in each division are all important to the league. These divisions are separations based on the overall skill level of the players on the team. However, being in any one division doesn't mean anything other than you have been placed there so that you can play teams that are more closely matched in skill level. The champion of any of the divisions gets the same reward as the champion of any other. They get t-shirts or some other token of their accomplishment and if the team was in division two or three then they may be promoted to the next division higher. It's important that we all remember that we are playing for fun first and if things work out then maybe a t-shirt at the end of the season.
We have changed the rule regarding the number of male and female players allowed on the pitch at any one time. This has been changed back to allowing teams to play 8 men on the pitch at any given time. This was decided by a majority vote at the coaches meeting. The reason for the change was to help prevent teams from having to play short if they couldn't get 4 women to every game. This does not mean that the limit is 3 women on the pitch at any one time it is ONLY a limit on male players. Just as it's not fun when teams have to play short it's not fun to sit on the sidelines and watch others play or to run up and down the pitch just to watch the others on the team get touches. The primary reason we all play is to have a good time and that is hard to do if you are not in the game much or when you are your teammates don't pass the ball to you. The least talented players should get a chance at as much playing time as the most talented players. Obviously if someone is not fit enough to play half of a game then they shouldn't but they should have the chance to play as much as they want. Remember that everyone plays and should be included as much as possible when they are on the pitch. If getting everyone playing time means that there are 7 men and 4 women on the pitch then it should be that way. Everyone has more fun when they get playing time and that is how we can continue to field teams and keep the league running.
Positive coaching for the kids means that we give them positive comments and encouragement. That should be the same for the adults most people don't want to hear that they did something wrong. In the youth game the coach is also supposed to be a positive role model and not allow their players or spectators to become a negative force. Over the last year we have focused on that and we have seen much improvement. The coaches have the responsibility for and are going to be held accountable for their teams behavior. This goes hand in hand with good sportsmanship. We are all adults and we should behave accordingly. We aren't always going to be happy with the way things happen during a game. Someone may foul you or you may be unhappy with a call. That doesn't give anyone the right to retaliate in any way. When things like this happen, we all have a responsibility to put a stop to it. It's not only the coach who can step in and correct bad behavior. We are all adults and we should act like it.
In closing, we on the board are ALL volunteers and we do this only for the chance to continue to play a game that we all love. We all have jobs other than running the day to day business of the league. We are ALWAYS looking for help where ever we can find it. You don't have to be a full time board member to contribute to the league. It's important that everyone's voice is heard. We would prefer it if each team had a representative become involved with the board. This would give every team a voice in the decision making process and would also help to lighten some of the work we do. If you enjoy the challenge of playing soccer we challenge you to step up and take part in helping the league.
