No child may participate in any MTSC activity (game or practice) until the child has completed registration with the Club and with OYSA. As a coach, you must have the white registration sheet from our Registrar, for every one of your players. Further, you should have the registration sheets with you at all activities -- both to establish that your players are registered, and for the medical background information and authorization which is included on the form. Failure to adhere to this policy has the potential to:
Two adults must be present at all club or team activities involving children/youth. This is primarily to ensure that there is sufficient supervision in the event of an injury, an external threat of some kind, or any other interruption in the normal flow of the activity. It has the excellent side-effect of protecting the coach against any suspicion of improper conduct. Our club insists on the two-adult rule. Please let your parents know about it, so that they are more inclined to volunteer to be that second adult.
You are welcome to keep your club-owned equipment if you are going to continue coaching next season. Otherwise, cycle the gear back through our equipment rep Dale Montgomery, for proper inventorying. Keep equipment dry and clean, and know what you have in your safekeeping! The important club-owned items are nets, popup goals, corner flags, pinnies, and goalie equipment. Cones and balls take a lot of abuse and generally need replacing after a year or two anyhow, so they don't matter as much.
For equipment to use at practices and games, our Equipment Representative, Dale Montgomery, is the guy you need to get to know. He can set you up with our standard set of team equipment for your team's age group. Contact Dale at equipment@mttaborsoccer.org, or by phone at 503-234-9298.
For equipment expectations and policies, see the Equipment Page.
This applies to U9 - U14 teams. For each player we receive a new OYSA member pass each fall season. They must be laminated with a photo by the first game of the season. Why? PYSA has exhibited some flexibility on this point in prior seasons, such as allowing bare passes (no laminated pics) for the first game. Smart money says someday they're going to stop being flexible. Appoint a parent to produce these passes for your team. This parent needs a way to create or obtain recent pictures of the players. This can be done by asking them to email one, or by taking some snapshots at early practices. It's easy and quick if you're well-organized. Laminating machines are available at Kinkos. Arrange eight passes at a time in 8-1/2 x 11 sleeves (well spaced apart), run them through the laminator, and then snip them apart with scissors, leaving some melted-together plastic all around for protection from weather.
If you want to put them on a ring you'll have to punch a hole in them. Make sure the hole goes through some of the paper. (Find an unused corner.) If it only goes through plastic it will rip out easily.
MTSC strongly recommends that the coach retain the passes for the duration of the season, pulling them out only at matches, and returning them to safekeeping afterwards.
One last point: Don't leave a match without your member passes!!! Some refs prefer to keep the passes for the duration of the match, which is their right. At the end of the match you need to get them back. It might help you to think of trading the ref's AR flags for your passes. It is very important not to leave your passes with the referee when you leave the pitch.
Match locations sometimes must be changed owing to field conditions. Occasionally a match will be just plain canceled. PYSA's web site will list the change or cancelation by Friday at 5:00 p.m. To avoid disappointments, coaches should check the PYSA website every Friday evening.
Telephone the opposing coach to confirm the time and location of the match, review responsibilities for nets and flags, and discuss any other special considerations. A copy of your match schedule is snail mailed to you by PYSA at the beginning of the season. Keep it safe! This paper copy has opposing coach phone numbers. Phone numbers are not usually listed online.
Be friendly, cooperative and creative with the opposing coach. Imagine that you and the other coach are team-teaching; in fact you are. If we are the away team and the home team cannot fulfill their duties (corner flags, a decent ball, etc) it is OK to offer help. An opposing coach has the right to play at full strength even if you are short-handed. An opposing coach has the right to refuse to accept guest players even when his team is short-handed and you have too many players. Remember that there are no consequences to winning or losing in this league. The coaches, cooperating with one another, are the foundation of a civil and productive match. Work with, not against, the other coach. It is a good idea to locate both benches on one side of the pitch and all spectators (anyone without a member pass) on the other. This allows the coaches to work together if necessary. You will still be responsible for the behavior of your parents, so cultivate a sense of respect (or at least the ability to zip it!) in your parents.
Soccer is a player's game. Please remember that this game is for the kids. If you want to yell while they are playing, do it at practice. Be quiet at matches. The kids often learn as much from a blown call as they do from a correct call. This is especially true at U13 or U14 where discussions of the hypothetical blown call or non-call will run for minutes on end. And the last thing any of us wants is a ref who changes his mind based on which coach yells louder.
Our referees are learning. Many of them are themselves youth rec players. There is a proper way to provide feedback to referees: the PYSA Referee Report Form. Please fill one out if you have something you would like to say to the referee, or the referee's employer. They are available online on the PYSA web site (see Links). The coaches are the adults in charge. If you feel the referee is unable to control a violent or abusive match and your players are in serious physical or emotional danger, you might decide to abandon the match. Remember there are no consequences to winning or losing in this league.
Those of us who have coached in MTSC for many years take great pride in the way our club carries itself. When we are at our best we are the model of sportsmanship. We want to be the club others prefer to play against—win or lose! As a Mount Tabor coach you are an ambassador for our neighborhood and a role model for your players.
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