July Update
Hope you are enjoying your summer. Before you know it, the soccer season will start again.
Reminders
Cypress Grove Park is available for practice on Tue/Thur. Cypress Grove Park is on Rushing Lily Street, next to Cypress Village Elem.
Please double-check with your players to ensure that they all have uniforms. I do not have access to the database from the online store.
The Extra camp has been confirmed for the evenings of August 7-10. Kevin spoke with George Kuntz, who has run the camp the past several years. If you have any input regarding the drills/coaching for the camp, let us know. The field and times are tbd, depending on what allocation the city gives us.
New business
Player ID cards
In order to make ID cards for your team, we need head shots of all your players. Passport style, with decent lighting. Submit your cropped photos to us at your earliest convenience. We have over 150 player IDs to make. If you give the photos to us early, then we will have time to make your player IDs. If you wait until the last minute, right before all the tournaments at the end of August, then we will not have time to do your ID cards, and you will have to do them yourselves. Player IDs are required for games and will be checked by referees.
Coach and referee training
The Area Supercamp is coming up on Friday-Sunday, August 18-20, at Orange Coast College in Costa Mesa. The Supercamp will have coaching and referee classes for all levels. After the Supercamp, classes will be available at different locations and times, but most of them will be basic level courses. All courses are free. Registration is not open yet, but save the date if you're interested and let your parents/potential referees know. We will let you know when registration opens. Coaching certification requirements are listed below. Assistant coaches have the same requirements as head coaches.
DivisionBirth yearCoach certs
U92009U12
U102008U12
U112007Intermediate
U122006Intermediate
U132005Advanced
U142004Advanced
U162002/2003Advanced
Section meeting
Each year, Section 11, which governs our Extra teams, requires a representative from each Extra team to attend the coaches meeting. This year, our own Todd Taylor will run the meeting on Thursday, August 31, in the evening, probably at the Tustin Community Center again. It is a great opportunity to review the Extra program guidelines and ask questions directly to Section without having to go up our usual bureaucratic chain of command. If we have additional region specific information to pass on to you, we may meet after the Section meeting for a short period of time. For information about Extra team and game requirements, please see the Extra guidelines at http://section11extra.org/guidelines-2/
Fall practice
We will be sharing a Google sheet with you soon to ask for your fall practice requests. You may practice twice a week, either MW or TTH for 1.5 hrs each day. In the fall, each team has prepaid coaching sessions with a UK coach one day a week. Because we have 2 UK coaches, we schedule the practices to maximize the sessions on any given day. That means there will be 6 blocks of practices for you to choose from: MW 4:30-6:00, MW 6:00-7:30, MW 7:30-9:00, TTh 4:30-6:00, TTh 6:00-7:30, and TTh 7:30-9:00. Indicate your practice block request on the Google sheet.
Goalkeeping Academy
Goalkeeper training will be on Sundays starting in the fall. We expect all teams to send two players to the training and for the team to split up the cost among all the players. Goalkeeping requires a big commitment from the player and deserves the support of the entire team.
Tournaments
Here is a shortlist of upcoming tournaments that you may be interested in for your team:
JUSA 8/15-16, $350 team fee, http://www.jusa.org/signature-tournament
OC Kickoff Classic, 8/19-20 girls, 8/26-27 boys, $545-$695 depending on age, http://www.ockickoffclassic.com/
Tustin Scrimmage 8/26, free, http://www.tustinayso.org/page/show/2022556-tustin-fire-extra-scrimmage-day
Irvine World Cup 9/2-3, $450-$595 depending on age, https://home.gotsoccer.com/rankings/event.aspx?EventID=59659
We're not sure if Costa Mesa will have their annual McMillan Tournament over Labor Day. Their website does not mention it, and their Jack Hammett fields are currently under construction.