Happy Holidays

YTS Families,

Our fall season has officially ended and you can all take a well deserved break from our YTS program.   I hope as a family you have enjoyed being a part of our program and that you plan on returning in the spring.  Please remember you must re-register for the spring season.  Please do that as soon as you can so that we can finalize teams etc for the spring of 2012.

As a staff we hope you have a wonderful Holiday Season.  We also hope 2012 is a great year for your family, our YTS  program and CASL as a whole.

Thanks for your continued support and have a great Holiday!

WRAL Clean-up

Guys,

I should have posted this picture a long time ago!  I apologize to those pictured from left to right In the photo::


Brooke Francher, Nicole Kappaz, Braelynn Francher, Lindsey Elvington, Amanda Lugo, Brady Francher, Kate Sollom, Teresa Hupp, Graycie Elliot, Sydney Davis and Danielle Lugo.  Mark Francher (very back row) coordinated the activity in an attempt to clean-up the creek and WRAL in general.  Great job ladies! 

Tis the season...

Pictured above Alloysia Richardson, Audrey Pluska, Alanje Richardson, Lori Jones and Austin Parker visisted the the Salvation Army Toy warehouse earlier this month and delivered stockings the girls and their families filled.    Great job girls!

Happy Tuesday

YTS Families,

I hope you all had a wonderful Thanksgiving break and that you are ready to get to YTS training albeit for two weeks before we break for the Holidays.  There are several reminders so please make sure you read this post it its entirety:

Evaluations

Coaches are currently working on player evaluations.  They have until  December 16th to get these out to the players.  If you do not receive your son/daughter's player evaluation please contact me directly.

Training Reminders

The schedule is on the blog in a calender format.  Please make sure you check this so you are in the right place at the right time. 

I realize the 4.15pm start time is very difficult for families.  Please do all you can to arrive on time.  As a staff we know this maybe difficult for some families and completely understand if players arrive late.

Make sure your son/daughter brings a ball, something to drink and FLAT soled shoes.  Cleats cannot be worn on the all sport court - no exceptions.

For the Wed (U9's) and Thurs (U10's) sessions the players will work on their technique for the duration of the session.  Friday's sessions will be playing small sided games. 

When players arrive please make sure they place their bags on the bleachers and that the bags DO NOT BLOCK ANY WALK WAY INSIDE the building.  

General Info

Please remember all players will have to register again to play YTS in the spring season.    Even though you registered in the fall if you plan on returning for the 2012 spring season you will have to re-register your child.   Registration fee is not the monthly training fee.  Registration should be live online within the next week.

As I have stated in previous posts I hope you all elect to return.  If you already know you are not going to re-register your child please let us know.   We do have players very interested in joining our program and it would be very helpful for me to know this information.

We will evaluate rosters after the Holiday to see if we need to make any changes.    Please understand we don't make changes to upset anyone we make changes because we think they will benefit the players involved. 

Below is a link to US Soccer's homepage.  The U17 Men's National team just competed in the Nike Friendlies playing against France, Turkey and Brazil.  You can watch an 8 minute highlight video of the game vs Brazil and the team celebrating their championship!  Enjoy

http://www.ussoccer.com/

Should you have any questions/concerns please do not hesitate to contact me.

Happy Tuesday

YTS Families,

1. First of all I hope you all enjoy the upcoming Thanksgiving Holiday and some time away from YTS soccer.   While I know many YTS players are playing indoor soccer a break from YTS  is always a good thing.  Hopefully the players will miss training and be excited about the winter training program.

2.  If you son/daughter is playing indoor please encourage them to have fun, express themselves, and approach each game with a strong desire to compete.

3.  Once players get back from the break coaches will be emailing player evaluations out.    If you have questions about your son/daughters evaluation please don't hesitate to contact your coach directly.  If for some reason you do not receive an eval please contact me directly.  I will let you know via your team manager when evals have to be emailed out.

4.  The focus of our winter program is two fold.   First and foremost we want to continue to build good habits technically the first session each week will be solely technical work.  The second part which will take place during the Friday sessions is to focus on developing a competitive mentality.  The players will play small sided games.

5. Another great soccer opportunity to watch NCAA soccer in our back yard!


The top-seeded North Carolina Tar Heels have advanced in the NCAA Tournament and will host the NCAA Third Round this Sunday, November 27th at 1pm. Come out to Fetzer Field to see the match-up between the No. 1 North Carolina Tar Heels and the No. 16 Indiana Hoosiers!

Groups of 20+ receive admission for just $2 each! Purchase your tickets in advance by contacting the UNC Ticket Office at (800) 722-4335.

Non-group rates include $5 for youth (age 7-college) and seniors (55+). General Admission tickets are $8. Tickets can be purchased at the Carmichael Arena Ticket Office starting at noon on Sunday. You can purchase tickets in advance here: http://bit.ly/uD74CM. Additional processing fees may apply to phone and online orders.

I think that is it for me for the time being.  Enjoy the short break.  If you have questions please don't hesitate to contact me.

Thanks for your continued support.

Paul

UNC Tar Heels NCAA Tournament

This is a message from the folks at UNC about the upcoming NCAA Men's Soccer game.

Soccer Community:


The University of North Carolina would like to invite you and your team(s) to the NCAA Men's Soccer Tournament Second Round this Sunday, November 20th at 5pm! North Carolina received the No. 1 overall seed in this year's NCAA tournament. Don't miss the action live on Fetzer Field as North Carolina, the 2011 ACC regular season and tournament champions, take on the winner of Elon/Coastal Carolina in their pursuit of their fourth consecutive trip to the College Cup!

Bring your group of 20 or more and receive admission for just $2 each! Youth (age 7-college) and seniors (55+) receive admission for $5. General admission tickets are $8.

Purchase tickets in advance by contacting the UNC Ticket Office at (800) 772-4335 or online at TarHeelBlue.com here: http://bit.ly/vo3SKV. Additional fees may apply to phone and ticket orders.
We need your help to show the country just why the state of North Carolina is known for premium soccer! Please help us by spreading the word of this event. I have attached a flyer for easier distribution that can be shared via email, websites, Facebook, and/or Twitter!
See you on Sunday!

Rachel Penny

rfpenny@uncaa.unc.edu

(919) 962-5499

Happy Thursday

YTS Parents,

As our regular season draws to a close there are a few reminders below:

1.  Enjoy the last weekend of games.  Spring NCCL games will not start until February.  I will send more information on spring schedule once everything gets finalized.

2.  At this point any games that were canceled will not be made up.

3..  We will only train once next week 10's Tuesday at WRAL and 9's Wednesday hopefully at WRAL.  I am still trying to finalize and will communicate directly with team managers.

4.  Coaches will be doing player evaluations.   I will send a blank copy of the evaluation form so you can get an idea of what to expect. Upon receiving your child's evaluation you can contact your coach if you have questions or concerns.  Coaches have the option of handing out the evals or emailing them.

5.  I encourage the coaches to be as honest as possible so we can provide constructive feedback on the players in our program.  This is very important.

6.  The winter training schedule is posted on the blog and should be very easy to follow.    Always check your email in case there are changes. I understand how difficult it is to get kids to training early but in order to utilize the indoor space we have to start early.

7.  We are evaluating plans for the spring in terms of teams and the potential for player movement.   Again if we make changes we will inform families.  This also includes the playing format for the teams.  We do all we can behind the scenes to create an environment that will promote individual player development.  

8. Please remember if you plan on returning for the spring (which of course I sincerely hope you all do) you will have to register again for the spring season.    Registration will open in early December for you to do this.   Again there is a registration fee required for the spring also just like there was for the fall.   I will send an email reminder when registration is live.

9.  If you haven't taken the time to thank your team manager please do so.   Remember they are volunteering.  Please remember to thank them for their time.

I hope the fall season has been a positive one for your child overall and that they have enjoyed being a part of our YTS program.  Our coaches have done a great job with the kids overall and we are fortunate to have a great group of guys/girls that help create a special environment for the players. 

Should you have any questions or concerns please don't hesitate to contact me.

Paul

paulf@caslemail.com

Rainey Friday

YTS Parents,

I did receive a few emails following my early post this week.    It seems a better time to post towards the end of the week when parents are worn down and less likely to read my post and want to respond!  Ha ha!.

Many of you will have read my post about YTS players not being able to guest play with non- YTS teams.  There are several reasons we don't permit players to guest play on non YTS teams.  This not done to upset parents or the kids I can assure you.  Guest playing does not include indoor winter soccer leagues.  We have several players that will play on indoor teams at the Factory and Netsports etc.  Please don't get the two confused.   Playing indoor soccer on a team is optional.   Per our training schedule you can see we continue to train during the winter months. 

Please use the calender on the blog so you know what the schedule is for the remainder of November, December and January.  I always do my best to email out any changes as we are aware many of you carpools and have tight schedules.

Have a great weekend and have fun watching you son/daughter play.

Should you have any questtions please don't hesitate to contact me.

Thanks

Happy Halloween

YTS Families,

I hope you all had an enjoyable weekend.   I will likely post something again later this week but wanted to bring something to your attention.

GUEST PLAYING

I have been approached by a few YTS families about the possibility of YTS players guest playing with non- YTS teams.  This is something we do not allow our players to do and is a CASL rule.  As YTS families my hope is all families follow this rule and not guest play for another team even if it is a CASL recreation or challenge team.    It always happens at this stage of the season when other teams are entering tournaments to play in and YTS players are asked to guest play.   Per the rules we ask that you kindly turn down the offer. 

It is important we stay consistent with this rule.  If a family asks me I remind them YTS players are not permitted to guest play with any other team.  I would hope the length of our season provides the players with plenty of playing and training opportunities.

Should you have questions please don't hesitate to contact me. 

Happy Thursday

YTS Parents,

Thankfully a current YTS parent has taken the time to put together a calender for the months of Nov/Dec/Jan.  This calender can be found to the right of this post.  Please print it and keep it somewhere where it is visible.  Maybe the fridge door?    I realize the changes in training locations along with the early start time create issues for many of you.  At this point there is nothing we can do other than work together to get through these changes.

With the change in temperatures please make sure you dress your child appropriately as it can get cold.  Once they get cold they will be miserable.  We don't want that!!

Remember our sessions at Thomas Brooks will start at 4.00pm- Please get there as soon as you can.


Thanks for your cooperation.  If you have questions please don't hesitate to contact me.

Happy Tuesday

YTS Parents,

I was able to take in several YTS games this Sunday at WRAL and enjoyed watching the kids play and compete.  It really is a great environment out at WRAL when the kids are playing, the coaches are coaching and the parents are enjoying watching their child play.  I have fielded several questions over the last few days about the coming months and the spring so I am going to try and answer them.  As always if I fail to answer a question you have don't hesitate to contact me.

1.  Indoor training at Net Sports:

The 9's will train on Wed (technical work only) , the 10's (technical work only) will train on Thursday and Friday is a double session.  The first hour on Friday is for the 9's and the second hour is for the 10's.  This is something new that we did not do last year.  Friday's will be FUTSAL Friday's.  Following a short warm-up the kids will play FUTSAL for the remainder of the session.  This will allow them to compete in a small-sided competitive environment.

There is no cost for this program and we hope that all of the players in our program can attend.  Players cannot wear cleats at the indoor sessions as we will playing on the all sports court.  The indoor sessions are a nice change of environment for the players in particular when the weather gets colder.

I realize the early start maybe difficult for families.  However this is the time that is available for us at Net Sports.

2.  Training Calender

Again the dates for Net Sports are on a previous blog post.  November 14th is the last week of regular training outdoors.  We start our winter training (indoor training) the week of Dec 5th.  There will be a few more changes to our training locations as the last week we can use Cedar Fork is Oct 24th.  More to come on this!!!  As soon as things are finalized I will communicate with each of you.




3.  Spring Teams

There is a possibility teams will change for the spring season.  As a staff we will meet at the conclusion of the fall season and determine what if any changes we need to make.   Again we are always looking to make things better for the players.  Sometimes parents disagree with the changes we make but our ultimate goal is to help the players improve.   We will of course let players know if changes are made.  Overall the games thus far this fall have presented our teams with competitive challenges.  This is important regardless of the final score.  Again I want the kids to always display a winning mentality. 

4.  Jersey Night

This is a night we would like to have the kids wear their favorite soccer jersey.  They can of course wear their CASL jerseys.  It helps create a fun environment for the players.

Friday October 21st - U9 's

Tuesday October 25th - U10's


5.   Registration Fee for the Spring of 2012

An early reminder each returning player for the spring of 2012 must re register for the spring season.  This fee is $170.00.    You will not need to register for the spring  season until mid December.  Of course my hope is that all players will want to return.  Again this is just a friendly reminder so you are prepared when the email gets sent out.

6.  Winter Indoor Leagues

There are several options available to players in our area.  I sent a flyer via our team managers last week about indoor options at Net Sports.  Playing on an indoor team is entirely up to each individual family.  My advice is to follow your son/daughters desire to play on a team.  Sometimes a little break can be a good thing.  Again this is your choice.  We will not form YTS teams or have our coaches coaching these teams indoor teams.

7.  Player Evaluations

Each player will receive an evaluation.  I have not set the date for this yet but once I do coaches will be informed and evaluations will be handed out to each player.    If you have questions about your son/daughters evaluation then you will need to contact your son/daughter's coach.

Thanks for reading.   Hopefully you didn't fall asleep.

Paul

Paulf@caslemail.com

Happy Friday

YTS Parents,

Again my apologies.  My posts same to get later each week.  I will get an email out sometime next week about some training updates.  In the meantime information about our winter training is below.  All of the sessions below will take place at Netsports.  The link with info about Net Sports is below:

http://www.netsportsnc.com/index.php4

The first session of the week we will be technical work with the players with very little playing- Wed for U9's and Thurs for U10's.  The Friday session each week will be all playing - Both U9's and U10's.  Our current plan is to set up futsal courts for the kids to show up and play for the duration of the session.  We feel this balance will be great for the players.  One session where the focus is solely on technique and the other session when the kids can just play and compete.  I will send more information out nearer the start date about other logistical information.   I am sending this out now so you can plan accordingly.

We will start this program the week of December 5th.  (5 week program 2 weeks in Dec and 3 weeks in Jan)

December 7th - U9's - 4.15-5.30pm

December 8th - U10's 4.15-5.30pm

December 9th- U9's 4.15-5.30pm  U10's 5.15pm-6.30pm

December 14th - U9's - 4.15-5.30pm


December 15th - U10's 4.15-5.30pm


December 16th - U9's 4.15-5.30pm U10's 5.15pm-6.30pm


Week of Dec19th- OFF - No Training

Week of Dec 26th - OFF- No Training

Week of Jan 2nd- OFF - No Training

Start back up Week of Jan 9th

January 11th  - U9's - 4.15-5.30pm


January 12th - U10's 4.15-5.30pm


January 13th - U9's 4.15-5.30pm U10's 5.15pm-6.30pm
 
January 18th- U9's - 4.15-5.30pm


January 19th- U10's 4.15-5.30pm


January 20th- U9's 4.15-5.30pm U10's 5.15pm-6.30pm


January 25th - U9's - 4.15-5.30pm

January 26th- U10's 4.15-5.30pm


January 27th- U9's 4.15-5.30pm U10's 5.15pm-6.30pm



Should you have any questions please don't hesitate to contact me.

Paul
Paulf@caslemail.com

Happy Thursday!

YTS Parents,

I apologize for getting this post out a little late this week.  Below is an interesting article about nutrition.    We some times take for granted that nutrition/diet etc is not so important for our younger players.  Clearly that is not the case.  The sooner we teach our young soccer players good nutritional habits the better.  

I hope you enjoy reading the article and good luck this weekend with our games.

Four Common Myths About Nutrition Among Soccer Players


Dr. Donald T. Kirkendall
By Donald T. Kirkendall, works with U.S. Soccer's National Teams
There are more myths that coaches, players and parents may be following, but below four of the more common myths are dispelled. By following the nutritional guidelines below, players, coaches and teams can put themselves in an advantageous position before the match starts.
Myth 1: Game performance is not affected by what you eat.

Virtually every study on athletic performance for both team and individual sports shows that a diet rich in carbohydrates improves running performance. However, nutritional research from the 1970s to present day still show that soccer players choose a diet that is approximately 40 percent carbohydrates, 40 percent fat and 20 percent protein.
What is discouraging is that in the very early 70s, the Swedes conducted a study that showed soccer players with low muscle fuel (glycogen) walk about 50 percent of the game. Even 30 years later, a study showed that more than half of a national team in the 1994 FIFA World Cup thought food had nothing to do with their performance. The bottom line is that players eat what is put in front of them.

The more carbohydrates an athlete eats, the more endurance he or she will have. This means that when the end of the game approaches, the player will be able to run faster and longer if he or she consumed the proper amount of carbohydrates.



Myth 2: What you eat after the game does not matter.

At games and tournaments around the country, players will sometimes eat the worst post game snacks possible including soda, sweet drinks in soft packaging, potato chips, candy bars and fries. Everyone who has ever been to a soccer field on a weekend has seen this.
Muscles are most ready to receive a fresh supply of fuel during the first hour or two directly following exercise. The smart coaches and parents supply food that will start refilling muscles with carbohydrates at just that time.

A proper supply of carbohydrates is needed. It can come from a carbohydrate replenishment drink or other foods like bagels with jelly, pretzels, raisins or other dried fruit. This is even more critical between tournament games when the time between games is even shorter.



Myth 3: A diet is good as long as an athlete gets enough protein.

While most every survey of the athletic diet shows that players get all the protein they need from food, there is a problem. The vast majority of protein is consumed in conjunction with fat.

Marbled meat, ground beef, and fried chicken all are examples of protein that is combined with lots of fat. Red meat should be trimmed of fat, and ground beef should be very lean. Chicken should have the skin removed before cooking.

One place protein isn’t commonly found is the immediate post-exercise meal. A little protein helps in storing new fuel in the muscles faster than when there is no protein. Players can try to figure out a protein source after the game or drink a carbohydrate replenishment drink that contains protein.



Myth 4: Your body is the best indicator of when to drink; Mother Nature knows best.

For most mammals, it is OK not to drink until thirsty. However, the thirst mechanism of humans operates differently than the average mammal. In fact, the human thirst mechanism doesn’t even kick in until a person has lost about two percent of body weight from sweating. At this level, a decrease in performance begins to become evident.
Players should drink before starting the game, every 15-20 minutes during play if possible, and at halftime. Make sure the team has drink bottles along both sidelines and in the goals so players have easy access to fluids during stoppages of play. Don’t forget that playing in the cold is also dehydrating, so drinking fluids is just as important in cold weather.



Overall, it is important for the well-rounded player to keep an eye on what they eat and drink in order to get results on the field.

As always if your have questions or concerns please don't hesitate to contact me at paulf@caslemail.com

Happy Tuesday

YTS Parents,

I hope you all had a good weekend.  Below is a link to a video that is also under the Parents Library on the Blog homepage.   Please take a few minutes to watch the video.  As always our goal via our posts is to make each of you think about the role you play as a parent of a child playing sports. 

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eFsF0Z9EKDg

On a different note young players need to spend as much time with the ball as they can.  Below is a video attached on Cristiano Ronaldo in a little juggle off against a former youth soccer player at Arsenal FC.    Juggling can help develop good technique and overall comfort level with the ball.  Enjoy!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=D_pO8TznfeY&feature=related

We look forward to a good week of training.

As always any questions or concerns please don't hesitate to contact me.

Paul

paulf@caslemail.com

Happy Tuesday

YTS Parents,

I was able to watch some YTS games on Sunday and enjoyed very much watching our teams compete against other NCCL teams.    The conditions were perfect.  For the most part the games provided our players and teams with challenges and tests that will assist in the overall development of the our YTS players.   I know the kids loving playing on Sunday's! 

Some reminders/thoughts from my end:

1.  Please make sure your child brings both uniforms to the games.  It is always good to have both colors in case there is a conflict.

2.  If you child cannot attend a game please let your team coach know.  This is very important.  Our players can play on different teams so we have a good amount of flexibility if a team is short on a player or players. 

3.  For the most part we don't have full-time GK's on our teams.  As a result we ask that the kids take turns playing in goals.  As parents we ask that you support this.  It helps the kids learn a great deal about the position and they will develop a respect for the position.  This is very important.  I have had a couple of coaches tell me that parents have told their child their son/daughter is not allowed to play in goal.  Unless there is a medical condition we'd like to see all of the kids take a turn.  The great thing is the score is not important in the grand scheme of things- unless you make it important.

4.  While we don't focus on winning soccer games we still want the players in our program to compete and develop a winning mentality both on and off the field.  For some players this comes naturally.  We encourage the players to compete during all of our training sessions and games.  Establishing this mentality is important long term for the players.   They must be willing to compete.  Learn how to compete first then they can learn how to win.  Please understand the order in which this process must occur.  There will be plenty of time to worry about winning and of course losing as the players get older.

5.  We have a great staff in place in my mind.  With that said I still heard too much coaching going on from the sideline over the weekend.  Comments like, shoot, pass, dribble, etc are not necessary.  Let the players make there own decisions.  Not matter how frustrating it can be on the sidlines let them make their own decisions.   Just like when they are at school.   

6.  We do have Gk training once a week  for our YTS kids.  Matt Brown our newly hired GK coach works with the U10's on Tuesday nights and the U9's on Friday nights.   These sessions are to help the players that attend learn some very basic skills about the position.  We try to rotate which players attend these sessions unless a player is set on being a GK.

7.  I am finalizing our winter training program and hope to release this shortly.  We will train in Dec and Jan.  I appreciate your patience as we work behind the scenes to set things up.

Should you have any questions or concerns please do not hesitate to contact me at anytime.

Thanks for your continued support and enjoy watching your son/daughter play the beautiful game!!

An interesting article below.  I might not agree with every point but it makes for an interesting read.

Monday, Oct. 4, 2010


Champion coach Albertin Montoya puts winning in perspective

By Mike Woitalla

On a sunny September Sunday, Coach Albertin Montoya watched his Gold Pride players, including the magnificent Brazilian Marta and U.S. world champion Tiffeny Milbrett, celebrate the WPS championship after a 4-0 win over Philadelphia.
The dominating final performance followed a regular season in which the Gold Pride averaged nearly two goals per game and played such entertaining and effective soccer that longtime reporter on the women’s game, Scott French, declared it the best women’s club team ever.

Thanks much to Marta, the Gold Pride played soccer worth paying to watch. So as Montoya, out of the corner of his eye, watched his players bask in the glory, I asked him why the USA isn't producing Martas. After all, this country has more girls playing and more resources dedicated to female soccer than any other nation. Shouldn't we be seeing many more highly skillful, exciting players?
“We’ll need to talk about youth soccer,” said Montoya.

Montoya is also a longtime Northern California youth coach for girls and boys. He and his wife, Erin, a former collegiate star and pro player, run the Montoya Soccer Academy and coach at Mountain View Los Altos SC, for which Albertin also serves as technical director for under-8 through under-14 boys teams.

“The biggest problem at the youth level is the emphasis on winning,” he says. “I don’t know if it’s in our genes or what, but there’s so much desire to win at the ages when player development should be the emphasis.

“The first thing I tell parents is, ‘You want to win at U-8, U-9, U-10, U-11, U-12 -- you’re at the wrong club.

“We’re here to develop players to where, hopefully, by the time they’re U-14, U-15s, they’re playing at a high level, where if we do our job, winning will be a byproduct and we’ll compete for state championships.”

At the U-14/15 level – when the college showcases begin – MVLA teams do get results and win championships. And it sent 14 players to the girls youth national team program in the last seven years.
“These players might not be winning at 8, 9, 10, 11, 12 – but that’s not what it’s about,” he says. “We’ve lost some good players in the past because their parents wanted to win at U10, U11.”

The challenge is to convince parents that at the early ages the focus should be on individual technical development – not scorelines. Montoya even advocates against playing league ball at the early ages.

“I don’t want our teams at U9, U10, U11 to play in the league,” he says. “I want to just have in-house 4v4s. It’s difficult because parents say, ‘We want to play different teams. We want to travel.’ I say, 'Believe me. You’ll have plenty of time to travel and drive when they’re 14, 15, 16. You don’t want to do it now when they’re U8, U9, U10.'

“We have enough players in our backyard. Let’s play 3v3, 4v4. But the parents want to play other teams. So I said, 'OK. We’ll do it in the fall.' But in the spring we’re not going to play anywhere. We are going to continue what I believe in. They’ll get more touches on the ball.”

Like most close observers of the women’s game, Montoya sees that the USA has depended too much on athleticism – being stronger, faster and quicker:
“When you watch the U-17 and U-20 World Cups you see the technical ability of the Japanese, the Koreans, the Germans, the Brazilians – you ask, ‘Why can’t our players do that?’ We have the athletes and I think it does go down to the early youth level where there’s so much emphasis on winning.”

When Montoya coaches his pros, he wants them to play like Barcelona or Spain. To rely on skill, creativity and possession.

“Once they realized they could play that kind of game … When you have the ball – they enjoy it that much more,” he says. “As soon as we lose it, we try to win it right back. And when we get it back, then identify, ‘Do we do a quick counter or do we keep it and let them chase for a while?’”

With his youngsters, it’s all about developing the individual skills that will enable them to play a possession game later. That, he says, is a bigger challenge for American youth coaches, whose players don’t watch as much soccer as, for example, Brazilian children. So coaches need to demonstrate more and do more skill work – and encourage dribbling during games even it if means the risk of losing the ball and giving up goals.

“My U-9 teams -- I haven’t even told them to pass it yet,” says Montoya. “I want my right back to dribble six players. I want my left back to dribble five, six players. I want my center back to do the same thing. My center-mid, my forward. Every single one of them.

“So we get 9-year-olds who are doing spin turns like Marta does. They’re doing step-overs. And I want that. I encourage that at every single position. And every game, they’ll start at a different position.”
Montoya doesn’t mind if a young player loses the ball because she keeps dribbling and the other team exploits the error for a goal. In fact, he “bribes” his players to try dribbling moves during a game. Giving them a small prize if they pull off a step-over move or a “Maradona” during a game.

“When a U-9 player touches the ball once, passes, touches the ball once, passes. How much are they developing?” he asks. “Teams may look well organized when they keep their players in the same positions – the positions they’re strongest at. But what separates players at the highest level is doing magic with the ball. So dribbling needs to be encouraged early on. The organized tactical stuff should come later. I tell the parents don’t tell the kids to pass the ball.”
When strong athletes are encouraged to strike the ball into space and run after it – coaches may start winning. But these players suffer later because they’ve been encouraged to use their athleticism instead of their skill or their savvy. When they're older, says Montoya, they have a certain style – but’s a power, direct syle.
“When they’re 13, 14, 15 -- there’s even more emphasis on winning and a coach is even less likely to work on developing the player,” he says.

But Montoya sees that parents are starting to understand why the scorelines shouldn’t be considered so important.

“It’s all about educating the parents,” he says. “And fortunately there is a generation of coaches coming up now who have played the game at a high level. But we need to make sure those coaches are working at the younger age groups and that they have developing players as a priority and not winning games.”

(Mike Woitalla, the executive editor of Soccer America, coaches youth soccer for Rockridge SC in Oakland, Calif. His youth soccer articles are archived at YouthSoccerFun.com.)

Happy Wednesday

YTS Parents,

I hope you all had an enjoyable Labor Day Weekend.   I will be sending out an email to team managers later today that will count as the educational piece for the week.  Below are some reminders as the players prepare to play their first game of the season.

1.  Before the opening weekend I wanted to address a few things about the games and our philosophy on competition and games at the YTS level. The first and main point is that RESULTS DO NOT MATTER at this level. Our job at YTS is to introduce competitive soccer to these players, our job at YTS is NOT to win games, in all honesty, we do not care about the results. We do recognize that winning is part of a positive experience for the kids, but ultimately we want our kids to improve and enjoy the experience. As a parent you are very important to this. Your demeanor on the sideline has a huge impact on your kids and the game itself. We ask that you encourage and cheer for your kids in a POSITIVE way, that is all. Please do not yell at your kids in frustration or try to coach your kid from the sideline. Only the coach is to give instructions about the game, your job is to encourage. Please enjoy watching your child play and his/her team play.
Just as YTS is an early stage of soccer for these kids, it is also an early stage of refereeing for our officials. They will make mistakes. Do not complain or yell at the referee. Not only is this something we do out of respect to the referees, but it also has a huge impact on your child. If you yell at the referee he/she will think it is ok to yell at the referee. There should be no reason at all to communicate with the officials at anytime.

2.  In short enjoy the game,  be a good sport, set the right example for your child and represent our club in the right manor.

3.  Always check weather hotlines etc before you leave for a game.  Never assume a game is on, or off for that matter. 

4.  Make sure your son/daughter has both sets of uniforms for each game and of course they bring their soccer ball and plenty to drink.

5.  Please arrive to games on time.  I  recommend being at the field 30 minutes before kick-off.   If in doubt arrive early.  Better to be early than late!

As always if you have questions please don't hesitate to contact me. 

Good luck this weekend!

Paul

paulf@caslemail.com 

Happy Monday

YTS Parents,

Some reminders below:

1. This is a reminder that YTS training fees are due in the CASL office by Thursday, September 1st.
This is also a reminder that for those of you that have bank draft that your training fee will be automatically deducted from your checking account on or after September 1st. Thank you for those of you that have already signed up for Bank Draft.

If you have not sent me your bank draft yet, please visit the YTS blog at http://caslyts.blogspot.com/, download and print the Bank draft form. I will need the Bank Draft Authorization completed with a copy of a voided check returned to me in the CASL office by September 20th to be able to enroll in the program starting in October.

If you plan to pay by check, your payment is due in the CASL office on September 1st. You will need to include your child's name/YTS on the check and send to my attention at:

Capital Area Soccer League
Attention: Zana Sugg
3300 Womans Club Drive
Suite 1
Raleigh, NC 27612

2.  Normal training schedule this week.  The U9's will train on Friday as normal.

3. Below is a link sent to me from a YTS Parent.  As our season is getting ready to start I like to try and send articles that will help you think about the important role you play as a soccer parent.  

http://www.newsobserver.com/2011/08/16/1415235/be-a-good-sports-parent.html
Please enjoy reading this short article.

4.  We will at times experience bad weather.  Please understand the safety of the players is a high priority for us as a club.  Sometimes as a staff we make the right decisions and sometimes we don't.   If we ask that the kids clear the fields please help us in making sure all players find a safe spot to stay until a decision is made whether to start, resume or end a training session.   If we all work together we should have no issues.  My main concern is when we are out at Cedar Fork.  Please make sure if you will not be in attendance at the session your son/daughter knows which parent might be able to get them into a car for safety.

5.  Again game schedules are posted so you should be able to plan your Sundays.    Always check weather hot lines before you leave your home for games.  Just because it is not raining at your home is not always a good reason to assume a game is on.

Thanks for your continued support.

Happy Tuesday

YTS Parents,

I hope you had an enjoyable weekend. 

The game schedules have been released and are available for you to review at http://ncchampionsleague.com/. Please remember to always check weather hotlines before you leave for your games to make sure fields are open.  Again this information is available on the NC Champions League website.   I will do the best to make sure you have up to date information but there will be times when I am out of the state for our weekend games.

Below is a link to an educational article.  I send these out to make you think about the role we have as parents.    I understand the role at times can be very challenging.  I firmly believe playing sports can teach children so many valuable lessons regardless of what team they play and at what level.  I hope you pick something up from the link below;

http://www.soccerindiana.org/UserFiles/file/Vince%20Education/Parent%20Education/The%208%20Winning%20Practices%20for%20Parenting%20Athletes.pdf

We look forward to another week of training with the kids.

Thanks for reading.

Happy Wednesday

YTS Parents,

We now have our team managers in place.   Please be as responsive as you can when they email you.  A couple of reminders below:

1.  Once we get the training t's distributed it is MANDATORY that players wear- white training shirt, black shorts and black socks.  Please make sure we wear adidas apparel when out at the fields.

2.  When out at Cedar Fork please make sure you sit back from the fields.    Give the kids some room and sit back from the training fields.  While we have no issue with you watching your child train we ask that you sit far enough from the field and give your child some space.  I doubt very much you sit in your child's classroom at school so please let's follow the same trend when they train.

3.  We will be setting up parent meetings with each age group and will try and release those dates early next week.  These meetings will take place at WRAL and will be on your regular training night.

4.  We want to maximize the time we have the players so if we have players that are misbehaving they will be asked to sit out during a training session.    I hope we don't have to do this but I have informed AGC's that they don't have the time to deal with disruptive kids.

5.  Game schedules will be released on Monday of next week.  With a variety of changes the process has taken longer than it did last year.  I know you all ant to get these schedules so you can start planning.

6.  Each Monday we will either post a YTS Parent Education piece on the blog or email to team managers to distribute to each of you.  Please take the time to read the articles.  If you have something you think is worth sharing with our families please let us know.

Thanks as always for your continued  support.

Happy Friday

YTS Families,

I hope you are all well.  A few reminders etc below:

1.  U9 Training tonight is scheduled to be on the Stadium Field at WRAL.   U9's will always be on the stadium on Friday nights unless otherwise notified.

2.  Each team now has a team manager and they will be sending an informal email out in the next day or so if they have not already done so.

3.  We need to get training shirts ordered and taken care of asap.  Please be responsive to your team managers so we can get things done in a timely fashion and they don't have to send multiple emails.

4.  Many of you have asked about the bag tags - these will be collected with the training t-shirt order.   The bag tags are the shape of a jersey and look just like the grey/silver YTS game jersey.  Hopefully the kids will like them.  Please make sure you attach them to your child's bag so they can always find it (along with the bag tag you will get a clip to attach bag tag to the bag).  Again these are being provided as no embroidery can be placed on the Chelsea Backpack.

5.  This year our program has changed slightly from an administration standpoint.  While I will continue to oversee the whole program we have added AGC (Age Group Coordinators).   They are listed below:

U9 Girls Andy Truex andyt@caslemail.com

U9 Boys Caleb Norkus  calebn@caslemail.com

U10 Girls Stephen Chaconas  stephenc@caslemail.com

U10 Boys Paul Forster paulf@caslemail.com and Tim Evans  tetlevans68@gmail.com

AGC's will be responsible for running the training sessions in their respective age groups, monitoring the development of the players and assisting in me in making the experience a positive one for the players and parents. (and a whole host of other things too!!)

6.  Please direct all concerns to me and I will pass them onto AGC's if need be.  I am excited about this change as we have added some great staff to be more involved in our YTS program.

7.   If your son/daughter will be missing training or a game you can notify the AGC.  They can in turn pass this information onto team coaches.

8.  Next week we will start with our weekly educational email.  If you ever find a great article etc that we can share with our families please don't hesitate to pass it onto me.

As always should you have further questions please don't hesitate to contact me.

Happy Monday

Yts Families,

For those of you that played in the Chelsea 3's I hope you enjoyed the event.   I know it was hot on Sunday so hopefully the players made it through.  A couple of updates below:

1.  Regular training schedule - this is posted on several previous blog posts!

2.  I still need team managers for the following teams -

U9 Girls Chicago Fire, Philadelphia Union

U10 Boys- Toronto FC.

We need to get team managers in place by Tuesday August 9th asap.  Please, please, please let me know if you are interested.

3.  CASL YTS Training Shirts - These will be ordered by the team managers.  Each player is expected to buy two training shirts- unless of course you already have YTS training shirts.   Each short costs $9.  Players are expected to wear these shirts for all training sessions and as a pre game warm-up shirts.   As soon as we get team managers in place we will get these shirts ordered.      At training this week please wear a white t-shirt oif you don't have a YTS shirt

Thanks very much!

Happy Thursday

Guys,

Just a few things as we move forward:

1.  We will set up some age group meetings to go over the plan for the fall season once we get the season going.

2.  Regular training schedule for next week:

9's Wed @ Cedar Fork (field 6,7,8) and Fri @ WRAL  - both sessions start at 4.30pm

10's Tues @ WRAL (stadium)  and Thurs @ Cedar Fork (field 6,7, 8) - both sessions start at 4.30pm

3.  Once get team managers in place we will get a training t-shirt order together. 

4.  Game schedules will be released as soon as they are finalized.

5.  I still need team managers - for

U9 Boys LA Galaxy, Colorado Rapids, Diego Munoz
U10 Boys- DC United, Toronto FC
U9 Girls- Columbus Crew, Chicago Fire, Philadelphia Union
U10 Girls- New England Revolution

I promise you will love being a YTS team manager!

The kids have done a great job at camp this week and we look forward to finishing on a positive note!

U9 Teams

As a follow-up to my first post below are the U9 teams for the upcoming season.   All of U9 teams will play 6v6 in the NCCL.  Please let me know if you would like to be a team manager for the coming year asap.  Each team will need a team manager to help with the communication etc.  Email me directly at paulf@caslemail.com if you are interested.  Thanks

U9 Girls

Coach Andy Truex
Team Columbus Crew

A. Abbott
A. Ziegler
N. Micchia
S. Ahlawat
Z. Ziade
M. Crabtree
H. Arostegui
A. Duran
A. Brown

Coach Lindsay Vera
Team Chicago Fire

A. Jensen
E. Agar
E. Gray
E. Norton
J. Sullivan
I. Ferrence
A. Glenn
L. Diehl
K. Koons
L. Wilson

Coach Courtney Crandell
Team Philadelphia Union

C. Laurens
E. Karmanos
R. Page
E. Payne
S. Talbott
A. Andrews
C. Wood
S. Stewart
K. Musteikis
A. Talerico

Coach Linsay Eckel
Team Vancouver Whitecaps

B. Sroka
S. Reifschneider
A. Bulmer
K. Holt
H. Kaplan
L. Harris
S. Arnold
E. Sweeney
M Munoz
T. Holt

_______________________________________________________________________________
U9 Boys

Coach Caleb Norkus
Team LA Galaxy

L. Pleasants
A. Armour
A. Burnside
T. Shearin
K. Hernandez
E. Retzlaff
R. Jeske
Z. Peterman
R. Alphin
L. Swank

Coach Jonathan Knaus
Team Colorado Rapids

S. Burke
C. Cash
W. Mason
L. Coyne
J. Burkhart
D. Ortiz
C. Frame
R. Gates
J. Smith
T. Spencer

Coach Kyle Schmid
Team Seattle Sounders

C. Welch
J. Arukwe
G. Martin
T. Cozzie
R. Dirocco
C. Wright
R. Hinkle
H. Kristofferson
M. Provencher
M. Worley
J. Kuropas

Coach Diego Munoz
Team Chivas USA

I. Holdaway
D. Dixon
L. Maciel-Madara
L. Campos
D. Pardo
R. Seymore
C. Lucas
B. Lozaw
M. Fischer
B. Kozacko
M. St Louis

Coach Phil Southerland
Team San Jose Earthquakes

A. Lund
B. Maclauchlin
H. Stone
P. O'Ferral
M. Ramsey
N. Fairnak
R. Findlen
O. Malone
D. Swift
P. Breidsprecher
J. Paden

U10 Teams

YTS Parents,

I want to thank you for you patience as we finalize our teams for the upcoming season.  I will have two separate posts today.  The first one will contain the U10 Teams and the second post will have the U9 teams.  Please understand as a staff we have the flexibility to move players if we feel the need to do so.  Our goal is to still develop individual players in our program and place each player  in an environment that will promote development.  We hope you choose to support this approach moving forward.

If you are interested in being a team manager for your son/daughter's team please let me know asap via an email. 

U10 Girls

Coach Whitney Haase  (Will play 6v6 this fall)
Team New England Revolution

C. Neally
J.  Scott
I.  Banerji
A. Wnorowski
F. Baker
K. Conger
A. Phelan
B. Baker
P. Thompson

Coach Biri Bastos  (Will play 6v6 this fall)
Team Portland Timbers

Alloysia Richardson
Alajne Richardson
L. Jones
A. Pluska
K. Dickerson
A. Parker
A. Cox
E. Alford
A. Smith

Coach Jill Bradford  (Will play 8v8)
Team Houston Dynamo

C. Dinkenor
E. Jeske
M. Musante
M. Parham
K. Sollom
T. Hupp
D. Lugo
K. Groff
M. Caleen
N. Kappaz
P. Goldthwaite
C. Clark

Coach Stephen Chaconas  (Will play 8v8)
Team New York Bulls

L. Elvington
H. Freeman
A W Dubach
A. Dion
S. Davis
B. Francher
G. Elliot
A. Lanter
N. Grimes
L. Grosshandler
C. Reifschneider
T A Wheeler

______________________________________________________________________________
U10 Boys

Coach Michael Hoy (Will play 6v6 this fall)
Team Toronto FC

C. Cabot
K. Kahoussi
S. Vlahoplus
S. Morse
O. Ravenscroft
T. Salman
A. Harrison
N. Lawrence
M. Camara

Coach Eric Debrah (Will play 6v6 this fall)
Team Real Salt Lake

W. Blanchette
J. Collar
D. Keen
S. Moore
M. Skiko
C. Moss
E. Wady
J. Perry
P. Schmid
J. French

Coach Eric Bratager (Will play 8v8)
Team DC United

T. Petruccione
P. Rodriguez
M. Echevarria
P. Gridley
L. Oliveira
A. Madrid
O. Harrison
J. Givens
J. White
A. Kistner
C. Massengill

Coach Tim Evans  (Will play 8v8)
Team FC Dallas

E. Teal
M. Espinoza
J. O'Connor
B. Cooling
S. Sullivan
L. McLaughlin
I. Harfoush
N. Zullo
N. Atkinson
J. Bratager
A. Whitlock

Happy Monday

Guys,

Reminder YTS camp this evening 4.30-6.00pm on Centex.  We will use this week to finalize our teams and get the kids back into a training rhythm.   Each night we will do a technical warm-up and then the kids will play in small sided games.    So in short the players will spend a great deal of time this week playing in the small sided games.   This will give them a chance to play without too many restrictions and the coaches an opportunity to interact, learn names etc.

We are all looking forward to our season starting this evening.  Again make sure your son/daughter brings an inflated ball to each session, has plenty of water to drink and wears white shirt and black shorts and socks.

See you tonight.

Happy Thursday

Happy Thursday,

I hope you are all managing to stay cool with the current temperatures.  Hopefully next week will be a little cooler.  Below is the schedule for next week's team camp:

Week of Aug 1st

Monday, Wednesday and Thursday (Nothing on Tuesday night)
4.30-6.00pm
Centex (first turf field on right handside when you enter the complex)
All U9&U10 Boys and Girls

Please make sure your son/daughter brings plenty of water and an inflated soccer ball to each of the sessions. 
Please have the kids wear a white shirt, black shorts and black socks.
We will look to release our teams on the blog on Wednesday August 3rd (Thanks for your patience as we continue to work through this process)


Week of Aug 8th

Regular training schedule starts this week

U9 Boys and Girls - Wed (at Cedar Fork) and Fri (WRAL) 4.30-6.00pm

U10 Boys and Girls- Tues (at WRAL) and Thurs (Cedar Fork) 4.30-6.00pm

These times/locations will not change until further notice.

Other info:

1.  Daniel Hupp  daniel.hupp@yahoo.com has an extra YL white jersey if anyone still needs to buy one
2.  Games are scheduled to start Sunday September 11th
3.  Once teams are formed we will get some team managers in place.  Team managers will help with the ordering of CASL training tee's and a variety of things during the course of the season

Thanks for reading and as always if you have questions please don't hesitate to contact me.

Paul

paulf@caslemail.com

YTS Update

Guys,

We have elected to cancel tonight' session due to the very high temperatures.  I know we were able to get through last nights session but tonights forecast is worse than yesterday and we are worried about the safety of the kids and of course there overall well being.

Next scheduled session is August 1st - which will start our team camp.

Thanks

Happy Monday

YTS Parents,

As always I hope you are all well.   I hope you were able to watch the Women's WC games over the last couple of weeks in addition to all of the other games that are currently going on.\

Reminder about this week:

4.30-6.00pm  Wednesday and Thursday night.

U9's - Baker Roofing

U10's - Durham Bulls  (Stadium Field)

Clearly the temperatures are going to be hot.  Please make sure your child hydrates during the day and brings plenty of water to the field for our training sessions.  Our goal is to run a training session, let the kids play and of course make our teams for the upcoming season.   Ideally the kids show up reeady to play and compete and have some fun along the way! 

We look forward to seeing the kids our at the fields this Wednesday and Thursday night.

Thanks again.

Juventus FC Vs Chivas- Thursday July 28th 8pm at Carter Finley Stadium

YTS Families,

Along with previously successful markets of Atlanta, Miami, and Charlotte, the World Football Challenge http://www.caslnc.com/home/default.asp?menu_category=Home&menuid=1482&parid=1482 brings top flight Professional Football to Raleigh, North Carolina for the 1^st time. We look forward to proving to the rest of the United States that the Southeast Region can continue to support top flight Football for the Summer of 2011 and beyond. Please click on the link provided above our here directly for ticket information http://ev10.evenue.net/cgi-bin/ncommerce3/SEGetEventList?groupCode=WFC&linkID=ncsu&shopperContext=&caller=&appCode and use CASL for a promotional code.

If the links above do not work you can go directly to www.caslnc.com and find more information.  This is a great chance to see top flight soccer on our doorstep!

Thanks

Update from Zana Sugg

Guys- You should have received the email below from Zana.  If we all work together we can make the year an enjoyable one for us all.  Please understand your child will be ineligible to train and play if training fees are not paid on time.

Reminder- July 20 and 21st we will have training sessions to finalize teams for the upcoming season.  These sessions will be at 4.30-6.00pm and the field is still TBA.  I have received several emails about families being out of town.  As a staff we completely understand this.  We can move players during the course of the season.  Please don't get worried about which team your child gets placed on.   

I will be out of town next week traveling with the U16 and U18 boys to Nationals and have limited email access. 

Hello CASL YTS Parents,
This is a reminder that YTS training fees are due in the CASL office by AUGUST 1ST.
Thank you for those of you that have already signed up for Bank Draft. Your training fee will be automatically deducted from your checking account on Monday, August 1st.
If you have not sent me your bank draft yet, please visit the YTS blog at http://caslyts.blogspot.com/, download and print the Bank draft form. I will need the Bank Draft Authorization completed with a copy of a voided check returned to me in the CASL office by Wednesday, July 20th to be able to enroll in the program starting in August.
If you plan to pay by check, your payment is due in the CASL office on August 1st. You will need to include your child's name/YTS on the check and send to my attention at:


Capital Area Soccer League
Attention: Zana Sugg

3300 Womans Club Drive

Suite 1

Raleigh, NC 27612
CASL also accepts cash or checks delivered to the CASL Office. The CASL office is open between the hours of 12:00 noon and 5:00 pm on Monday, Tuesday, Thursday or Friday.

Once a player's monthly training fees becomes seven days past due, the player will not be eligible to continue practicing or playing until payment is made. To avoid the possibility of late payment, the preferred option to pay training fees on a monthly basis is through the CASL Automatic Bank Draft Program.

Credit card payments are NOT an option for individual monthly training fees during the year. It is not acceptable to pay training fees at practices or games to Paul, your team manager, or your team coaches. You are welcomed to send more than one month's payment at a time.

The YTS monthly training fee is $115.00 per month due the first of each month starting August 1st for 9 months ending in April 1st, 2012. Although you may receive a monthly email to remind you that payment is due, you will not receive a written monthly invoice. This monthly fee is the cost of the specialized training your child receives as a part of the YTS developmental program. The $115.00 month fee is the cost of training for the whole year commitment to YTS divided into nine months.

For more questions, please refer to the Parent's Information sheet which can also be downloaded from the CASL YTS Blog.

Thank you!

Zana and Paul.

Happy Long Weekend

YTS Parents,

Please read the information below about a great opportunity for our YTS Players.   Our staff will not be organzing these teams so it is up to each of you guys to make teams.  Team camp starts the week of August 1st (This is the start of our fall training).  There will be three nights of camp Monday 1st, Wednesday 3rd and Thursday 4th all of these sessions will be at 4.30pm-6.00pm.

We are excited to announce that the weekend of August 6th-7th CASL is hosting the Chelsea 3's, our official 3v3 tournament. This year CASL is offering something a bit different for all of our younger Classic and YTS Players. This year the tournament is free to all of our YTS players and U11-U14 classic players! Team Rosters of six players only so start getting your team together! Go to the CASL Web Site under tournaments and click on the Chelsea 3's logo. There you will find the all inclusive team registration form and medical form, along with the tournament rules and format. Want to add players that are not on a YTS or U11-U14 classic team this fall...it is only $40.00 per person. All teams are guaranteed 5 games and possibly more. This is a great tournament to start the Fall Classic season!

Enjoy the Holiday Weekend!

Paul

Happy Wednesday

Guys,

I have received several emails with some good questions.  This is great news as it means my blog posts are being read.

1.  I have corrected an earlier post with regards to the purchasing of uniforms.  This process will no longer be handled by team managers.  Each parent is resposible for ordering their son/daughter's uniform/apparel etc. 

2.  If your son/daughter will be missing for the July 20-21st it is not the end of the world.  Please make sure you notify me if you your son/daughter cannot attend these training sessions.

3.  Deadline for registration is fast approaching... Please go ahead and take care of this.  It will save me a great deal of time.

4.  Please make sure your child spends some time each day juggling a soccer ball.   At the conclusion of each fall training session we had the players juggle their soccer ball.  Juggling is a great way to improve ball control.   Set some weekly targets.  Start with a realistic target and increase the number each week.  Essentially find a way to bribe your child to spend as much time with the ball as possible.

As always thanks for reading...

Happy Monday

YTS Parents,

I hope you are all well.  Please find some important information below:

1.  Registration Deadline is Fast Approaching

The deadline for YTS registration is Thursday June 30th.   Please understand if you fail to register by the deadline you will be expected to come by the CASL office to take care of this requirement.     You will not be permitted to participate in anything we do until you register your child.

2.  Uniform/Equipment Information

Please make sure you take care of this.    Refer to an earlier blog posting for more information about this.  
Please understand you are not allowed to embroider on the Chelsea Backpack.   An order form is being created and team managers will be responsible for ordering the bagtags.  We have sometime to get this taken care.  Again no embroidery permitted on the Chelsea backpack.

3. Training

Training Nights.  We will have two nights of YTS training sessions on July 20th and July 21st.   Both sessions will start at 4.30pm-6.00pm @ WRAL  We will use these two nights to form our teams for the upcoming season.  So please make sure you do all you can to attend.   More information will be provided neared the 20th and 21st on fields etc.  Please make sure you bring a copy of your son/daughters birth certificate and the US Club Medical Waiver to one of the two sessions.   The coaches will collect this paperwork and turn it into the office. 

4. Summer Soccer

During the summer the players should be spending time with the ball and or watching the game on TV.  Currently the Women's World Cup is on and games can be watched during the day.  CASL also has several camp options for interested players .  You can go to http://www.caslnc.com/home/default.asp?menu_category=Home&menuid=926&parid=926 for more information about our summer camps. 

5.  Fall Training

Training times and locations have been finalized.  See below:

U9's

Wednesday 4.30pm-6.00pm  Cedar Fork
Friday 4.30-6.00pm  WRAL

U10's

Tuesday 4.30-6.00pm  WRAL
Thursday 4.30-6.00pm Cedar Fork

I hope you are all well and enjoying your summer.  As always if you have any questions please don't hesitate to contact me at paulf@caslemail.com

Please Read - 2011 YTS Information

The CASL Youth Training System (YTS) Developmental Program is designed to enhance player development by providing professional coaching to young soccer players who have already shown signs of becoming an “Elite” level player. YTS is geared towards the development of the individual player’s skills and technique.  Team concepts and team results are secondary at this young age and will not be a priority.  YTS players will train under the guidance of a CASL Program Director and Classic Coaches assigned to each boys and girls YTS team.

Program Philosophy/Information

The YTS program is geared towards individual player development and not team development. YTS players will train under the guidance of a CASL Program Director and Classic Coaches in developmental training pools while playing in the North Carolina Champions League. The program will entail specialized individual training in a 1v1 through 8v8 environment.  The focus is helping players become technically proficient.  The training pools/teams will operate in the following capacity:

• Individual ball oriented, technical training through dribbling moves, feints, and escaping from defenders, with and without pressure of defenders, time, and space
• The development of the psychological component of attack minded players
• Specialized running and coordination technique with and without the soccer ball
• Training groups will be created based on the ability level of the players
• YTS teams are scheduled to train  twice a week
• YTS teams compete in the North Carolina Champions League with most games being played on Sunday afternoons occasionally games are played on Saturdays also
• U9’s compete in 6v6 game scenarios
• U10’s compete in 6v6 games and 8v8 games
• YTS has a 9 month developmental schedule that starts in August and goes through tryouts in May (This includes training in Dec and Jan)
• Players are expected to attend all training sessions and games
• Players receive a written evaluation following the fall and spring season

Player and Team Support

A player develops best when he or she trusts and respects the coach.  The coach’s job is to motivate, teach, and constructively criticize each player’s performance.  Please recognize that our coaches use their extensive experience to best develop each player.  Your child will probably try many different positions throughout his or her career.  CASL’s first concern is for the long term development of your child’s soccer skills under pressure, and there will be times players are instructed to do things parents do not understand. Player and team development will always be given a greater priority than winning.  Encourage your child to talk with the coaches, whether about playing difficulties or missing a match, etc.

There should be no parental coaching or refereeing from the sidelines at games or practices. No matter how good your intentions are, we insist there be no shouting instructions to your child or yelling (complaining) to the referees during games.   Let the coach (soccer professional) run the team.  Attempting to coach or instruct your child from the sideline is distracting and counterproductive for the player.   Your vocal support and positive encouragement are welcome throughout good soccer play.  The best way to support your child is to show a positive attitude.  Supply plenty of love, recognition, support and encouragement.  This allows your child to be confident, enjoy soccer more, and perform better in training and competition. 

Uniforms

All players are expected to wear CASL approved training and game apparel.   

All players without exceptions are expected to purchase the following training/game attire:  

• 2 CASL Adidas training shirts
• 2 Adidas Tabela jerseys 
• 1 pair of black Adidas shorts
• 1 pair of black Adidas socks 
• 1 Chelsea backpack   
• Optional items include: warm-up (pants and jackets).  

The players are expected to wear white training shirt, black shorts and socks for all training sessions and either the white or grey tabela jersey with black shorts and socks for games.   More information will be provided to assist you through this process.

Communication

Each YTS team will have a team manager.  Team managers will help communicate information to the team during the course of the season.  Each family is encouraged to sign up to receive communication via the CASL YTS Blog.  The blog is used by the program director on a weekly basis to communicate with all YTS families.  Weekly education messages are posted on the blog along with a whole host of other important information.

YTS Registration Fees

YTS registration fees will be paid individually by player families through the on-line registration system. There are two seasons of YTS; therefore, two registration fees are due during the year.

The registration fees are as follows:

Fall 2011/Season 1                                                

All Players = $195.00

Spring 2012/Season 2

New Players = $195.00

Returning Fall Players = $170.00

                 

Registration fees paid for recreation and challenge will be automatically transferred to YTS for the fall season.  Following notification of acceptance to a team, all parents will be required to open the acceptance link in the on-line program and update any changes or confirm the information in the player’s record.   The program will show the registration fee balance due to CASL.  Payment may be made by credit card online (before the registration deadline in late June), or a check may be submitted to CASL for the amount specified.  Payment must be received by CASL prior to carding. Registration fees are not refundable once training begins

YTS Monthly Training Fees

The YTS Monthly Training Fee ($115 per month) for both U9 and U10 boys and girls is the cost of the specialized training your child receives as a part of the YTS developmental program. YTS Monthly Fees are due in the CASL office on the 1st of every month for nine months beginning in August and ending in April.  The YTS Monthly fee is the cost of training for the whole year commitment to YTS divided into nine months.  The fee is not based on the actual number of training sessions in one particular month.  Training fees are not pro-rated.   If a player is added to YTS before the last week of any given month, the entire month’s training fee is due.

YTS Monthly Training Fees will be paid individually through one of the following options:

• The preferred option to pay training fees on a monthly basis is through the CASL automatic Bank Draft Program administered by the CASL Financial Administrator.  Bank draft forms are available through your team manager or at the CASL office.  A new bank draft is required each year.
• Training fees are also payable twice a year through credit card for the entire Fall or Spring season.  Credit Card payments for the Fall season will be accepted at the CASL office in person only during CASL office hours the week of July 11th, 2011.  Registration for Spring season only will be accepted during office hours the week of January 9th, 2012. No other credit card option is available during the year.  

Because CASL has given families other options to pay monthly training fees, parents who refuse the bank draft option and the credit card option will have the responsibility of paying training fees to CASL on a monthly basis by cash or check.  The YTS monthly training fee must be paid in the following manner:

• Cash or Check will be accepted in the CASL Office
• Checks may be mailed to the attention of the Financial Administrator at the CASL office. It is not acceptable to pay training fees to your coach or to your team manager and/or treasurer.
• The players name and YTS must appear on the check.
• Training fee checks should be written for the amount of the training only.  Checks should not be combined with other payments due to CASL.
• Separate checks are required for each Classic player. Checks submitted to CASL for more than one player from the same family may be returned and could possibly cause the training fees to be late.
• If training fees paid by check are late twice during the year, CASL reserves the right to require a player to enroll in the CASL Automatic Bank Draft system.

Delinquent Fees

• Once a player’s monthly training fees become seven days past due, CASL will notify the coach and the player will sit the bench until all outstanding dues are paid in full.  If training fees paid by check are late twice during the year, CASL has the right to require a player to enroll in the CASL Automatic Bank Draft system. 
• If CASL requests the change from personal check payment to automatic Bank Draft and the parent refuses to enroll in the automatic program, the player will not be eligible to participate in any team activities until past due payments are received and a Bank Draft authorization is completed for the following month. 
• If the player’s dues are not brought current before leaving the team, he/she may not be released from CASL and therefore, will not be allowed to play soccer with any NCYSA sanctioned club until his/her obligation is met. Any player who has not paid in full for the year will not be permitted to participate in any CASL Tryouts or register for another CASL program.

Returned Bank Drafts and Checks

Bank Drafts not accepted by a player’s financial institution are subject to a $15.00 Returned check fee.  The Returned Check fee and the Monthly Training fees must be paid in full before the 7th of the month after the Bank draft has been returned.  If payment is not made by the 7th, the coach will be notified and the player will not be eligible to participate with the team.

Chelsea 3's

Guys,

I have received several emails about the Chelsea 3's.  We will not organize teams to play in the event that is something you guys will have to do.

Lea Thompson has 3-4 girls looking to play.  Email her at smile9801@yahoo.com if interested.

Sorry for the double post today!

Uniform Update

YTS Parents,

I hope you are all well and enjoying the start of the summer.  I will continue to update you bits and pieces in terms of the steps we go through prior to our season starting in August.  This blog post is about the purchasing of uniforms.   You will be responsible for ordering you child's uniform package.   Below is a link that you can click on that will take you directly to the Eurosport website.  Once there you can work through the process.  I encourage you to take care of this as soon as you can.

http://www.soccer.com/teamGateway.php?club_id=11627186

After clicking on the link do the following:

1.  On the far left of the page find the link to YTS

2.  Once on the YTS page click on REQUIRED.  This will take you directly to the page that lists what you are expected to buy.


Some Info:

1.  The warm-up top runs big.  Please take this into consideration when ordering for your son/daughter.  I realize we start our season in the fall when the temperatures are warm.  However we do winter training and early in the spring when the weather is cold.  It will get well used.

2.  There is no backpack pictured.  Please go ahead and order one.  Again this is part of the package parents are required to purchase.   The backpack is a Chelsea backpack that the kids will love!

3.  This year our jersey colors are white and grey.  The white jersey is slightly more expensive due to the logo on the front.   You will notice there are more colors on the white jersey logo. 

4.  Please remember when something has a logo on it, it cannot be returned.  Take this into consideration when placcing your order.

5.  CASL Training t-shirts will be purchased later in the summer after we have a team manager appointed.  They will collect the order for the team.  Each shirt costs $9.  I would encourage you to purchase 2 shirts as we have two training sessions per week.  Again this will be done later in the summer.

6.  Please make sure your son/daugther has a soccer ball.  If they attend the first training session with a new ball that looks like it has never been used I will be concerned......


I hope ths process is easy for you to manage.   I am traveling again tomorrow leaving for TN early in the morning.  I will have limited access to my email so please be patient if you do not get an immediate response.

Thanks so much.  We will get the YTS players together in July to go over a few more items and form our teams.  This date will be finalized within the next week.


Thanks very much

Paul

Railhawk Player Companion Information

YTS Parents,

CASL YTS Players that are going to be player companions for the Carolina Railhawk game on June 18th need to report to Railhawk interns Kalisha and Max at Building D (inside the lower entrance gate) at 6.30pm wearing your CASL uniform.   They will walk together over to the player tunnel around 6.45pm.  Parents get your cameras as your kids will escort the Railhawks and Tampa players onto the field for pre-game announcements and National anthem.

Thanks

Any questions please contact Caleb at calebn@caslemail.com

Summer Soccer = Chelsea 7's

YTS Parents,

For those of you new to the program you will learn that there are many different opportunities in our community to that help facilitate a player's development.  If you click on the link below you will be able to learn about the Chelsea 7's.  Essentially it is a great opportunity for the kids to play the game.   While is not mandatory for YTS players to participate in the Chelsea 7's I think it would be great for the kids to play the beautiful game. 

So with that said click on the link below to learn more about the 7's.

http://www.caslnc.com/home/default.asp?menu_category=Tournaments

As always thanks!

CASL Night June 18th @ Carolina Railhawks game

YTS Families,

I hope you are all well.   A great way for our young players to develop is to watch the game of soccer live.   We have the Carolina Railhawks in our backyard so please take advantage of watching the adult game being played at a high level.   We are responsible for supplying player companions for the June 18th game.  It is also CASL night so we'd like to see as many kids as possible wearing CASL colors etc.

If you are interested in your son or daughter being a player companion please contact Caleb Norkus asap at calebnorkus@hotmail.com or calebn@caslemail.com.   Companions will be selected on a first come first serve basis.   Please direct all questions and interest to Caleb.

Thanks very much!

Paul

Registration Link Is Live

YTS Familes,

I hope you all had an enjoyable Memorial Day weekend.  Below is the link for YTS registration.   I have had several emails from many of you asking about the link.  I know many of you are excited to get the ball rolling so I thank you for your patience.   For future information please be patient as we will pass it onto you guys as soon as it becomes available to us.  Please click on the link below and accept your spot in our program.    Now that the link is live please go ahead and take care or registration.

http://www.caslnc.com/home/default.asp?menu_category=Home&menuid=1216&parid=1216

Thanks again and welcome aboard!

Paul Forster
Paulf@caslemail.com

POST TRYOUT INFORMATION

Parents,

Now that the tryouts/evaluations are over the work begins.  I was very pleased with the process thus far and thankful that the weather cooperated with our sessions.  

Please be patient as we make our way through the phone calls.  The purpose of the phone call is to determine whether a player will be offered/ not offered  a spot in our YTS program for the 2011-2012 season.  Clearly the pool of players that attended the tryouts will  make for some difficult decisions.  Please be respectful to coaches that are making the calls.   This is a difficult time for all of us so let's do our best to work together at all times.  Finally please remember we have not formed our teams at this point  and will not do so for several weeks.

For players that are offered a spot in the program and accept the next steps are below:

Click Here to link to our YTS page.
Please remember how our registration fees/training fees work.

There is a fall registration fee of $195 and a spring registration fee of $170.00.   There is a training fee of $115.00 for the following months- Aug, Sept, Oct, Nov, Dec, Jan, Feb, Mar and April.   We highly encourage our families to enroll in the bank draft program we have and that information is on the CASL Blog Page.   The updated bank draft form will be added to the blog sometime next week.

Keep checking the blog and we will post information about the acceptance process.

Birth certificates are needed for players new to CASL. US Club medical waivers are also needed for all players - click here to download waiver. Once players are assigned to a team mangers will help gather this information and turn it into our office.
Tee shirts will be ordered after team assignments are made also. These shirts are mandatory for all players to wear during training and game warm-ups.  The cost per shirt is $9.00.  The managers can handle this so that we only have one order per team.


For players that are not offered a spot in the program there a couple of options:

We have a wonderful challenge programs.  The dates for our U10 challenge tryouts are June 2nd and 3rd at 4.45-6.30pm.  You will just walk-up prior to the tryout starting and pay $20 registration fee.   The $20 registration fee is only for players that attended the YTS tryout also.    All other players walking up will be charged $40.

We also have a recreation program.  The guaranteed player placement deadline for the recreational program is June 7th.  For more information about our recreation program click here

Should you have any questions please don't hesitate to contact me via email at paulf@caslemail.com  Please understand my response may take longer than normal due to the tryouts taking place.

Have a wonderful weekend!