Travel
Division
Several of our Travel teams
had great success last Fall, either going deep into
their league playoffs or winning their Championship. Fairmount Soccer offers Travel play for
children aged 10 years and older. We
hope to field teams for Under 11 (U11) Girls, U11 Boys, U12 Boys, U13 Boys, U14
Boys, U15 Boys, and possibly U16 Girls.
Travel Soccer is for children who show
exceptional talent and are interested in committing considerable time and
effort to a single sport. Field and team
sizes are generally larger for Travel teams than for Intramural. Home games are played at Edgely Fields (www.fairmountsoccer.org/wherout)
and away games are generally played throughout
Intramural
Division
Intramural Soccer is for children who enjoy soccer,
athletics, and competition, but who are busy with other activities and don’t
have the time or commitment for the rigors of Travel play. Our Intramural Program plays small-sided, a
structure designed to give each player more “touches” on the ball,
and thereby better develop ball handling skills. We try to take a lot of the pressure out of
youth sports, recognizing that young kids continue in sports only if it’s
fun. Our older Intramural teams are
co-ed, and every child plays at least half the game. Our coaches emphasize the importance of team
building, fair play, and how to have fun with competition. Although our Intramural Program is a
recreational league, we do take soccer seriously, and work hard to teach ball
handling skills and understanding team play, while emphasizing the fun and the
importance of character.
We hope to continue our contract with the
professional trainers at the Starfinder Foundation this Fall for skill training
and character development (see www.starfinderfoundation.org) .
Intramural Age Groups : We have made several significant changes in the
names and definition of our age groups to make it simpler . The 5-6 Division will now be called the Eyas, which is the term for a young falcon,
our organizational mascot. The Eyas is for children entering kindergarten
and first grade. Boys and girls will
play separately. Boys and girls will
also play separately in the Junior Division, which is for children
entering 2nd and 3rd grades. The Intermediate Division will be
co-ed, for children entering 4th and 5th grades. The Senior Division,
is also coed, for children in grades 6 through 8.
If you feel that your child should play in an age group
different than their school grade assignment, register them in the Division you
want and send us a note. We will try to
honor your request.
Intramural Play: We
begin with our Eyas Division, for children born before August 1, 2003 and entering
Kindergarten. Boys and girls play
separately on Saturday mornings at Edgely Fields. The sessions are divided between small group
instruction and small-sided games. The
games are played with a #3 ball on small fields with small goals, no keepers,
and continuous play. There is
lots of excitement, running, and enthusiastic soccer. There are loosely set teams, as teams may be
adjusted from week to week. Parents are
encouraged to be involved as coaches, assistants, and “sideliners” keeping the
ball in play. Each child will receive a
uniform, soccer socks, and a participation medal.
For children ages 7-13 in grades 2 though 7,
Intramural Play is divided into three age groups. The Junior
Division plays 6v6 with no standings and no playoffs (the season ends with a whirlwind
round robin tournament and hot chocolate!
Perfect for a fall day!) Each child will be assigned to a team. Teams will have a mandatory practice once per
week at a time and location selected by the coach. Games for this Division will be played on
Saturday afternoons. The Intermediate Division and the Senior Division play
8 v 8, and they do have standings and playoffs. Both of these Divisions will
play on Sunday afternoons, with midweek practice. Teams will be formed immediately after Labor
Day.
All games in these Divisions will be played with a
#4 ball, and all players will receive a full uniform and a participation
trophy.
Edgely
Fields: All
Intramural games are held at Edgely Field in
Intramural Registration: To register for Intramural Soccer, we now offer the
option of online registration and fee payment for those who have Windows based
operating systems. To register online,
go to our website www.fairmountsoccer.org
and follow the simple instructions. If
you want to mail in registration, fill out the enclosed form and mail it
in.
Early registration is extremely helpful to us in
recruiting coaches, ordering uniforms, and establishing schedules. It is very frustrating that every year,
families are registering later and later.
It is difficult to describe how much work this adds to our already busy
summer and fall. Please register
early. All Intramural registrations
received before August 1 are guaranteed a roster spot. Children who register after August 1 will be
charged a $10 late fee and will be added to a team only as space permits. Occasionally we have to turn some children
away who registered late. Registrations will not be accepted after teams are
formed.
Please take a minute to make sure your Registration
Form is filled in completely, legibly, and accurately. Each year, errors in completing the Form
result in hours of additional work for our volunteers.
We have kept our fees at the
same level as last year, though we have increased the Late Fee, which we will
enforce.
Full and partial
scholarships are available. Please note
this request on your registration form.
You
may register online, then send us a note requesting a
scholarship. No child will be denied a
chance a play because of inability to pay!
Our Refund Policy is to
grant refunds to children who withdraw before the Draft or team
assignments (early in September.) No
refunds are given to children who withdraw after teams are formed.
Fair Share $45 tax-deductible contribution: Fair Share is our way of
asking families who can afford it to help us sustain and improve our soccer
programs. Last year, 30% of our families
supported us through Fair Share. We
cannot stress enough how important these funds are to our Program. In addition to helping us fund scholarships,
the money we raise through Fair Share helps us expand our use of paid trainers,
fund more field maintenance, purchase more goals, continue rental of the storage
container, and develop our Website to handle online registration and payment.
Your Registration Fees cover our administrative
costs, league fees, insurance, uniforms, and equipment. Although we pay our professional trainers and
refs, all other staff and coaches are volunteers. Every dollar you contribute through Fair
Share or Sponsorship goes directly to improving our program.
Email: It is very important that you provide us with the
parent’s email address during registration.
Nearly all of our communication, such as news, updates, and rain
cancellations are communicated through email.
If you do not have email, we will use the
Dates and Schedule: Within several weeks of registering, you will
receive an email confirmation. You will
receive an email by mid-August with more detailed information on times and
dates for the beginning of the season.
If you do not have email, we will send you a notice via regular
mail. At this time, we plan to begin the
first weekend after Labor Day with preseason training program and player
ranking sessions. We plan to form teams
that next week, and begin practices the following weekend. Weather permitting,
the season will be over before Thanksgiving.
We always receive many inquiries about practice days
and locations. Practice times and
locations are set by each coach after the teams are formed. We attempt to honor specific needs by noting
the requests during the Draft. We do our
best to honor these requests.
Thanks
and we look forward to seeing you in the Fall! If you have any questions, please send an
email to : info@farmountsoccer.org
.