Stansbury Soccer Club -> News

Hello Soccer Players & Parents!

Your coaches will be getting their rosters and team equipment very soon and will be calling you to come to your first practice of the season. But before that happens we would like to welcome all of you to join us for our second annual Stansbury Soccer Club Summer Camp.

The Summer Camp is a two day event this year and is FREE to all club members who are 8 years old and up! The camp is run by the Club Director, Mark Augustine, with the help of other Club Coaches and some junior coaches from around the world (no joke!). To participate you just need to show up at the times listed below with a water bottle and soccer ball (if you have one) wearing good exercise clothes, tennis shoes or cleats, and shin guards. It will be a lot of fun and a great chance to get those soccer skills started or sharpened for the upcoming soccer season.

If you have any questions about the camp, please feel free to contact Mark Augustine at 843-7512 or maugustine@sllda.com.

See you on the field!

Stansbury Soccer Club
Summer Camp

August 8th & 9th

at the soccer fields on Village Blvd

Girls Ages 8 & 9
9:00 am to 10:30 am

Boys Ages 8 & 9
10:30 am to 12:00 pm

Girls Ages 10 & 11
4:30 pm to 6:00 pm

Boys Ages 10 & 11
6:00 pm to 7:30 pm

Boys & Girls 12 and up
7:30 pm to 9:00 pm

Hello Coaches!

Up until yesterday the weather was looking so much like time for spring soccer. Oh well, I'm sure this current batch of snow will melt quickly!

On Saturday we had this year's final spring registration event and want to welcome 81 new members to our soccer club!

There are still several players who played with us in the fall who have not paid to continue in the spring. If you are planning on playing this spring but have not yet paid remember that the deadline is March 15th in order to keep your spot on your same team. The cost is $28.00 which can be dropped in the box at 126 Regatta Lane or mailed to 1 Country Club #4, Stansbury, UT 84074. The check should be payable to SSC or Stansbury Soccer Club and make sure that the memo line of the check has your player's name and the words Spring. We will then match the name to the registration form that was filled out in the fall and make sure that you stay with your team. We must receive this no later than March 15th.

We will be organizing the spring rosters, schedules, and practice field times to hand out to the coaches during the week of March 16-22. Coaches will then be calling all of their players to let them know when the first practices will be held. The first games of the spring season will be on April 12th. So you should hear from your coach around the last week of March. If you haven't heard from your coach by the end of March please let us know via phone or email so we can make sure you're on a team and ready to go!

The spring season will include a lot of fun! We will be taking team and individual pictures, handing out awards, and holding our 2nd Annual Girl's Soccer Fair. I hope you are all as excited as I am to get started. It's only one month away!

If you have any questions, please feel free to respond to this email or even give Mark Augustine or me a call. Have a great day and keep those kicking feet warm.

Despite the massive snowstorm last week it is getting closer to the start of spring. Which means that the spring soccer season is also quickly approaching... the Stansbury Soccer Club is looking to begin its first spring season with spring games beginning on Saturday, April 12th!

If you played with us last fall and registered for a full season you are all set to join us! You will be kept on the same team and should be hearing from your coaches near the end of March about your spring practice schedule.

If you played with us in the fall but only signed up for the fall half of the season, it is not too late to sign-up to remain with your team in the spring. We will be holding two Spring Registration Events as listed below. The cost for everyone who played in the fall to continue through the spring is only $28.00. You can register at one of the events listed below or drop off a check in the lockbox located at 126 Regatta Lane or mail it to 1 Country Club #4, Stansbury, UT 84074. The check should be payable to SSC or Stansbury Soccer Club and make sure that the memo line of the check has your player's name and the words Spring Reg. We will then match the name to the registration form that was filled out in the fall and make sure that your player stays with his or her team.

If you have friends that didn't play with us in the fall but would like to join us in the spring please tell them about the registration events or the information found at our website www.stansburyassoc.org/soccer. There will be a few open slots for new players on existing teams and we will be forming new teams for the spring.

The last day to register for the spring season is March 15th! After that date players will be placed on a waiting list to get on to a spring team. You may not get back onto your fall team if you do not register by this date. A late fee will also be charged for all registrations received after March 15th. If you want to register your child but have financial issues that make it difficult please contact us about a possible fee waiver. We want everyone who wants to play to have the opportunity.

I hope you are as excited as we are to see the weather warm up and clear the snow from the soccer fields. We are excited to continue the fun we started last year and hope you are looking forward to joining us. If you have any questions please let me know.

Spring Registration Event #1
Saturday, February 23rd
9:00 am to 1:00 pm
at the Stansbury Park Clubhouse

A trend is beginning to develop at our recreation soccer games. We want to share this with you now to help keep the focus of our club to what it was started for- a learning experience with soccer that is fun.

Most parents wouldn't think about attending school with their children to decipher assignments or give answers to tests, telling them exactly what to write down on the paper. Neither do Mom's or Dad's go to a daughters dance performance and yell out instructions if she looks like she may have forgotten the next set of steps or openly criticize if she misses a few. However, this type of behavior is exactly what I am seeing on the soccer fields as I am out watching on Saturdays. I am finding coaches and parents yelling out every move to every player step by step and often verbalizing dismay when it isn't followed as "designed". Not only does this cause a bunch of commotion, confusion and unnecessary pressure, but it also shows a complete lack of faith in our children's ability to make their own decisions and choices. I mentioned my observations to one father and he replied "That's OK, the kids have learned to ignore it anyway". That comment put me into a higher level of concern. After having their fill of parents yelling (mostly bad) advice and stressing them out, they will simply tune us off and do what they want. This is a bad strategy for soccer and a disastrous one for life.

With school and dance, we send our kid's to class/practice, having prepared them as best we could before hand and trusting the instruction of the teachers. During homework or the recital we show support, encouragement, applaud politely and give a hug or a pat on the back when it is over. The same should be for soccer. Feel free to cheer, to compliment, and to encourage. Abolish the step by step instruction (like "Pass it to John", etc.) and worthless advice (like "Just boot it", etc.) and criticism of any kind. Do not focus on winning or losing. Ask your player after words if he had fun playing today. Under stress free conditions, She or he will say that they did... and that is all that matters.

The following is the recommended strategy for teaching soccer from the publication "Best Practices for Coaching Soccer in the United States" pages 8-9 from US Soccer Federation.

"A primary focus for the coach at the youth level, through the U-12 age group, is to provide an environment that comes close to simulating the "pickup" games of our youth. In this setting much of the creativity and personality of kids developed naturally, without the involvement of adults. Kids need to be allowed to play freely, develop their skills and use them in a creative manner. Coaches should organize only so far as it helps to create this environment."

Coaches should avoid the impulse to "coach" their players from "play to play" in order to help them win the match. Coaches should be organizing the game from the sideline, telling their young players to "To have fun," "reminding them of their roles as team member" to "take chances." To encourage being aware of the game.

Parents "Remember that making mistakes at these early ages is a very important part of the player's learning and development. Encourage risk taking and applaud effort."

The purpose of our club is for the players to have fun through the game of soccer. We encourage you to share this message with all parents and spectators from your team.

I just wanted to let you know about a few soccer things and then share with you a message from the Chief Soccer Man of our club, Mark Augustine. I have sent this out to all of the players that have given us emails but please pass it on to your teams.

First of all, as most of you know we will be doing team and individual pictures in the spring. If you registered for both the fall and the spring seasons you will be able to participate in this picture and will receive a FREE picture as part of your registration fee. Since there are a few players out there that can only participate with us in the fall, one of our coaches and parents, Tiffany Hansen, has arranged to have team and individual pictures taken next month on October 13th. We appreciate her taking this initiative and providing a way for team pictures to be available this fall. I want to make sure, however, that it is clear that these are not the team pictures that are free and included in the registration fee. There is a cost to ordering these pictures. There isn't a cost to have them taken and have a look at how they turn out so I do encourage everyone to take advantage of this opportunity and we want to give out a big thank you to Bob's mom for making this available. All coaches will be receiving information about these fall pictures but if you need further information you can give Tiffany Hansen a call at 249-0042.

Second, to stay even busier, Tiffany Hansen has also worked out a REAL SALT LAKE NIGHT with her own soccer team and has invited the whole club to come along with them. The tickets for the Real game are $15.00 which is a discounted price from the regular price of $28.00 that these seats normally cost and any players that come to the game early wearing their Stansbury Soccer Club uniforms can go out onto the field to usher in the team at the beginning of the game. The game is on October 6th at 7:00pm. Tiffany needs to make the necessary ticket reservations so please call her at 249-0042 if you would like to join them. She would like to know by the end of the week.

Third, our club has developed a relationship with the University of Utah Women's Soccer Team and they have invited us to attend their game against the Air Force Academy on October 18th at 7:30pm. All soccer players who come in uniform are FREE and coaches or assistant coaches who will be taking team members to the game are FREE as well. If parents would like to attend on their own with their child the reduced cost is $2.00 for the parent and any siblings under soccer age are also free. I hope that all makes sense... This is a great opportunity especially for our girls soccer teams to come and see what can become of girls with the skill to kick it in the net, slide tackle for a defensive stop, or dive for that goal save. Coaches of girl's teams at the U-8 and U-10 age groups as well as the U-14 teams will be getting further information at their games on Saturday but everyone is welcome to come and join us so if you are interested please let me know via phone or email.

Stansbury Park's first year youth soccer club includes 540 children registered to play in the recreation program, along with one competition team.

"We try to be done by 11 a.m., but some games don't get through until noon," said club president Mark Augustine.

Not only are there children from Stansbury Park, but the club also includes children from Erda, Lake Point, Overlake, Tooele and Grantsville. The teams practice throughout the week with coaches deciding on how long their team practices.

"The younger children practice for shorter time periods, while the older children practice longer," Augustine said. "Kids eight and under practice once a week, and those 13 and under can practice up to twice a week."

The most important part of the club is making sure the kids have a good time, he said.

"The soccer board believes we have a commitment to our neighbors and their children to provide a club that is based on fun, learning and improve the social wellness of it's members," he said.

The Stansbury Soccer Club mission statement: "The goal of Stansbury Soccer Club is to provide children throughout our community with a fun learning experience with soccer. Along with the fun of soccer, we will help youth develop skills, overcome challenges and develop self-knowledge through a positive playing environment, a love of team participation and physical activity."

The soccer board is in the stages of putting together a special needs soccer program, Augustine said.

"This program (the special needs) will focus on children who need something a little extra," he said. "We hope to enroll them into Special Olympics and other events that help bring fun to all kids."

Augustine added that it is important that all children have the opportunity to play.

This is it! Our first week of games begins in just a few days. I can't wait to be out on the field with my three teams and look forward to the first goal. In fact, I have been desperately trying to fit into one of the new uniforms so I might pass my self off as a player and share in the thrill. I just can't seem to get my shoulders through that youth small jersey.

Speaking of youth small jerseys, I wanted to take a moment to tell everyone that we are doing our best to get everyone a uniform that fits them. As most of you have figured out, this is the first time I have ever been the recreation director for a soccer club. It is also the first time Mark Augustine has been a president and so forth and so on down the list of all of our board members. We are really learning a lot in this first year and already have many ideas about how to make the spring season even better. Two particular issues have arisen that I wanted to mention and hope that you will understand that there will be a few small bumps like this as we start this new club.

First of all -- THE UNIFORMS! In order to get our uniforms printed and ready to go on game day this Saturday we had to order them way back at the beginning of June. We ordered what we thought were a lot more than we could possibly need: a total of 540 jerseys and 500 pairs each of socks and shorts. Our official count for players this year is actually at 537! Thank goodness we ordered a lot of extra... Yesterday we picked up 40 more pairs of socks and shorts so the good news is that everyone is going to have a uniform on game day. The bad news is that we do not have the flexibility in sizes that we thought we would have. We have also been surprised at the size requests that we have received from players. When we ordered we used the national averages for sizes based on age but it would seem from the requests we have received that Stansbury kids are not as large as average. So what we have done is this... We have given all of the youth smalls to the youngest kids; specifically our 3 1/2 to 5 year olds. We have then tried our best as we work up the age groups to get the closest match to each player's size request. Some of you will find that your uniform has some growing room. We hope that you will understand and remember that if your uniform fits and is in good shape at the end of the year you will be able to wear it again next year and pay less to play. We will be using the same jerseys next year.

Our second little bump -- THE FIELDS! I am going to try to be as politically correct here as I can... The soccer league to the south of us has requested some of our Stansbury soccer fields for their own games. In order to keep relationships nice the Stansbury Service Agency has decided to give them some of the fields for this fall season. The difficulty with this is that the fields were not allocated to them before we released our fall schedule and therefore we will now have to make a few small changes to accommodate them. The fields at issue are specifically the Rose Springs Elementary field and the Sandhill field where the U-10girls and the U-10 boys were scheduled to play. In order to make it all work out we will be creating a second large field on Village Blvd this week. So instead of the one large field there will be two large fields running in the opposite direction: a North Village Field where we will be moving all U-10 girls games, and a South Village Field where we will be moving the two earliest U-10 boys games. There will also need to be some adjustment to the times for our oldest group's games. In all 95% of game times will remain the same, just the field locations will change. The coaches at the U-10 boys, U-10 girls, and U-14 age groups will be getting the schedule changes in the next couple of days and we will post the new schedules by Thursday onto our website -- www.stansburyassoc.org. In the spring, a new park near the Benson Grist Mill will be completed that will have a lot of additional soccer space and the Sandhill field will return for our exclusive use. But until then, we'll need to make these few changes.

Otherwise, we are ready to go! You should be receiving your new Stansbury Soccer Club uniforms this week from your coaches. The referees have been trained and our ready to start work. We are busy painting the field lines and setting the goals in place and I, for one, can smell the soccer enthusiasm in the air. We appreciate everyone's support and patience with us as we've dealt with the two small issues of uniform sizes and field use. Now I think we are just about ready to kick off. As always, if you have any questions please feel free to give me a call or send me back an email.

We are ready to begin the season this Saturday! I wanted to thank you personally for coaching this year and make sure you had heard the word on a few things before we get started:

1) UNIFORMS -- You should now have your uniforms. If you don't please let me know and I'll see where they ended up and get them to you. As most parents know we have to make the best of the sizes that we have this first year. Of course your group has received the smallest uniforms we could get.

2) FIELDS -- We finished painting the fields in each of the small parks and the goals will be set in place first thing in the morning. If you are unsure where your field is, let me give you some directions. Hopefully they will help. Please help us keep these fields and parks clean. Remind your kids and parents to pick up all of there after game treats and get them to the garbage cans.

Regatta Park -- Take Village Blvd. west from the highway. Turn right on the second street after the large soccer field. Follow the road until it ends and turn right on Regatta Lane. You should see the park on the right side of the road.

Woodland Park -- Take Village Blvd. west from the highway. Turn right at the stop sign. Turn right again onto Spyglass Drive. Follow Spyglass as it curves to the left. You should see the park with the large trees on the left side of the road.

Fieldstone Park -- Take the main Stansbury entrance off the highway. Take the first right after the Maverick and car wash. Follow Gateway Drive around until it turns left into the park.

Ponderosa Park -- Take Village Blvd. west from the highway. Take the first right after the large soccer field on Village Blvd. Follow the road to the end. The park is on the right side.

3) GAME PLAY -- For those of you who haven't coached this age group before I thought I would tell you what I do. If you find something that works better definitely don't use my ideas, go with what works for you. I like to find a parent to keep time for us before we start so I don't have to keep looking at my watch. I meet the other coach, let my kids warm-up with a few kicks, etc. and then when both teams are ready we get started. I like to play the game in quarters so that there is an even time to trade kids on and off the field. Depending on their energy level I would suggest 5-8 minutes per quarter. During play both coaches are on the field helping guide the players into the right direction, making sure there isn't any pushing or fighting, picking up the fallen ones, and encouraging the kids to kick hard and run fast. At the breaks we rotate players in and out. At halftime and at the end of the game we always have a snack and we always give the other team a cheer and shake hands. When the ball goes out of bounds I usually give them the choice whether to kick it back in or do a throw. As the season progresses I will encourage them to spread out a little and encourage them to pass but realistically a pass is only going to happen once or twice per season on accident. For the most part we play by our team not so much with our team but we do have fun. I always encourage my parents to cheer as loud as possible regardless of which goal the ball goes into and regardless of which team kicks it in. Anyway, that's what I do.

As always if you run into any problems or concerns especially after this first game please give me a call or send me an email. After this first game we'll have a two week period to get any of these things fixed before game two. Once again thanks for all you are doing with your teams. This club would be nothing without good coaches like you. Have fun and good luck with your first game!

We are ready to begin the season this Saturday! I wanted to thank you personally for coaching this year and make sure you had heard the word on a few things before we get started:

1) UNIFORMS -- You should now have your uniforms. If you don't please let me know and I'll see where they ended up and get them to you. As most parents know we have to make the best of the sizes that we have this first year but I do have a few larger adult sizes. So if you have a player that could use a bigger jersey let me know.

2) SCHEDULES -- We revised the schedules a little bit to accommodate our friends down south. Please note that all of the U-10 Girls games are now played at the North Field on Village Blvd. It will be the field closest to the road. We are sorry we had to move the games but plan to have this issue resolved come springtime.

3) REFEREES -- You will have two referees scheduled for your game on Saturday. Most of them are either certified or at least have some experience. Please remember that this is their first game with us and that they are only young men and women doing their best. If you have any issues with a referee please let Mark Augustine know. Also, as we noted on your rules of play we need you to each ask one parent or assistant coach to help out as a sideline judge. Their job will be to determine possession only. If you have a parent who likes to "help the refs" alot this would be a great place to assign them.

We are ready to begin the season this Saturday! I wanted to thank you personally for coaching this year and make sure you had heard the word on a few things before we get started:

1) UNIFORMS -- You should now have your uniforms. If you don't please let me know and I'll see where they ended up and get them to you. As most parents know we have to make the best of the sizes that we have this first year but I do have a few larger adult sizes. So if you have a player that could use a bigger jersey let me know.

2) SCHEDULES -- We revised the schedules a little bit to accommodate our friends down south. Hopefully everyone has received a new schedule but if not I have attached one to this email. If you can't access it though it will also be available today online at our website -- www.stansburyassoc.org. Please note specifically the field changes for the 9:00am and 10:00am games! We are sorry we had to move some of the games but plan to have this issue resolved come springtime.

4) PLUS ONE RULE -- Finally, we realize that everyone has a team that is slightly larger than we had originally planned. We had originally written on your rules of play that we would like to play the games at 8 v. 8. We have decided to give you the option of moving to 9 v. 9 if both coaches would like to. At the beginning of each game please talk to your apposing coach and decide together if you would like to play 8 or 9 players on the field. You are welcome to change this up from game to game and at the end of the year we will get with you to evaluate what has worked best.

We are ready to begin the season this Saturday! I wanted to thank you personally for coaching this year and make sure you had heard the word on a few things before we get started:

1) UNIFORMS -- You should now have your uniforms. If you don't please let me know and I'll see where they ended up and get them to you. As most parents know we have to make the best of the sizes that we have this first year but I do have a few larger adult sizes. So if you have a player that could use a bigger jersey let me know.

2) SCHEDULES -- We revised the schedules a little bit to accommodate our friends down south. Hopefully everyone has received a new schedule but if not I have attached one to this email. If you can't access it though it will also be available today online at our website -- www.stansburyassoc.org. We are sorry we had to move some of the games but plan to have this issue resolved come springtime.

I would like to personally thank everyone involved with our club. I know that it is your service that makes this club great. We are also very fortunate that Stansbury Park and Stansbury Park Elementary are allowing us to use their fields to practice and play.

Please remind your children and your parents that it is everyone's responsibility to take their garbage with them or do throw them away in the proper trashcans. We are seeing drink bottles and drink cups being left after games and practices. I know that the community and school would greatly appreciate this and will allow us to keep the great rapport that we have with these entities.

Thank you for your consideration. We are to a great start. Thank you for your desire to make our community and our children better. Remember to have fun and enjoy this time we all have.