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 REGISTRATION & NEWS |
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* GAME INFORMATION FOR SATURDAY, November 14 * MICROSOCCER IS CANCELLED
* MICRO-NEWS BULLETIN * MICRO-NEWS BULLETIN * MICRO-NEWS BULLETIN ::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::: *** *** *** *** *** *** *** *** ***
* * * * Saturday, November 14th * * * * *** *** ****** *** *** *** *** *** MICROSOCCER IS CANCELLED ON ACCOUNT OF RAIN AND COLD
Saturday, September 5
Note to Coaches & Assistant Coaches
** Note to Coaches & Assistant Coaches**
Important principles to remember during practices:
(1) Correct Number of Adults Coaching. Each team should have both a coach and assistantcoach each week. If the“official” coach and/or assistant coach is absent, late, or non-existent,please solicit the help of one of the many adults around so that there are two(2) adults actively involved in running the practice.
(2) Small Groups. If there are 6 to 8 kids on a team, you should be spending most ofthe time with them broken into two (2) smaller groups of 3 to 4 kids. That way each kid gets more individualtime. You want to keep them movingand occupied, especially if the weather is not great. One thing that often works is to have half the team workingon shots on the goal (and goal tending), while the other half works on basicpassing, throw-ins, dribbling or plays a game like “monkey in the middle”.
(3) Socialization and Names. A key elementto a kid becoming a “team player” is learning to interact and cooperate witheach other. Most kids can’tremember the name of their team members for more than five minutes, much lessfrom week to week. Therefore it isrecommended that at the beginning of each practice you go around and introduceyourselves again and then have the kids introduce each other. Then, when you get to passing drills,have the passer call out the name of the kid to whom he or she is passing. This helps them both learn their names and talk to each other.
PART I — REGISTRATION INFORMATION for Fall 2009 *************** On-line Registration is Still Open ****************** DATES: The Fall 2009 season began Saturday, Sept. 12th and to run EVERY WEEKEND (including Memorial Day Weekend) through Saturday, November 14th, 2009,weather permitting. ******¡Mui importante! ************************* Please carefully read ALL (i.e. 100%) of the TEN(10) enumerated registration items that follow in this section BEFORE you register!! *************************************************
1. Check to make sure your child is the right age!
Eligibility for Prospective Players in Cambridge Family Microsoccer — Fall 2009 It is simple; you child does not require prior experience; for most of the children, this will be their first exposure to soccer and - in some cases - any organized sport. Nor is there any Cambridge residency requirement. The only rule is that to be eligible to play Microsoccer for the fall 2009 season your child should have be born between 7/31/2003 and 9/1/2005. (If your child is eligible in the Fall of 2009, then he or she will also still be eligible for the Spring of 2010, i.e. the age eligibility determination operates on an academic year schedule). Please note, however, that fall and spring have separate enrollments. If your child is slightly too young, then SEND US AN E-MAIL describing your child and why you think Microsoccer would be appropriate for you child. Decisions are made on a case by case basis. We will then contact you to discuss what seems appropriate in your child's case.
2. If your child is too old for Microsoccer, try Cambridge Youth Soccer (CYS)
For children who are too old for Microsoccer, you should check out Cambridge Youth Soccer, which is a separate organization, not affiliated with Cambridge Family Microsoccer, and which you can visit by clicking above!
3. Information regarding Team Officials: Coaches, Assistant Coaches and Managers
With few exceptions, Microsoccer coaches are all parents of children in Microsoccer. Each team needs the following three (3) volunteer positions to be filled:
- Coach. The coach is the primary instructor for the team. Ideally, the coach should be someone who actually has played soccer and knows something about it. That said, the coach does not actually need to be a skilled player himself or herself, and previous coaching experience is not required.
- Assistant Coach. The assistant coach helps the coach run the practices and takes over whenever the coach is unavailable (due to absence or if the coach is acting as a referee for a game). The same general background as that of the coach.
- Manager. No prior soccer experience is necessary. The primary duty is to coordinate parents on the team (on a rotating basis) to the bring snack to every single game.
Don't be shy about volunteering.
Note: From the point of view of Mass Youth Soccer, each of the positions are deemed to be officials of Microsoccers and must be filled by persons who are willing to have their names submitted for a routine criminal background check.
4. REFUND POLICY
Once you have registered your child, we do NOT issue refunds, absent truly compelling circumstances. If your child decides that he or she does not want to participate, or if you decide that your child has other obligations or priorities, then please notify us in writing by e-mail so that we can take him or her off of the roster. In such circumstances please regard yourself as having made a voluntary contribution to Cambridge Family Microsoccer, Inc.
5. CONFIRMATION OF REGISTRATION IS REQUIRED.
You must receive an e-mail Confirmation of Registration! If, following your attempt at online registration, you do not receive an e-mail from Active.com or Microsoccer.org confirming this, then you should assume that you are NOT registered and should try again. (But do check your spam box first!) Every year, some parents whose children were registered in the fall season show up in the spring season and mistakenly claim — with great certitude — that they (or their spouse) has already registered their child. To reduce the chances of unnecessary acrimony on this point, we are now asking all families to bring a printout of the e-mailregistration confirmation (or any other documentary proof that registration has taken place). Online registration works 90% of the time on a first try. 10% of the time it takes a second (or ocassionally third) try. If you are uncertain whether your child's registration has been completed, please send an e-mail inquiry to Registrar@Microsoccer.org. If you have not received an e-mail confirmation from Active.com and the registrar can confirm that you are registered, then the registrar will send you a special Confirmation of Registration.
6. Caution about Active.com’s "special offers"
Registration is done through Active.com. We have used their service for several years, and generally found it to be effective and convenient. However, when you register you will be offered some kind of "special offer" to join some kind of discount club that Active offers for $50 per year. Microsoccer takes an agnostic view of this Active promotion and does not endorse it in any way.
Likewise Active also offers you some free opportunity to become an Actve.com member, claiming that it is "recommended." Again to be clear, Microsoccer takes an agnostic view of Active's promotion and does not "recommend" it in any way. It is not necessary to become an Active.com member in order to register. On the other hand, if you do avail yourself of any of these extra Active.com features, we would be interested to hear from you as to whether they were a good experience or not.
Likewise, Microsoccer take no view as to whether you choose to participate in Active's magazine subcription promotion.
7. Note on Entering Child's Name when Filing Out Form
Please note that the "First Name" asked for on the beginning of registration form is your child's name, NOT YOURS. Your name will be asked for later on in the form under "Parent Name."
Also, please make sure you are entering the name of the correct child. (One spring we had one family in spring whose child was registered the entire spring under the name of the child's sibling, a fact that was only discovered when a trophy with the wrong name was presented at the end of the spring season).
8. Session Assignments and Placement Requests
*** ALERT REGARDING PLACEMENT REQUESTS *** If you are requesting that your child be on the same team as another child or coach, please be aware of the following:
(a) Once the season has begun and teams have been formed it is VERY difficult to honor any requests.
(b) When possible we try to at least match your child with one (1) other child or coach. Do not make requests like "all my teammates from last season" as such a request is overbroad and not specific enough without requiring the register to do a lot of research. It is ok to make requests like the following: "please put my child with Sam Smith or Jenny Jones or Albert Alewife" (note the use of "or" rather than "and").
(c) The child or coach you are requesting must also be registered.
(d) The child or coach you are requesting must be in the same session.
(e) when identifying a child, please make sure that you are using the child's correct last name (last year we had a lot of requests for children by the mother's last name when the children were registered by the father's last name).
9. E-mail us if you have registration problems
If you have not been able to make online registration work, then, after having tried at least twice, please e-mail us what your experience was and what browser and version you were using.
E-mail should go to PROBLEMS@Microsoccer.org
10. FALL 2009 REGISTRATION LINK
By clicking on the registration link you will be taken to Active.com's registration system where you can register for Microsoccer's FALL 2009 season.
DISCLAIMER REGARDING "SPECIAL OFFERS": In the registration process,you will be offered certain choices by Active.com which are not part of the Microsoccer registration. (These offers have been inserted by Active.com without Microsoccer's specific consent or approval.) If you want to availyourself of any of these options, it is entirely up to you, but they are neither required nor recommended by Microsoccer.
** IF YOU HAVE TROUBLE WITH THE REGISTRATION LINK **
… It is probably a problem with your browser and/or computer. We are investigating reports of problems in this regard. If you are having problems with the link, we suggest switching browsers and trying again. If that is not possible, you can also try typing in (or copying and dropping) the following:
http://www.active.com/event_detail.cfm?event_id=1794005
PART II WHAT TO DO IN CASE OF BAD WEATHER (click here to check the weather)
If, due to poor weather, you are unsure of whether a scheduled Microsoccer session is taking place, then please call the MICROSOCCER HOTLINE at 617-274-3114. If Microsoccer is going to be cancelled or postponed, then a message to that effect will be placed on the MICROSOCCER HOTLINE no later than 8:30 AM on the morning of the scheduled game. If there is time, there will also be a message placed on this site.
PART III EQUIPMENT
Required Equipment
Every child is required to have the following equipment at every practice and every game: (a) shin guards; (b) soccer cleats; and (c) a Microsoccer t-shirt. Microsoccer will provide each child with one (1) official t-shirt at the first game. Please make sure you get the shin guards and soccer cleats before the first game!
It is recommended that each child own his or her own size 3 soccer ball for use at home, but that he or she NOT bring the ball to Microsoccer. (The balls we provide are a shared resource and we don't want the kids to get too proprietary.)
Where to get soccer equipment
There are many places you might get soccer equipment. Among them are:
Brines Sporting Goods 4 Church St.
Belmont, MA 02478
Tel. No. 617-489-6791 Modell's Fresh Pond Shopping center 186 Alewife Brook Parkway, Cambridge. Sports Etc. 1303 Massachusetts Ave.
Arlington, MA 02476-4110
Tel. No. 781-646-1600
Olympia Sports
Fresh Pond Shopping Center
186 Alewife Brook Parkway
Cambridge.
Tel. No. 617-354-1284
City Sports
1815 Mass Ave.
Cambridge, MA 02140
Tel. No. 617-661-1666
** If you know other good sources of equipment, please send us the information by e-mail so we can share it with the whole group.
(D) MICROSOCCER RULES OF THE ROAD
Please carefully review the most recent edition of MICROSOCCER RULES OF THE ROAD (available by clicking the link directly above ). What follows below, is just a PARTIAL sampling:
- Rule about Parent Attendance
A parent or legal guardian should be present with each child in Microsoccer for the entire time of each weekly session in which the child is enrolled. If your child becomes injured, otherwise distressed, wants to leave, or find a bathroom, you cannot expect anbody else to take care of it.
- Rule about Team Size
Teams should NEVER more than 10 players and ideally no fewer than 7 on the team roster. At any given time there should only be 4 players playing per side, with 1 being the goalie and the other 3 being the offense/defense. ** Please note that at the beginning of the season, the teams often seem a little small. However, by the third week, most will be full.
- Rule about Child Attendance
Families should make a 100% good faith attempt to get their children to each session with the child's (a) Microsoccer T-Shirt; (b) shin guards; (c) cleats, and (d) copy of team roster and schedule, unless they have a very good reason not to. Conflicts due to family travel, sickness, or family events such as bar mitzvah, confirmation, wedding, brit milah, etc., are all good reasons. However, even if you have a good reason, you MUST NOTIFY YOUR COACH AND TEAM MANAGER IN ADVANCE that your child will be absent for a specific session.
- Rule about Yelling from the Sidelines
Only the Coach, Assistant Coach, or Referee should should shout or otherwise give instructions from the sidelines.
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