November 7 - was Trophy Day. Yay!
If you missed it, please contact us via e-mail.
If you have any ideas how to make things better for next year, please e-mail Ed or Kurt.
Big THANK YOU'S
Thank you to the kids for trying hard and many times making us smile:-)
Thank you to the parents for letting your kids play the most popular game in the world and only kvetching a little when things weren't perfect.
Thank you to all those who stepped up and were coaches.
Thank you to all who helped.
Thank you that the season is over. Oops, hope nobody sees this!
For the die hards inquire about Travel Soccer.
For everybody else:
Happy Holidays!
Ed and Kurt (Thank you Ed, couldn't have done it without you:-)
From the DUH!!! files:
We see a lot of kids dressed by their fathers:-)
That means they either let the kids dress themselves or are out of the loop when it comes to dress right for the weather, something any mother would know!
Hint: When it is 32 degrees, shorts and T-Shirts with nothing underneath are not exactly ideal !!!
Have the kids or tell the kids to dress in layers. As they get warm, they can take these off.
Lost and found items will be hung (We'd like to do that to those who forget their stuff:-) on the fence by the field entrance!
9/12 Opening day review!
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Normally we line up the various grades, put the T-Shirt boxes in front of the kids, determine the coaches and give out the T-Shirts and form the teams.
Unlike in previous years it rained, and we didn't want to give out wet T-Shirts, which were in cardboard boxes.
Checking off whether players were indeed registered (Some register minutes before they arrive, so we don't have the latest information) and giving out the shirts from the shed unfortunately caused long waiting lines.
We hate lines, just like you! Thank you to those who helped!
Live and learn, we have now bought plenty of plastic bins allowing us to give out dry T-Shirts even when it rains and we will distribute complete registration lists to all coaches by grade, allowing the registration check to be de-centralized, i.e. much faster, plus the coaches will have all your contact info etc. immediately. (Thank you John for the idea:-)
The first day is usually very chaotic, as we never know in advance how many people will actually register, how many will show up on opening day and how many teams we can build.
With a few exceptions, we also don't know who is willing to coach and what any volunteers coaching credentials are.
Once teams are created , coaches named etc. we can go to step two, which is working with the coaches.
Despite all the information on this website, there are always people who do not read things, but are fast to complain about organization, non soccer coaches or when their expectations are not met.
The New Paltz town league is all about playing STREET SOCCER STYLE !!!! See the first thing you see on our website!
Street Soccer is a soccer experience where players come to just play, winning is not the most important thing and the players figure out how to play and what to do on the field by doing it!
Making mistakes, learning from it etc.etc..
Street soccer is the way the kids in the world's best soccer nations learn how to play.
The main ingredient in that is NO ADULT INTERFERENCE!!!!
How often do we see a group of kids playing any sport, making up the rules as they go, balance teams when things get lopsided, play side variations of the sport or just play a game about one aspect, say penalty shots , free kicks, foul throws in basketball, just catching in baseball or football etc.etc.,
Any time an adult shows up on the scene he or she feels compelled to show them how it's done right , we destroy their creativity and problem solving capabilities.
For example: Related to soccer, kids start off kicking with their toes, because it provides good power. They'll stop that when it hurts or they can't get the ball to where they want it to go. Or, any time the ball comes to them they just kick it and stand still admiring their work.
Once they get scored upon they'll realize that just kicking the ball to the other team is not smart.
We help the kids soccer development by playing small sided games, so that everybody gets to play all the time.
Many books are written about this subject, so let me just summarize that ideally in our town league we do not want any coaching, but the adults will not be able to resist!!!
All our sessions allow 30 minutes of warm up games (We'll give some ideas to coaches, but there are the usual 50,000 hits on Google if you punch in soccer for young children) and then we want to have th echildren play, again ideally without adult interference!
If you do not like this Street Soccer concept, you are at the wrong venue and we are sorry that we can't meet your (adult) expectations!
Due to the lack of volunteers (BTW: An issue in all sports, clubs etc.) we have hired High School kids who play travel soccer. They will be able to assist the adult coaches and help demonstrate skills that a non soccer coach cannot show!
That will be in place by the next session!
So, instead of kvetching and complaining watch whether your child has fun and is sufficiently challenged. When we see players with advanced skills or athletic talent, we will promote them to the next grade of play.
Our entire program is for the kids!
Please keep read the latest news section, as we update it after every session.
We are always trying new things, but some work and some don't work!
Rainouts !!!!!!!
Will be published here between 8:00 to 8:30 after an inspection of the fields. Depending on the forecast we may at times be able to shift all starting times and still get the sessions in.
So, check here often!
Soccer is played in the rain, which is actually perfect soccer weather:-)
Kids melt, but not because of rain drops!
.....but, if it is totally unpleasant (strong rain and winds, plus cold) we won't play.
If you miss opening day, come when you can and we will put your child on a team.
Times Grades etc. on the Town Soccer page!
To our valued volunteers:
Please let's not have a stampede for all the FREE volunteer jobs like last year!
It was frightning to see so many adults................................
go hiding:-)
Seriously folks, step up and help. It is for YOUR children!
Don't ask us what you can do, if you see something you think can be done
or done better, just do it!
If there is anything you do when helping we don't like, we'll let you know.
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