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Subject: Welcome to the Park Ridge Soccer House League
To all registered families for the Park Ridge Soccer House League:
Welcome to the new season! As in the past, our volunteer organization of Division Coordinators and Directors have worked hard to structure a program that provides a fun, safe, learning and competitive environment for the kids. In doing so, we’ve tried to:
· keep the fields in good shape, and large enough to support high-quality play;
· develop a flexible training program for our volunteer coaches; and
· leverage the information we’ve collected on our players to formulate teams that are as evenly matched as possible.
As the season starts, we’d like to remind everyone how we formulate the teams.
Above all, we are trying to create the best experience for the kids. For the Instructional and Pee Wee divisions, this means placing your children on teams with classmates and friends as much as possible. As the kids get older, we try to phase in other factors to keep the games as competitive as possible. We use grade level, player ratings (as reported by their coaches) and positions played to try to keep the teams evenly matched.
For the Midget Divisions, we try to find a balance between classmates, ratings and positions played. For the Junior and Mid-Senior Divisions, we rely less on classmates, because we’re more focused on team balance, and we hope to have the kids make new friends before they enter middle and high school.
In the end, it’s not an easy task for our Division Coordinators, but we hope it pays off for the kids. Please enjoy this season, and let’s all hope for weather that is a little friendlier than what we experienced in the past.
Park Ridge Soccer-Boys and Girls House League Directors
We have compiled some frequently asked questions that should answer most of your questions. Please review these before contacting the volunteer leadership of Park Ridge Soccer. If you cannot find the answers you need, please call 847-825-8728 or email parkridgesoccer@hotmail.com and be sure to include your child's name, phone, email, and grade school.
Q: Does Park Ridge Soccer have a specific recommendation for post-contest treats?
Yes, as an affiliate of the Park Ridge Recreation and Park District, the Board of Directors of Park Ridge Soccer has issued the following guidelines regarding the dispensing of treats after matches.
- The creation of a mandatory team treat list is not permitted. No parent will be obligated to provide treats on a specific day or at a specific competition.
- Parents and coaches who may volunteer to provide food and/or drink after contests are asked to choose healthy items that are age and time of day appropriate.
- Coaches and/or parents who may desire occasionally to treat a team after a contest at a local restaurant are not encouraged but are not prohibited.
- Coaches and/or parents who donate items and/or funds for a post-match gathering should not be criticized and should be mindful of providing healthy items.
Q: How are teams put together?
Teams are formed in the Instructional and Pee Wee Divisions according to which school players attend, or if a player requests to play with a friend. Starting with Midgets, Division Directors form teams based on an equitable distribution of players according to ratings from their coaches, and grade level in school. For the most part, requests to play with other players/coaches are not honored, but most players will be on a team with a few kids from their school.
Q: We haven’t heard from anyone about what team our son/daughter is on. When will we hear?
Coaches receive their rosters approximately 3 weeks before the start of the season. If you haven’t heard by one-week prior to the start of the season, please call 825-8728 or email parkridgesoccer@hotmail.com and be sure to include your child’s name, phone, email, and grade in school.
Q: What if it is raining the morning of our game?
Games will often be played as scheduled, even in the rain. Games may be canceled due to poor field conditions. If you do not receive a call from your coach canceling the game, proceed to the field.
ONLY Midget, Junior ,Mid-Senior and Senior games may be rescheduled if canceled.
Q: What is the Thor Guard Lightning Prediction System?
Park Ridge Soccer Parks are monitored by a Thor Guard Lightning Prediction System installed in 1997. The system is designed to warn of conditions conducive to lightning at all parks.
Please read the guidelines listed below and become familiar with them:
- Warning horn will sound (15 second blast) when a potentially dangerous weather situation is approaching.
- Clear the field immediately & seek proper shelter. (building or non-convertible auto)
- Wait for all clear (3 short horn blasts)
- If no all clear sounds after 20 minutes, cancel the contest.
- System operates 7 days per week from 8am to 11pm
- Signal horns may not be at your site, but at a site within hearing range. If you hear the alarm, clear the field.
- If the weather is threatening and no alarm is heard, clear the field.
- Lead by example. All adults should also clear the field.
Strobe lights have been installed at each park location to show we are under an alert. This should help remove questions on whether or not the horns sounded while you were on the way to the park.
For additional information on the Thorguard Lightning Prediction System, visit their website at www.thorguard.com.
Q: What does it take to be a Park Ridge Youth Soccer Coach?
Our coaches are volunteers who may or may not have had soccer playing/coaching experience. PRYSA provides training and coaching clinics. For more info visit The Coaches Corner .
Q: What can I do to become a referee?
Referees attend training classes, however; they receive most of their training on the job and need everyone’s respect and support. If you are interested in this paid position, please contact Jim O'Donnell.
Q: When are individual/team pictures taken?
Pictures are taken in the fall season only. See your coach for details.
Q: What are the All Star Games about?
The All Star event is one evening played in the Spring Season only. 2-3 players are picked to represent their teams.
Q: When are travel tryouts?
Travel team tryouts are held in late May / early June each year.
Q: What is the SCOTT WADE MEMORIAL FUND?
Scott Wade was a referee and lifelong soccer player. He was twenty years old when he was killed by lightning while refereeing a Park Ridge Youth Soccer game. A Memorial Fund in his name has been established. This fund awards scholarships every year to four High School Seniors who write a convincing essay about how soccer positively influenced their lives. The money comes from individual donors and a portion of the Memorial Day Tournament Registration fees. If your family would like to make a donation, please send it to:
Scott Wade Memorial Fund
c/o PRYSA
PO BOX 59A
Park Ridge IL 60068
Subsequent to this tragic event, a state of the art Thor Guard Lightning Prediction System was installed throughout Park Ridge.
Q: How old do you have to be to become a game official?
To become an Assistant Referee (Linesperson), you must be in the spring semester of 7th grade or older. To become a referee, you must be in the spring semester of 8th grade or older. NO EXCEPTIONS
Q: How much money can a game official make?
Based on experience and level of game, game officials earn between $15.00 and $30.00 per game.
Q: I am an adult. Can I still become a referee?
Absolutely! For more information, please contact Jim O'Donnell.
Q: Why are we so short of referees?
75% of new referees do not continue beyond 1 or 2 seasons.
Q: Why is the turnover so great?
To be sure, parent and coach abuse plays a role. Some find it to be uninteresting or too difficult. Most do not want to commit the time to it given all the other activities they are involved in.
Q: How long does it take for the results page andings to reflect a posted score? I just want to make sure that I did not miss any steps in entering data.
Scores received by 8 AM Monday morning are incorporated in the publicity/results information that is published in the Advocate as well as the web site. For the:
- HOUSE LEAGUE: Results are available along with publicity / results on Tuesday morning
- TRAVEL LEAGUE: Standings for travel soccer are derived from the game cards submitted to the league by the game referees. Thus, the publicity data that you enter via the web page does NOT get incorporated into formal team standings. Official game results for the girls are available on the IWSL site, boys game results are available on the YSSL site, or accessible from our "Links" page or via the Youth Travel Program page.
Q: I posted scores Sunday around 6:00pm, when should I check the website results site to see them?
A: Scores received by 8 AM Monday morning are incorporated in the publicity/results information that is submitted to the Advocate on Monday and published on the web site on Tuesday mornings.
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