Powell River Youth Soccer Association

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Coaching Qualifications

• application for coaching rep teams made to PRYSA executive. Download form.
• PRYSA executive has final say on choice of coach(es)
• Application must include information about coaching experience and the head coach must have obtained his/her community youth coaching certificate to coach in the Provincial B or C playoffs, and in addition must have their senior coaching certificate to coach at the provincial A playoffs
• All coaches must have filled in and be cleared through the Risk Management Program
• All teams must have at least one coach or manager on the team of the same gender as the players
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Tryouts

• all players of the age group represented by the rep team must be given notice and a reasonable opportunity to try out for the rep team
• rep teams are to be composed of only players born in the calendar year that the rep team is to represent
• only if there are not enough players of the proper age group may the rep team coach invite interested players of younger age groups.
• Notice about rep team tryouts is best given to players by a phone call to ALL players registered of that age group in PRYSA. Notifying players by asking all house team coaches to inform their players has not resulted in all players being properly notified.
• Assistance with tryouts may be obtained through the Head Coach of PRYSA.
• In our experience, notifying players of their acceptance or failure to make the rep team is best made personally and privately rather than in a group.
• Most rep teams are more successful when they are formed and can practice with exhibition or Island league games earlier in the season (usually in September)
• All players playing rep soccer must play in the House league (exceptions are made for the oldest age groups)
• While there is no set number of players to carry on a rep team, fifteen players is a good minimum of players. You may dress up to eighteen players but can register no more than eighteen by Feb 1 for the Provincial cup playoffs. You may carry more than eighteen players for practice or exhibition games.
• Remember to train enough players so that you have a pool of players to draw from should players get injured or drop out of soccer at a later age (Grade 11 and 12 seems to be a difficult age to get players to commit to rep soccer as they get involved with jobs and school)
• All players should have some playing time in each game but do not have to have equal playing time
• Tryouts will be scheduled for Spring for the following season
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Organization of Rep Teams

• Each rep team coach will organize and attend a committee a meeting of parents to help run the rep team. This meeting will be scheduled prior to the end of September. Suggested committee members include:
  • Assistant coach

  • Team manager(s)

    · to organize and be responsible for committee, arrange travel, fundraising, etc and act as liaison between coach and parents and PRYSA executive.

  • Phoning organizer

    · one parent to organize smaller groups of players to be in charge of phoning team members with messages

  • Fund raising organizer
  • Treasurer

  • Equipment manager

    · for nets, balls, water bottles,
    · We’ve found that taking the jerseys in after each game and washing them and handing them out at the next game works best for control of the jerseys

  • Treasurer

    · will keep accurate track of all money raised by and expenses incurred by the rep team and
    · will be able to produce a statement at the end of the year for the team parents and PRYSA executive (if requested)

• We’ve kept a spreadsheet to show what each team member contributes to the rep team in the way of personal donations, attendance at bottle drives, car washes, tickets sold etc. This rewards the players and parents who contribute more of their time and effort with a personal balance that can be used towards travel, uniforms, etc.
• Players that leave the team will not be entitled to withdraw their personal accounts other than private money donated. These funds will be split evenly between remaining team members.
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Equipment

• PRYSA is responsible to supply jerseys, soccerballs and training cones to each rep team
• PRYSA will supply nets, referees and linesmen to any Provincial or Island Cup home games
• PRYSA is not responsible to supply shorts, socks or other equipment to rep teams
• MARK YOUR SOCCER BALLS WITH «PRYSA» AND TEAM NAME!!
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Link to Upper Island Soccer Association schedule

Games/Scheduling

• PRYSA will not supply linesmen to any exhibition or league games not a part of the Provincial or Island cup playoffs but will supply referees to league games
• Payment of linesmen and/or referees not covered by the above is the rep teams’ responsibility
• Scheduling of referees must be done through the PRYSA head referee.
• Scheduling of fields must be done through the PRYSA president and Powell River Leisure Services

Games

• organizing exhibition games are the responsibility of the rep team manager and/or coach
• there is a Upper Vancouver Island Gold league for several age groups for boys and girls.
• Contact the league president for more information. Games usually begin in the second weekend of September
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Island cup Playoffs

• There have been several different formats for the Island Cup playoffs but all formats result in an Upper Island Champion for each age group that will play off against the Lower Island League winner usually on the first weekend in May
• Games alternate yearly between Upper and Lower Island locations; on even years, they will be Lower Island, odd years in the Upper Island
• Island B Cup playoffs: will be played at end of November. Same format as last year - each club will host an age group (U12 - Alberni Valley, U13 Campbell River, U14 - Powell River, U15 - Comox Valley, U16 - Nanaimo, U17/18 - Nanaimo/Oceanside).
• Tentatively, the Island Cup will be held on the first weekend in May vs a Lower Island team
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Provincial Cup Playoffs

• Rep teams will be entered into the appropriate age and category (A, B or C) for Provincial Playoffs - «A» cup generally consists of Metro U14 to 18 teams, teams that play in the highest division in the Lower Mainland and usually include the top rep team from Nanaimo and Victoria
• If a team either wins or comes second in the Provinical B (Challenge) Cup Playoffs for two consecutive years, they must move up to A Cup play the following year
• «B» cup playoffs are for teams in the «Gold» or «Silver A» level in the lower mainland and «Gold» or «Silver» level in Victoria and rep teams from all other communities in the province
• «C» cup playoffs are officially for «House», «Silver B», «Bronze» or «Red» level teams although smaller communities such as ours have entered rep teams at this level when they are deemed not to be strong enough for «B» level play - dispensation to form a rep or all-star team to play in the «B» or «C» levels must be obtained from BC Soccer through the PRYSA president unless the team plays in an established league with a minimum of four (4) teams and plays a minimum of four (4) games with records of scores and standings being kept.
• Team rosters must be given to the PRYSA registrar by Dec 31 of each year for submission to BC Soccer by February 1 for B and C cup and March 15 for A cup teams.
• Playoff schedules to determine the Upper Island representative for the Provincial Cup (separate from the Island Cup playoffs) which consist of a single game knockout are arranged in the Fall (contact PRYSA President for details) and the first game is in February.
• Playoffs of the Upper vs Lower Island representatives are usually held near the end of March or first week in April. The U12, 14, 16 and 18 boys and girls play their games as Away teams at a Lower Island location and the U13, 15 and 17 boys and girls play their games on their home field.
• The winner of the game against the Lower Island rep automatically qualifies for the Provincial Challenge cup (for B playoffs) held on the second weekend of July in a location determined by January
• The winner of the C Cup game qualifies for the Coastal C Cup semi-final which is held on their home field for U13, 15 and 17 and on a Lower Mainland field for the other age groups. There is no Provincial final for C Cup.
• The winner of the Island B cup final also qualifies for the Coastal Cup semi-finals against Lower Mainland teams and are the away team for the U12, 14, 16 and 18 age groups but are the home team for the U13, 15, and 17 ages.
• The winners of the Coastal cup semi-final for the B or the C level play in the Coastal Challenge and C cup finals respectively. C cup final is in April in the Lower Mainland and the B Cup final is at Coquitlam Town Centre Stadium or Swangaard Stadium in April.
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Fundraising

• Bottle drives: try for a regular time monthly or every couple of months.
• Raffle tickets: you must obtain a raffle ticket licence ($50) from the Provincial Court building. Tickets can be printed commercially (sequential numbering with the licence number on the ticket) through Powell River Paper Kings (at the complex office) or through Phoenix printers
• Chicken sales, dough sales, car washes, candy sales are other fundraisers (see handout)
• All sponsorships must go through the PRYSA president first. this is so multiple teams do not approach the same business.
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Rep Team Uniforms

• PRYSA will supply Rep jerseys. these are the only jerseys that are to be worn unless receiving special permission from the PRYSA president.
• Same style socks and shorts are a great idea but not mandatory
• Many rep teams from other areas also have matching sweatsuits, warmup jackets, and carry bags
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Travel

• The Lockeroom bus is available to be booked for team travel (book well in advance) but requires a class IV driver
• Buy discount cards for ferry travel. These are much cheaper than any other rate other than Educational rates
• If you want to keep costs to a minimum, overnight stays in gyms, church halls and community centres are easy to arrange and cost $0-$50 per night for a team willing to sleep on the floor. Church and community halls also have large kitchens that they let you use for meals.
• Cereal, milk, toast, muffins, yogurt and fruit work well for breakfast. Buns or sandwiches, fruit and cookies, with juice for lunch. Spagetti, lasagnia and pizza can be cooked in these halls for dinner.
• Players should be reminded that they are representing Powell River and should conduct themselves accordingly. Parent chaperones will avoid drinking alcohol while being responsible for the players.
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Tournaments

• Some of the best memories that other rep teams have had in the past have been from the tournaments that their teams have entered
• Tournament dates and locations can be found in the BC Soccer web site www.bcsoccer.net
• Popular dates are Labour Day, Thanksgiving and May Long weekends
• The tournaments usually involve three to five games and cost $150-300
• Teams should be entered at the Silver A or Gold levels depending on their abilities.
• There will be an ice-breaker tournament scheduled in mid September for rep teams from Vancouver Island.
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Coaching Ideas

• Soccer clinics, training ideas and support can be obtained from the Head Coach.
• Book your practice times and fields early through Leisure services (Mike Elvy). Gym times can also be booked through Leisure Services for practices. This is great when the weather turns cold and wet and the fields are closed and daylight vanishes! Gym time is also available at Malaspina College, booking at the front desk
• the internet has great resources for coaching drills. Try:
  • Youth Soccer Coach handouts
  • Soccer Clinics from the International Coaches Association
  • USC manual
  • Bruce Brownlee youth soccer coaching notes

REMEMBER TO KEEP IT FUN
AND YOU’LL HAVE FUN AND SUCCESS!

GOOD LUCK!

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