Frequently Asked Questions

For: Parents and Kids interested in the WESCO Division III (a.k.a. “Select,” “Travel”)

Please read this and check the WESCO website at: www.wescosoccer.org before calling the WESCO office with questions.

1. How are the kids rated at tryouts for the WESCO Select (Division III) teams?

· Coaches and independent evaluators rate the kids at the tryouts. It is recommended that they come to both days of tryouts, as the top score between the two tryout days is used (not averaged). If they attend only one day, that is the score used.

· 80% of their final rating is based on the raters evaluation of their play in the scrimmage. They are rated on a 1 to 10 scale, taking into account ball handling skills, field awareness, confidence and player attitude on the field, speed, etc.

· 20% of their final rating is based on the Skills Assessments of a timed 40 yd. Dash, dribble slalom and kicking drill.

2. Why are some kids invited back to a third tryout?

The coaches have the option of a third “bubble” tryout. This is often done when the coaches need another look at players who are not in the very top group (who will definitely make the team), but there is a group of kids all of whom are qualified, yet cuts need to be made for the appropriate team size.

3. What happens if my child does not get selected for a WESCO Select team?

The WESCO Recreational (Division IV) program is available for all players and is a great place for every child to continue to play soccer and build their skills. Often players come back the following year and find the competition and their own abilities to have changed substantially.

4. When will my child hear whether he/she makes a team?

Like most aspects of youth sports, the compiling and analysis of all the data is done by parent volunteers who serve on the WESCO Select Committee. Although the time until getting that phone call from the coach can be very frustrating for players and their families, it is very important that this process be carefully and accurately done. It ultimately works in everyone’s best interest if it is not done hastily. Once the ratings are complete, representatives of the Committee meet with each coach to draft their team according to the Rules of Select Draft. Then the coaches call each player individually to let them know the results (a very difficult and time consuming process). All kids are called whether or not they make the team. The process takes several weeks.

5. Why do some kids hear several days before others? This makes it very difficult in such a small community!

Coaches that do not need a third “bubble” tryout can draft their teams early and like to get their calls done immediately. This creates the situation in which one age group of kids might get called before another group’s teams are finalized. If kids from another age or gender group get called before your child, there is no need to worry, all kids will be notified. If however, in the unlikely event that other kids from your child’s age and gender group have been notified and several days have passed without your having received a phone call- then, please don’t hesitate to call the WESCO office to make sure the coach has the correct phone number to notify your child.

6. How much time and travel commitment is Division III for my child?

The Select program is designed for the child who is interested in a more intense and competitive program than the recreational level soccer typically provides.

· Practices: Most coaches practice several times per week before the season starts and continue to run practices during the season. Practices usually start in June, although some coaches start earlier. They may also have special practices or scrimmages to prepare for upcoming tournaments.

· Trainings: The teams are each allotted 10 practices with special trainers. Often these are done during one of the regularly scheduled practices, but sometimes trainings must be scheduled at special times depending on field and personnel availability. These are seen as a very important part of the program and are usually very well received by coaches and players alike.

· Season Games: The playing season involves District V, which stretches from Marin to Humboldt County. Depending on the District V draw, your child’s team could play teams from anywhere within this district. The regular season begins at the end of August and runs through the middle of November. The “split season” is designed for the older kids (U-15 through U-19) to avoid conflicting with the high school season. Games are typically played during all of August, then starts up again at the end of January through the end of February. Last year the “split season” was only offered to the older boys in District V, but this year the girls may also play this schedule. For the older teams, there may also be the opportunity to play either playing season, depending on the competition (again, if there’s enough teams that opt of either playing season).

· Tournaments: Each team selects which tournaments they would like to attend. This varies greatly as far as places, dates and number of tournaments each team applies for. The final standings in the regular playing season is often a factor as to whether a coach decides to take the team to Association Cup in the winter/spring.

7. What is the commitment for the parents?

NOTE: The entire program is run on parent volunteers. Parents volunteer as:

· coaches,

· assistant coaches,

· team managers (a more extensive version of the recreational level “team mom”), they organize the parents to help with the other volunteer jobs, apply to tournaments and communicate with the team parents

· uniform manager

· field lining (each team is assigned several days of lining the fields)

· Apple Classic tournament volunteers (this is our “home tournament” and requires volunteers to do everything from purchasing concessions to marshalling the fields- and everything in between). This is usually a several hour commitment from each parent. (You cannot leave all of this to your coach and team manager!)

· Referee - take a referee course to become licensed and contribute significantly! Often parents complain when games are short referees without realizing the referees come largely from parent volunteers. The league numbers are low, sign up for a course. Most licensed referees are actually paid by the league for each game.

8. What’s different about the U-10 age group?

The U-10s don’t go to “tournaments” per se, but go to a much more informal and less competitive format of “jamborees.”

They also play on a smaller field, with a small number of kids on the field, and therefore draft a smaller team. There is less CYSA requirement for the number of licensed referees at games.

9. What do the fees pay for?

WESCO is a non-profit, 501C community youth sports organization. The budget is an open process and consists of player fees, sponsorship fees and fundraisers (e.g. concessions at home tournaments). The budget pays for field usage fees, goals, nets, balls, referees and all the fees associated with running a youth soccer organization.

In addition the budget allows for 10 trainings per season per year, 3 tournaments for the teams that are in the regular fall playing season (2 tournaments for the older teams that play a “split” season because of the extra fees associated with renting all weather fields).

The fees do NOT pay for: uniforms, expenses of travel and any extra fees that an individual team may decide to have (e.g. extra tournaments or extra trainings).

10. What is all this I hear about “Age-pure” teams?

District V will allow for teams that are “age-pure” for the age groups of U-11 through U-15. This means that all kids on an age-pure team are within 12 months of each other instead of the previous 24 month divisions. If there are enough teams in those divisions throughout the district to have a playing season (you obviously need enough teams to play against), then an “age-pure” division is created. As a medium-sized league, it is likely that age-pure teams will be formed at some levels and other levels will play in the usual two-year age division (e.g. U-12, U-14, etc.). This means we could theoretically have an age-pure U-13, an age-pure U-14 and/or a mixed U-14 team. It would be impossible to fully determine this prior to both our tryouts (to see who’s there from our community) and the other league’s tryouts (to see how many teams there are to play).

11. What are the implications for “play-ups?”

Some kids would like to “play up” in their division. This may have to do with the soccer birthdate cutoff (July 31) being different than most school’s cutoff and kids wanting to play with their classmates. The other main reason is when a child is seen as more skilled than their age-appropriate group. Nonetheless, when a child plays-up, he/she bumps an age appropriate child from that Select team. The younger child is seen as having the option to also play at their age-appropriate team, whereas it is usually the case that the older child has only one option. Therefore the league has set up guidelines to limit this practice to only kids who qualify in the very top rankings of the older group and limit the number of “play ups” for each team.

12. Where do I go for further questions?

More information is available in the Parent Handbook as well as other areas of this website. The Handbook includes up to date information on who the various volunteer board members are.

To contact any of these individuals, leave a message at the WESCO office @ 823-2443.