LSYSA Spring 2009-Week #2
What a great day Saturday was for soccer! I had the opportunity to visit with Charleston United SC at their West Ashley MS field and the fields were in excellent condition (except for the 18yd penalty box-which has been rectified). MPSC Beat was on their way out having played the CUSC U12G White team in a U12 Girls Blue match. The Walterboro HotShots were just beginning their match against CUSC Black Falcons in the U12 Girls Gold division.
My travels then took me to Park West to watch some U9, U10 and U12 matches. It was such a joy to see all (4) PW U9-U10 fields filled with LSYSA teams from so many different clubs. It really symbolized the essence of what this league is all about. I had a chance to meet several new referees and of course mingle with coaches and parents and even grandparents (who used to be involved with local youth soccer back in the day and now were watching their grandkds playing-very cool!).
There are a couple of things I want to touch bases on:
- McDonald's Coupons: If your team has not yet received its McDonald's coupons (Free Dessert with any purchase) for the players to use when wearing their soccer uniforms throughout the season, please email me and I will respond to your club. Remember to only show the coupons for your Free Dessert. They are good until May 30.
- Scores:It is evident by some of the scores coming in from some of the divisions that there are some disparities. In some cases there are teams that are simply weaker and in some cases teams were missing key players. The end result, regardless of circumstances, has led to some lopsided scores. It is no fun if you are on the receiving end. If your team is having its way with the opposing team, let's try to get creative and challenge your players to keep the score down. Ideas: Put your keeper up front, put your worst attackers up front, identify certain players to use their least adept foot only (usually left foot), work on crossing and heading into goal only, tell your worst dribblers to take players on 1v1, tell your best dribblers to play 2-touch, let your subs play more,...
- Substitutions: Please have your players ready at midfield. Let the referee or AR know that you would like to sub at the next available time. When the substitution is allowed, call your players off the field and have the players at midfield wait until the referee beckons them onto the field. Do not send in players from the bench!
- Provide the referee with your Team Roster and match fees at least 15 minutes prior to the match start time.
- Reporting scores: Try to call in the scores within 24 hours of the match. In the case of a tie, the HOME TEAM is responsible for calling in the score.
- Rescheduling matches: Give the opposing team and the league a minimum of 2 weeks notice. Contact the opposing team first to make sure that they can accomodate you. Once that has been done, contact LSYSA Commissioner with your request and reason to have the match rescheduled. If the league can accomodate your request, remit to your club $25 for which they will be billed for the rescheduling fee.
- Team Pages: There are still teams that have not provided sufficient contact information for their coaches and managers. That makes it difficult when either the league or an opposing team needs to get in touch with your team. Email addresses are not sufficient. We need to see the best phone number to reach coaches and/or managers. I would also like to see more rosters with email addresses. A reminder that the first LSYSA E-Newsletter will go out in Mid-March to all coaches, managers and players (parents) that are on the Team Pages.
Thank you all for your time and have fun this Saturday, Kenyon
(12-29-08) Lowcountry Soccer has been hired to take over the responsibilities of managing the LSYSA for the Spring 2009 season. Its services will include scheduling, referee assigning, website content, and Kenyon Cook has been appointed LSYSA Commissioner. "I am grateful once again for the opportunity to serve the youth soccer community. Our goal for the spring season is to provide a reliable schedule with referees assigned and present. We will hold ourselves accountable for anything less than that." 
(12-29-08) The LSYSA will have McDonald’s as a sponsor for both the spring and fall seasons in 2009. The program will be similar to what was offered this past fall. Players will all receive a League Coupon good for the whole season and redeemable at all of the 32 stores in the tri-county area when a player comes to the store wearing their soccer jerseys. McDonald’s will also make available downloadable coupons on the league’s website and also in the monthly LSYSA E-News that will start in February. 
