Key Info for New Parents for the Fall 2017 Season
You are thinking about signing up your child to play soccer, and probably have a million questions.
1) Is my child old enough? For our region (Loudon County Region 325), if your child was born in 2013 or earlier, they are eligible to play.
2) How often is practice? What night? Generally, most teams practice one per week. You will hear this often – AYSO is an al‑ volunteer organization. As such, our coaches get to pick the practice night that works best with their schedule. If you have a night you cannot practice, note it on your signup form, and we’ll do our absolute best to honor that. (No teams practice Wednesday night!)
3) How long is the season? Our season lasts eight weeks. Games are played on Saturday (although make-up games may be during the week). The first week of games is the Saturday after Labor Day, and the end is just before Halloween. Practices will start 2-3 weeks before the first games.
4) What ages of children will my child play with? Players are divided into "divisions" based on their age. Each division has players within a 2-year age range (except for the youngest divisions, which have a 1-year range, and the oldest players, which have a 3-yr range). For example, our youngest player division is called "U5" for under 5, and includes players ranging from 4 to under 5 years of age. Players stay in their division for both the fall and spring seasons, like the school year, and move-up in the fall. Our U5 & U6 divisions play together.
5) Will I have to travel to away games? Our U5, U6, and U8 teams play other teams from within our Region. We are Region 325, Loudon County, so these teams play only play in Lenoir City and Loudon.
Our U10, U12, U14, and U16 teams will play teams outside our Region, so approximately 1/2 of their games will involve travel to 'away' games. These other teams could include Sweetwater, Kingston, Oak Ridge, Athens, Knoxville, and occasionally Scott County.
6) Will my child need a new uniform every year or season? No – as long as the one you have still fits.
For more information, please see our website at http://ayso.bluesombrero.com/region325 .