Portland Soccer Club Requirements and Best Practices 10/5/2019

Coaches, Thank you for volunteering to coach with the Portland Soccer Club.

We’d like you to please focus and read the following important message from the Board. We’d like to reiterate the club’s expectations of you as a coach, and provide a reminder on some of the club requirements and some common sense best practices that we’ve learned through the years.

The club places top priority on player safety and player development. 

We expect you to let referees do their job. Please do not argue with referees or question their calls. It is poor sportsmanship and sets a bad example for the players. If you disagree with a call, take a deep breath, and remember that your job is to coach. Teach the players what they can do, within the laws of the game, to compete and win. 

Remember: you are responsible for all behavior directed at the referee on both sidelines including the spectators. Referees are instructed to issue yellow and red cards to the coach for any concerning behaviors during the game by coaches or spectators.

You are a role model for these young athletes. Set a good example.

Sideline Policy: To be on the sideline, coaches must have a coach’s pass. It is a rule that we expect every coach to follow in every game. This applies to practices, too. To be coaching, you must have a pass. The goal is player safety and ensuring the coaches are properly certified by CJSA.

Sideline Best Practice: When schedules permit, we recommend to have at least 2 coaches at a game. An assistant can help in occasional situations that require more attention than one coach can provide.

Borrowing Players: Portland Soccer Club supports borrowing players to make sure there are enough players to play a game. Sometimes your players may fall ill or have scheduling conflicts.

Requirements for Borrowing Players

• First, attempt to use players from your own team. Do not borrow without first offering the opportunity to all players on the team. This maximizes the opportunities for your squad to play together. This minimizes the disruption to coaches and parents of other teams. Can you move the start time of the match? If you have multiple games with pods in each location, can you ask some of your own players to commit to multiple games in one day? 

•  Borrowing and lending decisions should be agreed upon by the coaches. Ask the other Portland coach if you can borrow one or more players. The lending coach knows their team schedule and the players’ skills, temperaments, and developmental needs. The lending coach needs to decide which players to loan, taking into consideration the players’ skills and the number of times they have been loaned compared to other players. The lending coach needs to talk to the parents to ensure willingness and availability. 

•  PSC players only. Borrow from PSC travel teams only. The player must have a current player pass from our club.

•  Younger players are allowed. Younger players are permitted to play up in friendly and league matches.

•  Older players in a league match are not allowed.. 

•  Older players in a friendly match must be approved by the opposing coach and referee. Note, while older players are not allowed to play in league games, you might be able to use an older player for a friendly. You must get prior approval from the referee and opposing coach in advance. Do not skip this step. Even in a friendly, a referee or opposing coach is entirely within their rights to not let an older player play. 

Best Practices for Borrowing Players

• Lead Time. When you need to borrow players, give the lending Portland coach as much time as possible to make arrangements and communicate with their parents. Three days is a reasonable amount of time for a lending coach to find a player, but certainly requires a minimum of 24 hours.

•  Coaches who borrow: There is no need to request specific players. Advise the lending coach of what is needed and allow the lending coach to determine the most appropriate player to lend.

•  Coaches who lend: If you loan a player to another team, you should focus first on the safety and the development of the players, recognizing that the opportunity to play up is unique and sought after. Give multiple players the chance over the course of the season. The players that work hard can earn it and be challenged in a different way!

•  Player passes: coaches can exchange passes directly or give them to the players or parents directly to transport to the game.

•  Finally, communicate to your team: Make sure you talk to your team and their parents about what you are doing, and how it ties in to your overall goals. Tell them why you are borrowing or lending players. Talk to them about the importance of subs. Tell them what options you explored and why you made the decisions you made. They will listen and understand!

Again, thanks so much for your volunteerism, and we expect that, by keeping the above in mind, that the players will grow in a positive environment and the players, parents, and coaches can enjoy the experience together.

Sincerely,

PSC Board

PSC Coach Training Page


Other resources


Player Code of Conduct

Parent Code of Conduct

Coach Code of Conduct

PSC Recreational Coaching Guide