Q: What is the cost to participate in the travel soccer program?
A: Currently, it costs each travel player $125 per season to participate (or a total of $250 for both the Fall and Spring seasons). Additionally, each player will be required to purchase a complete uniform kit (current/returning players can avoid this cost if their uniform still fits). Decisions about playing an indoor season during the Winter is made by each team and may cost an additional $50-$100 per player per year. Costs are subject to change from year-to-year.
Q: How many practices/games per week does a team usually have during the season?
A: While the specifics may differ from team-to-team and by age group, generally you should expect to have two (2) evening practices per week during the season and generally 1-2 games on the weekend. Games will be made up of both league and friendly matches. Practices are generally 60-90 minutes in duration.
Q: Where are travel games played?
A: Games are generally evenly split between home games played on the fields behind East Hampton High School and away games played against teams in our region. Opponents include teams in our general area (Cromwell, Rocky Hill, Wethersfield, Portland, etc.) as well as teams a little further away (West Hartford, Enfield, Somers, South Windsor, etc.). Therefore, you should expect that some away games will require you to travel approximately 45 minutes.
Q: Do travel teams play in tournaments?
A: The Club sponsors every travel team to play in one (1) competitive tournament (Fall/Spring) with the Club picking up the full registration cost of that tournament. Many teams play in this one tournament at the end of the Spring season to wrap-up their soccer year. If a team wishes to play in additional tournaments, this becomes a cost that will be the team’s responsibility to fund.
Q: What if my child also participates in other sports that are also played during the soccer season? Can they do both?
A: Travel soccer is a year-long commitment. It is the expectation that players trying out for a team are interested and committed to playing during both the Fall and Spring seasons. This promotes regular and constant soccer skill development and team continuity and bonding. That said, athletes who participate in other sports (and/or on other soccer teams) are encouraged to continue doing so even while playing travel soccer. This will require constant proactive discussion with travel coaches to ensure balance can be found in a player’s commitment to all athletic pursuits. It is understood that athletes competing in multiple activities will from time-to-time bump into conflicts that will require them to choose one activity over another. That said, we would expect that families would try to balance their commitments to these inevitable conflicts and do their best to juggle their participation and not always choose one sport/event over the other.