Registration for the Fall 2017 Recreational Soccer Season at
North River Soccer Association (NRSA) is NOW OPEN!

There is a lot of important info you need may need to know before registering or to prepare for the upcoming season, so we’ve broken them into topics to make it easier to find what you need to get ready for the season. 

1. Registration Dates and Fees
2. Age Groups – Same as in Spring 2017 Season
3. How to Register
4. Coach and Teammate Requests
5. Volunteer Policy
6. Coaches / Coaching
7. Important Dates

  REGISTRATION DATES AND FEES

Rec Soccer Registration will be open now through August 14th, 2017 at Midnight.

Late Registration will be open until August 21st however,
a $20 late fee will be charged for registrations completed after Midnight on August 14th. 

The Fall 2017 Player Registrations Fees for Boys and Girls are as follows:

Rugrats:                     $65.00

U5 & U6:                    $85.00

U8 thru U18:             $95.00

The Registration Fee listed above is for the first Rec Program player in each family.  All additional Rec Program family members receive a $15.00 discount off the applicable registration fee at the time of registration (when registered together).

Note: WE WILL NOT send out rosters for any teams in an age group until ALL teams in that age group have coaches. This is necessary to allow the commissioners to keep coaches with their players and attempt to balance team rosters.

If you have questions about your child being enrolled in Rugrats, please contact us at [email protected]. 

AGE GROUPS

Recently, US Youth Soccer changed the age group cutoff dates from August 1^st to January 1^st.  This change essentially moves the age groups from a school calendar year to a standard calendar year (birth year). For example, all children born in 2010 and 2011 will play in the U8 age group this year. 

To stay aligned with US Youth Soccer, NRSA age groups will be set as shown below:

Rug Rats - U4 & U3 1/01/15 to 12/31/14
Note:  OLDER 2016 birth year players can be registered for Rugrats,
with prior permission from Coach Mark.

U5 1/01/13 to 12/31/13

U6 1/01/12 to 12/31/12

U8 1/01/11 to 12/31/10

U10 1/01/09 to 12/31/08

U12 1/01/07 to 12/31/06 

U14 1/01/05 to 12/31/04 

U16 1/01/03 to 12/31/02 

U18 1/01/01 to 12/31/00 

Note:

• All players will register to play in the age group designated by their birth year (as shown above).
• We will be allowing requests for players to play up an age group this season. If you would like to request that your player to “play up”, you can do this during registration in the section where teammate and coach requests are made. Please be sure to list the reason(s) why you are making the request. This information will help us look for the right spot for your player.
• Rugrats, U5 and U6 teams are typically co-ed, while U8, U10, and U12 teams are generally not. Age groups U14, U16 and U18 teams may be co-ed, depending on the mix of registered players.  
• U16 and U18 games will be played as either 11 v 11 or 6 v 6 (depending on the number of players registered in a particular age group at NRSA and at the other local associations).  We register the separate age groups to reduce the potential to have to mix older players with younger players, but combining is still a possibility (again, based on the number of players that register for a particular season).  

• HOW TO REGISTER
• Rec Soccer registrations must be completed online by going to www.northriversoccer.com and clicking on “Login” (for those returning to NRSA) or “Register” (for those new to NRSA) at the Top Right corner of the website Home page.  MasterCard and Visa (Credit or Debit cards) are accepted. 

• After logging in, and before starting with the Registration process, you will see a notice regarding the TN State Law-mandated information we must provide you regarding both Sudden Cardiac Arrest and Head Injuries and Concussions.  During the registration process, in order to be compliant with Tennessee State Law - you will be notified/reminded that NRSA supplies all families with this information on our website and the registering parent or guardian must acknowledge the receipt and understanding of that information before they may register their player, in addition to accepting a liability waiver.
• You will be able to click on links to the read the important information about head/brain injuries and sudden cardiac arrest that can occur in any sports participation, OR before beginning registration, we encourage you to go to the Parents Corner tab on the www.northriversoccer.com website, where we’ve provided this important information.

• NRSA is committed to providing access to youth players who want to learn and play recreational soccer.  Please let us know if you cannot pay by debit or credit card. Scholarships in exchange for volunteer time are available; as are payment arrangements.  Please contact us at [email protected] if we can assist you with registration, or to discuss any questions you may have. 

• Note: NRSA typically has one walk up registration day, often at the Complex or at another location.  Walk up registration dates have not yet been set, but we will announce them through our email list once we do. 

COACH AND TEAMMATE REQUESTS

1. NRSA will try to honor limited coach and teammate requests; however these requests will be limited to the first two (2) requests per coach received for U5, U6 and U8 teams and the first four (4) requests received per coach for U10, U12, and U14 teams. 
2. As many teammate requests will be honored as possible, but honoring them may not allow for coach requests as well.
3. All coach and teammate requests made after the end of the REGULAR online registration period (after LATE Registration starts) will not be honored.
4. NRSA reserves the right to assign players to teams at its sole discretion based on the needs of NRSA, the registrations received for a season and the volunteer coaches available at the time - and does not guarantee any specific requests will be honored.  Further, NRSA reserves the right to create a coed team from a mix of male and female registered players in the same age group in the event that registrations do not allow for creation of gender-specific teams in an age group. 

VOLUNTEER POLICY INFORMATION

NRSA is an all-volunteer run organization.  Without volunteers, we can't offer the programs we do for the low fees we have, so we require that everyone provide two (2) hours of volunteer time for each Player that registers.  We also understand that the demands on everyone’s time are tremendous and not everyone grew up playing soccer, so we will allow folks to opt out, if they chose to, and we identify many volunteer opportunities outside of coaching.  At registration, you will either register to Coach, Assistant Coach or just as a “Volunteer" to add yourself to our Volunteer list. 

If you aren’t able to commit to provide at least two (2) volunteer hours per player registered, you may elect to pay the Volunteer "Opt Out" fee of $50.00 per player registered by checking the “I prefer not to Volunteer” box on the Volunteer page.  COACHING counts as volunteer time.   (Read notes about coaching, below). 

COACHES/COACHING

If you have coached for NRSA before or are willing to coach now, be sure to register as a Volunteer Coach when you register your player. The sooner we have the total number of coaches needed to assign teams, the earlier we can start practices and you can work with your players. 

To register to Coach or volunteer in other ways, log in to your NRSA account and click on the Volunteer tab.  We have to collect some paperwork from you, which is required by TN State Law or Tennessee State Soccer. Please email us at [email protected] if you have completed paperwork to submit or questions about what to complete to be ready to coach in the upcoming season.

IMPORTANT DATES FOR THE SEASON 

Saturday, September 9, 2017 – Opening Day / Skills Clinic / Family Volunteer Work Day. This is a day for players to get started on the learning and fun process, AND to prepare the fields, the complex, and our Coaches for the Season's activities.  Parents for all age groups will attend informational meetings during this day while the skills clinics or games, depending on your Players’ age, are held.   

We don’t schedule activities for the Rugrats on Opening Day, but if you are new to NRSA and want to see what Opening Day and our program are all about, please feel free to come and attend one of the Parent Meetings and help get the complex ready for the season.  Yes, Rug Rat Parents get to volunteer, too! 

Saturday, September 16, 2017 – First Day of Games (Rugrats, U5, U6, U8 and U10’s)

Note: Age group U12 and older may play games a week or two earlier. Your Coach and/or Commissioner should have that information.

Tuesday and Thursday, October 3 & 5, 2017 – Because of the Hamilton County School’s Fall Break on October 9 – October 13, NRSA does not schedule games the Saturdays before and after that break period. Instead we play in the evenings on the week before and then take a long break period off to allow families to make travel plans during that period. 

Friday, Saturday and Sunday, September 29 thru 31, 2017 – Hamilton County Recreational Festival (Hosted by ERFC at Camp Jordan this season).  U8 through U12 age group teams will participate in the annual Rec Festival.  The host association creates this schedule.  It should be ready a couple of weeks prior to the event.  The remaining Age Groups should follow a typical schedule. 

Saturday, November 11, 2017 - End of Season Play Day.  We end each season with a Play Day. Play Day is meant to be a fun celebration that includes soccer as part of the fun.  It is about recognizing each child and showing excitement about the soccer season that they just finished.  It is also about showing your Coaches and other Volunteers some of the same recognition and gratitude.  We usually have inflatables, face-painting, and sweets like cotton candy or Italian ice. 

Further information about the Work Day, Skills Clinic, practices and games will be sent out to all registered players as we get closer to the dates above.

 We look forward to seeing you at the fields! 

Mark Harrison

President

North River Soccer Association Rec Soccer 

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North River Soccer Association (NRSA) is a nonprofit, tax exempt organization as recognized under section 501(c)(3) of the Internal Revenue Code.  This organization is entirely run and supported by VOLUNTEERS like you – parents and people who love soccer and want to see quality soccer opportunities for youth in Chattanooga. Your involvement allows NRSA to make this possible.