Registration Questions
- How can I check if my registration went through?
- What does pending/incomplete/contract mean in “Your File”?
- How do I change the address/email/phone number for my account?
- How do I make a payment after I have registered (but not paid)?
- What if I don’t remember my username and/or password?
- What if I don’t have a computer at home?
- Does NASC offer financial assistance for families or players?
- My child was unable to play due to an injury, and I need a refund or credit.
- I forgot to order a shirt with registration, how can I order one later?
- I want to sign up for U9/10 Sunday PDP Skill training, but I already registered?
- Can a player participate in the Sunday Skill training sessions even if they are not playing the NASC during the same season?
- May players living outside of the NA School District play with NASC?
Program Questions
- When are games played?
- How many practices are there each week?
- Can my child play in a different age group?
- How are teams formed?
- Can my child be put on a team with his/her friends?
ANSWERS
“My Account” is the source of information regarding the status of your account and a player’s registration status. By logging into “My Account” you may:
Edit your Account: Via this link you may view and change the email or mailing address and the phone number associated with your account. You may also change your username and/or password for your account from this link.
- Check the status of registrations: “My Account” page will list the registrations made for each of the players in your account. If you see a program name under your child's name, then they are registered for that program. After your balance you may see one of four comments:
- Pending: means you have not paid at all
- Contract: means you have made a partial payment
- Incomplete: means part of the registration was not completed
- Paid in Full: self explanatory
Once the players registered for a program are sorted into their respective teams a link will appear for a “Group page”. This link will take you to the password-protected “Team page”. Team pages list the team roster and usually the season’s schedule. Coaches and other volunteers have the ability to communicate to the team via the team page and post additional information as they see fit.
- Make a Payment: If your account has a payment due, the amount owed will be listed next to the player’s name. Clicking the “Make Payment” link next to this amount will allow you to pay by credit card or give you instructions on mailing in a check to NASC.
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What if I don’t remember my username and/or password?
First try to obtain your missing information by searching from the "Forgot your Password?" link on the "My Account" page. You may search by:
Account username
- Account email address
- Account phone number
If you do not get an email response to your query, the next step is to contact the Registrar.
The most likely reason for not receiving the reply email is that your account email address is invalid.
Please correct your e-address once you log in to your account. (see above)
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Don't have a computer?
If you don’t have a computer, you are likely not reading this. However, we suggest those without Internet access either borrow use from a friend or use the free access available at the Northland Public Library. Please notify your coach once the season starts of your inability to get emails and web updates directly since many coaches use the web to communicate schedule changes. Kindly ask the coach or another parent to keep you in the loop via other means.
Does NASC offer financial assistance for families or players?
NASC does offer program scholarships for any player who may need assistance with our fees. If you or someone you know could use a little help so their child may enjoy the great sport of soccer, please contact the Club President about a program scholarship. Generally, we base the scholarship amount on what you feel you are able to pay. Our goal is to let everyone play.
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My child was unable to play due to an injury and I need a refund or credit
Please see the "Cancellations and Refunds" page under the Home tab.
Program Questions
Most of the answers to how specific programs work may be found on each programs individual description page accessible from the “Programs” tab.
U7, U8, U9/10, and Boys U11/12 Rec games are played on Saturdays. Games begin in the morning and some programs require enough games be played that they run on into the afternoon. Our programs create a rotating game schedule amongst their teams each week.
“Travel” programs begin with our U11 players and older. These games are played on Sunday afternoons.
Practices: Most teams have one or two practices a week in the early evening. Our Under 6 program does not have practices during the week, only Saturday sessions. Most U7 or U8 teams only have one practice per week. All of our coaches are volunteers and the benefit they receive for volunteering is some ability to choose the times and places they get to have team practices. For more detailed answers, please contact the volunteer coordinator for the specific program in question.
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Playing in a different age group
NASC follows the age group guidelines of US Youth Soccer. Age groups are based on the age of the player as of July 31st. For example, a player who is six years old by July 31st of a given year must register in the U-7 ("under 7") division the following fall and spring; a player who turns six after July 31st must register in the U-6 ("under 6") division. This handy chart tells you what age group your child belongs in.
PA West, the administrative body that regulates NASC activities, prohibits the practice of "play down," i.e., playing in a division lower than the player's assigned one. Therefore, NASC can no longer honor "play down" requests.
Requests for "play up" (playing in a division higher than the player's assigned one) must be submitted in writing on the appropriate request form. The complete, signed form must be emailed to the registrar AND to the age group coordinator of the division you would like to move your child to (NOT the age group coordinator of the division your child would be normally assigned to). For a list of age group coordinators please see the Contacts page.
"Play up" requests will only be honored if there are slots available in the older age group. Therefore we strongly recommend that you register your child for his/her normal age group to secure a spot before a "play up" decision can be made. If a "play up" request cannot be granted because the higher division is full and you wish to cancel your child's registration, the club's cancellation policy will apply.
Acceptance of a "play up" request one season does not automatically guarantee approval for following seasons. The North Allegheny Soccer Club is not responsible for any physical or mental injuries suffered by players whose "play up" requests are accepted by the club. Parents are solely responsible for the consequences of having their children play with older children.
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Ordering a jersey or the U9/10 PDP after already registering
To add an item to an account after completing registration, you must contact the club Registrar via phone or email with the requests. The Registrar will add the fee to your account and you may make the additional payment by logging in to your account (see above).
Sunday PDP Skills Training for non-registered players
- For the Fall season: NO!
- For the Spring Season: Yes, IF they were registered for the previous Fall season.
This is due to insurance requirements.
May players living outside of the NA School District play with NASC?
Players are encouraged to play in their own community's club, but we make exceptions. Due to transportation issues common after divorces, as well as extended family child care, it is not uncommon for our teams to be more convenient than those the local club. Also, other clubs may not service all of the ages that we do or may have a disproportionate number of registrants leading to waiting list circumstances. What we will NOT do is accept players based on higher skill level creating a "player stealing" environment of benefit to no one in the long term.
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Team Formation
- U6: There are no teams. U6 merely sorts players into groups of 8 within each session. Much of the session occurs with all of the players together. For part of the session players separate into their groups for games and skill drill activities. Groups are often split in half to play short soccer games against players from other groups. Worrying about which players are in your child's group is frivolous.
- U7 & U8: Teams are formed after the completion of registration by the age group coordinator for the specific program. Coordinators must first determine if they have enough coaches to form enough teams for the number of players registered. Then is it more important for players to be on the same team as their friends or to have a competitive balance across the league? How does a coordinator determine the relative skill level of various players? Coordinators do there best to balance these competing needs as best as they can. At U7 & U8, they try to balance the teams by gender as well. Most often players are placed on teams with children from their same school. But what about private school children? And for example, what are we to do when we have 30 kids from Franklin Elementary registered but no volunteer coach from that school? In this example, the coordinator has no choice but to spread these Franklin children among other teams. They will try to keep them grouped as best they can based on their limited knowledge of the players and the player's requests.
- U9/U10 and U11/12 Rec: Now the teams are single gender, but the level of competition increases some over U8. At these levels, the coordinators must put more effort in to attempting competitive balance across the league. This is usually a nearly impossible task. It also tends to conflict with requests by players for coaches or friends. When 14 kids all request Coach Pele and only 12 kids make up a team, someone is going to get their feelings hurt. If the coordinator knows from the previous season that 10 of those 14 kids where all outstanding (or oppositely, all weak), isn't better for the league's competitive balance and thus the development of these players for them to be mixed up with players from other teams? Then again how important is the social aspect of being with old friends on a team, especially for the girls? There are no right or wrong answers here, only opinions. Each coordinator is a volunteer trying to do there best with a limited amount of information and a limited amount of time to create enough teams in as fair a way as possible for the kids to be able to play the great game of soccer.
- Travel Teams: Now this gets a little trickier, but many of the same considerations mentioned above apply.
- U13 and older: These teams are formed in an attempt to place players together primarily based on skill level with coach/friend requests being secondary. These players tend to have been in the NASC program for many years and have an established playing history. Team formation also is a numbers game to some degree. Travel teams at these levels are limited to 23 players on a roster by PAWest rules, but only 18 may dress for any given game. The ideal number is 16-17 per team, if most players will likely make most games. This ensures an adequate number of substitute players, but still ensures everyone gets plenty of playing time. We have a problem when 25 or 40 kids sign up for a given program; not enough to easily divide into 2 or 3 teams, but too many for 1 or 2 teams. Often we can work this out by making some last minute phone calls to drum up a few more players.
Another issue in the older age groups is the availability of teams from other clubs to form a league. This is not determined until the pre-season District meeting which occurs in mid-March (Spring) or mid-August (Fall). For example, NASC, being a large club, may have several girls wishing to play at the U16 level. However , there may not be any other club with enough players to form a team at this level or the teams that are interested consist of higher level players (such as a complete high school team) than the NASC players we have registered (mostly non-school players playing for fun). When this type of situation arises, we do some last minute negotiating with other clubs and attempt to form a league of some type for our players to be able to play. This above example is why we are now normally playing Co-ed at the U19 or U16 level..
- U11/12 Travel: This is the tricky one. Teams and leagues at this level are the start of higher level competition. Grouping the players based on their skill levels now becomes much more important. This often requires separating friends and long-term teammates due to a differential in abilities. But how do we determine abilities? Well, the best method seems to be by using a try-out process. However, this requires additional volunteers and a certain level of organization by the Club. Also we still run ito some of the same problems discussed earlier. The numbers issue and coaches.
A common problem here is the skill level possessed by the children of our volunteer coaches versus the entire group. What should we do when the 3 of the 4 parents volunteering to coach all have children with high level skills? For the player's sake, it is best that the three good players are rostered on the same team. But now we have 3 coaches for one team and no coaches for 2 or 3 other teams. Unfortunately, there are no easy answers. NASC, through the age group coordinators and other Board members, tries hard to make this process as fair and effective as possible. We don't always get it right, but we do try. If any parent wishes to help with this process, feel free to attend any Board meeting or call a Board member to volunteer in any way.
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