Stafford Springs Soccer Club Youth Division Bylaws

The following principles outline the rules and bylaws that govern the operation of the Stafford Springs Soccer Club youth division.  These statutes were last revised and approved on May 23, 1999.  The playing up policy was amended on July 20, 2013.  Revisions made in March, 2024 include procedures for selecting and appointing a new Youth Director, and language to identify how financial Segregation of Duties (SoD) are handled and documented.

1.      The Club is called the Stafford Springs Soccer Club or SSSC.

2.      SSSC abides by the rules and bylaws set forth by the Connecticut Junior Soccer Association (CJSA).  SSSC affiliates with CJSA on an annual basis.

3.      SSSC operates as a non-profit organization.

4.      SSSC operates youth soccer programs for kids aged 3 through 13 years and supports limited programs for kids aged 14-23 years. All players, coaches and active adult participants are registered as members of CJSA.

5.      SSSC operates Fall soccer programs outdoors for both recreational level in-town activity and local travel team programs for kids of appropriate age to compete with CJSA member organizations.

6.      SSSC collects registration fees and conducts fund raising activities to pay for CJSA registration, which includes liability insurance and secondary medical insurance, basic equipment including T-shirts, soccer balls, goals, corner flags, cones, first aid equipment, and referee fees and trophies for the Fall season.

7.      SSSC is operated by a board of directors appointed by the Club Youth Director.  The Youth Director is responsible for the overall operation of the club, disciplinary matters, budget planning (in conjunction with the treasurer), publicity and the club representative at the CJSA Northeast District board. The Youth Director appoints directors to manage each of the following activities:

Travel Team Program - both competitive and recreational level teams as defined by the Northeast District of CJSA. Activities are held throughout the Fall, Winter, and Spring seasons.  Player passes are required.  A Travel Team Director is required to operate this program, recruit certified coaches for each travel team, assemble and disseminate district travel schedules and supply the referee assignor with the appropriate home schedule to insure proper referee assignments.

Intramural Program - In town recreational level league play for children ages 6-7 consisting of formal teams, league standings, certified referees, and year end championship jamboree.  The Intramural Director is required to organize the intramural leagues, coordinate league-wide schedules, recruit coaches, and supply the referee assignor with the appropriate match schedule to insure proper referee assignments, if applicable.

Minikicker Program - 4–5-year-old instructional league for both players and parent/coaches.  The Minikicker Director is required to operate the minikicker programs, recruit coaches/parents, assemble and distribute activity schedules and look after the overall experience of all the players. When interest permits, a three-year-old microkicker program is offered.

7.1.            Winter Indoor Program - Weekends January through March at SHS gymnasium for interested age groups, this program is typically an informal gathering for off season exercise.  Some travel teams organize to compete in the CJSA NED Indoor tournament.  The Youth Director is responsible for initiating the indoor program and insuring that appropriate registered and responsible adults are chaperoning all indoor activity.

7.2.            Summer Camp - Annual weekly camp hosted by SSSC and run by Challenger Sports at SHS. It is typical to assign a special Summer Camp coordinator to this task.

7.3.            SSSC Club Registration - The Registrar has the large task of accepting all formal club registrations, recording information in club database, reporting registration/updates to the NE District Registrar on a quarterly basis, and providing all pertinent census information to coaches and program directors as needed.

7.4.            Referee Assignment and Recruitment - The referee assignor is responsible for assigning certified referees to all travel team home matches, all intramural league matches, and any State Cup assistant referees required for home matches in the State Cup. Responsibilities also include recruiting new referees to become certified in the Spring certification courses and encouraging all certified referees to recertify every Fall.  The referee assignor must be certified with CSRA through the CJSA state office.

7.5.            Fund Raising - to coordinate all major fund-raising activities.

7.6.            Treasurer - The treasurer is responsible for the annual budget, writing checks, balancing the checkbook, and publishing an annual treasurer’s financial report.

7.7.            Equipment Management - The equipment manager is responsible for organizing, ordering and purchasing all equipment.  This includes all T-shirts, uniforms, soccer balls, goals, corner flags, first aid kits and other practice equipment.

7.8.            Coach Instruction is typically a joint effort between the Youth Director, Travel Team Director, Intramural Director, and Minikicker Director to schedule appropriate coach clinics using professional coach instruction clinics at the Stafford fields or circulate other appropriate coach clinic information.

8. SSSC Player & Team Placement policy and guidelines

SSSC looks to assign youth players to age-appropriate teams in accordance with the level of competition available in the CJSA Northeast District leagues.  Team placement is based on several factors with the express intent of maximizing the developmental opportunity for the players and teams, and to maximize the enjoyment the players get out of the experience. 

Some of the factors include:

At no time will a player be permitted to participate on a team that competes in the district in which they are older than the maximum allowed age for the competition.

The club will sponsor a player assessment session for every team competing in the district division 3 and 4 leagues.  This player assessment will guide the team formations, including identifying players best suited for division 5 teams.  Players that register after the player assessment sessions are held may try out for the team but the club may not be able to accommodate all players that register and assess late.

An emphasis is placed on every player participating in an age group that matches their league age or one year older.  For example, a player of Under 11 age will ideally be placed on an Under 11 age team, or secondarily on an Under 12 age team.

Any player wishing to play up against competition of two or more years their senior must be granted approval by the youth director.  For example, a player of Under 10 age needs such approval to play against Under 12 competition.    The youth director must consider several factors before granting permission.  The player must be physically capable of competing against the older players.  The player's parents must initiate the request and be willing to support their child in this environment.  The player must be socially capable and compatible to mix in with the older players.  The coaches of the teams impacted must agree that the change is in the best interests of the player.  The youth director should also consider the impact on the number of players of the two teams likely involved.  The younger team should remain viable with this player's departure.  The older team should not drop age-appropriate players to make room for this younger player.

A team must adhere to the age restrictions dictated by the CJSA Northeast District or CJSA State or Connecticut Cup competitions as a minimum condition of participating.  This includes age restrictions and gender restrictions.  It IS permissible for a girl to play on a boys team, but it is NOT permissible for a boy to play on a girls team.

9. SSSC Youth Director Appointment

The SSSC Youth Director is selected by an extended board consisting of the current board leadership (see section 7 above) and registered volunteers. Whenever more than one candidate seeks the position, the extended board will conduct a ballot election to choose a youth director.

10. Segregation of Duties (SoD)

The club will take every care to protect the financial flow of funds to minimize (ideally eliminate) the potential for fraudulent behavior including the perception of fraudulent behavior.  The responsibility for SoD lies with the Youth Director and the Treasurer.  The Treasurer will provide annual reports of all outgoing expenses.  The Treasurer will require and maintain records of approval-to-spend authorization from the Youth Director. Anyone assigned the responsibility to collect revenue must submit revenue to the Treasurer with a summary report of the source and value of the funds provided to both the Youth Director and Treasurer.