Can you describe Travel Soccer for me?
Travel is for age-based teams by birth year and gender: girls teams and boys teams for each birth year. Teams are formed based on birthdate in a given year, between Jan 1 to Dec 31. It is a competitive level of play. Teams travel to other towns and compete in league play. Practice twice weekly. Matches are played on weekends, sometimes Saturdays and Sundays. Generally roughly half the matches will be home in Portland, and half away. Most away matches are in neighboring towns like Glastonbury or East Hampton. Once or twice a season you might drive more than half an hour for an away game, but this won’t be a common occurrence. Many teams participate in one tournament in the area during the season, too (coach’s decision).
Options for U9 players
If you feel your player prefers another year of Rec, we do allow players that age to play Rec for another year. In most cases it would be the last year of Rec eligibility before they'd be required to play Travel the following year. That being said, we recommend upcoming Travel players sign up for Travel by Friday and attend the evals session on Sunday. These coaches are experienced and can evaluate all players skills and readiness. Parents can ask club representatives further questions. The coaches can help parents determine their players' readiness for competitive levels of play. If a player ends up not playing Travel there would be a full refund if desired. Our travel coaches, even for U9 teams, have done a terrific job through the years making sure all activities and messages are tailored to the age-appropriateness of the players. The young U9 players will have a ton of fun!
What if my child is in a lower school grade than others of the same age?
The travel teams are formed based on birth year independently of school grade. So all kids born in 2013 would play U9 in the Fall. There have been other similar kids in our program who played in the age-based team, who were also in a lower grade than the other players. Things have worked out well. For example there are half a dozen 2009 boys that are in a lower grade than the other 2009 boys, but those players have continued to be successful in our program over the years.
Will there be a team for my age group?
Teams will be determined after evaluations are completed by all players. The goal is to have age-based teams by gender, but it's difficult to know exactly each team's situation until we see who signs up. I'd suggest signing your player up, and recruiting their friends to sign up. After team formation the club assigns a coach to the team. Typically it's a volunteer parent (in most cases).
What if there aren’t enough players to field a team?
Refunds are possible if there aren't enough players for a team. Another option is always to combine two age groups, say 2010 with 2009 for example. This is rare for the younger teams, but sometimes happens to some of the older teams.
Options for Middle School Players
If your son or daughter plans to play middle school soccer in the fall, they will expect to practice with the Middle School during the week, playing a short game of two 10-minute halves from time to time. No games on weekend. If you want more full-game experiences, sign up for the Portland Soccer Club and play against opponents in full-time games on the weekends. The Portland Soccer Club coaches are often flexible with middle school players, so if you are interested feel free to sign up and get your player some extra game action on weekends!
Are evals mandatory?
The evals will be mandatory for Travel players. They are used to understand where the players are, so that we can form teams with the players' skills and development in mind. (Nevertheless in most cases older players are usually not allowed to play on younger teams) It is very rare for us not to accept a player to a team, especially when numbers are low and the player works hard.