AYSO.. wonder if I made the right choice

[HejKatt]

DS has attended weekly soccer class for a few months, and likes it. I wouldn't say that he is good at it, but he likes the class and he often wishes that he could play more games (last 15 mins of class are for a game).

 

This past weekend was the registration deadline (before fees go up) for my closest region, and I heard about it on Friday, so I hastened to sign up. But as I spoke with other moms, it turns out that his division usually plays on Saturday mornings, when he is in Chinese school. Although the schedule isn't fixed yet, he will probably miss quite a few games.

 

Now I wonder if I made the wrong choice. Is it bad form to attend the weekly practice, but miss so many games? Should I pull him out, or try to find another group? Any AYSO parents want to offer some experience/opinions?

[Aurelia]

Around here, virtually every soccer league plays games on Saturdays, usually in the mornings, especially for the younger kids so they don't get heatstroke. It is bad form to attend practice and miss the games, because he's part of the team, and his coach and teammates need him to be there for them. An occasional missed game is ok, because things come up, but not more than 2 or 3 per season.

[2_girls_mommy]

We did AYSO for 2 years, and games were always on Sat, though the times rotated, so you might miss some, but maybe not all.. Some were early afternoon.

[HejKatt]

It is bad form to attend practice and miss the games, because he's part of the team, and his coach and teammates need him to be there for them.

 

Yes, I was thinking about that, it seems unfair to the team. If Saturdays are the norm (and they seem to be for my region and the neighboring region), then it sounds like I will have to choose one and give up the other.

[Nart]

AYSO is recreational soccer, where everyone plays and the organization understands that not everyone can make all the practices and/or games. There is a national policy that you can't be punished for missing practices - meaning the coach can't sit you out for the game. This spring my son could not go to practices because his practice was at a time that we were not available. I told the coach that we wouldn't make the practices just the games and the coach was fine with it. They put more players on the team than are needed for the games, so some kids have to sit out for a quarter or two each game. If your son doesn't go, it means another kid will get to play more. I loved it when not everyone showed up for the game so my child didn't have to sit out and was able to play the whole time. I would sign him up and explain the situation to the coach. At 7 years old (U8) they are not keeping score anyway. Maybe you will luck out and he will be assigned some afternoon games.

 

ETA: I forgot to add that when there weren't enough players on one team, and the other team had an extra player or two, the team that was missing players just borrowed one of the other players to balance it out. U8 AYSO soccer is not supposed to be competitive.

[renmew]

Just inform the coach and it won't be a problem at all. The schedule will vary, although most games will be before noon. I did have one thought- you might want to inform the region of your situation on the slight chance the coach you are assigned is a field manager. That would mean every single game would be first thing in the morning and you would likely miss them all. One year my son's coach was the field manager. He was in charge of opening up and making ready the field we used, so we had the first game every single Saturday morning. Ugh. It was a love/hate thing.

 

I just thought that was worth checking in with them to avoid that kind of situation.

[ItoLina]

We do AYSO and the way it works here is games are always on Saturdays and the time rotates, either 9am, 10am, 11 am, or 12 noon depending on the weekend. My dh has coached 3 seasons now and we never get the game schedule until the week before.

 

Last season we had a player that hardly made any of the games and showed up for about half the practices. I felt if really stunk for the other kids on the team. It was odd to have this random kid show up every now and then to play and have him suddenly be part of the team. My dh does a lot of team building stuff with the kids and they really bond over the season, so this kid really missed out on that and it was odd for him when he came because the other kids became so close. I also feel like when you commit to a team sport like soccer, it is important to send the message to your kids that it is a commitment and that their team is counting on them. Of course sometimes you miss something for illness or an unexpected commitment, but for the most part you need to commit to it.

 

That said...As far as I know, officially, AYSO rules will allow it, the coach can't do anything and should allow your child to play when he is there.

[EmilyGF]

I think it'll be a problem if you miss every game, but we have kids who miss, say, 1 in 3 games for their super-competitive soccer league tournaments.

 

Emily

[Nart]

I think it'll be a problem if you miss every game, but we have kids who miss, say, 1 in 3 games for their super-competitive soccer league tournaments.

 

Emily

 

 

Is this allowed? Do the other parents or kids complain? I just signed up son for AYSO again in the fall but he is getting recruited to join a club team so he might miss some practices or games if we decide to do both. I already paid for AYSO and haven't decided on the club team yet, and am not sure if I should keep in him both leagues or not.

[HejKatt]

Thank you everyone for your responses!  I'm exploring alternative Chinese arrangements in the meantime.

[Caroline]

 

Is this allowed? Do the other parents or kids complain? I just signed up son for AYSO again in the fall but he is getting recruited to join a club team so he might miss some practices or games if we decide to do both. I already paid for AYSO and haven't decided on the club team yet, and am not sure if I should keep in him both leagues or not.

 

 

This would be frowned upon in my kids' super-competitive league. In fact, I am sure that in our state there are rules against being on both a rec team and an academy or select team. And certainly no recruiting off other teams is allowed.