Q. HOW EXPENSIVE IS IT TO PLAY SOCCER WITH SCSC?
A. At SCSC we have worked very hard to keep our costs down while still trying to provide the highest level of programming possible. We have many costs that are not readily apparent to the casual observer: insurance, equipment, field maintenance and supplies, league fees and bonds, ref fees, instructional and licensing fees for our coaches, coaches/manager stipends etc. Despite all those costs, and thanks to the generous support of our corporate sponsors, approximate player costs generally break down as follows:
Street Soccer Fall Fee $65 ---This is a 6-week in-house program, and your fee includes insurance, and field maintenance/supplies.
Uniforms- costs are approximately $70 for U10-U18 teams for 2 jerseys, 1 pair of shorts and 2 pair of socks.
Winter Fees vary depending on whether teams even play in the winter and if so whether they play in League play, Tournaments or both. Each team makes its own winter plans.
Spring Fees $225---This fee includes insurance, player passes, league fee (and bonds in some cases) for either BCSA, Upstate Travel, or Upstate Premier, entry fee for 1 tournament per team or State Cup entry fee, referee fees, coaching equipment, coaches/manager stipends, coaching education, and field maintenance/supplies. Players selected to play on a premier level team may incur an additional fee after team rosters are announced.
Tournaments (generally $25 per tournament and most teams do 1-2 tournaments per season).
Please appreciate that these costs are for full seasons of play and your costs may vary depending on how many seasons you play soccer. Most expenses are collected at the beginning of each season.
Q. HOW DOES THE COST OF SCSC COMPARE TO OTHER PREMIER LEVEL SOCCER CLUBS IN NEW YORK WEST?
A. Most premier level clubs that SCSC plays against cost anywhere between $800-$2000 for their basic registration fees which includes many of the things that we charge for $225. SCSC provides the same top quality training, highly licensed coaches, and league play as these other clubs but for a fraction of the cost.
Q. IN WHAT AGE GROUPS DOES SCSC OFFER A SOCCER PROGRAM?
A. Boys and girls from 2 to 19 are welcome to play in our program.
Q. WHAT IS THE DIFFERENCE BETWEEN CVSA SOCCER AND SCSC SOCCER?
A. CVSA is considered recreational soccer and SCSC is considered travel or competitive soccer. The main difference between the programs is that virtually all SCSC coaches are licensed, certified coaches with prior playing or coaching experience. While CVSA is a wonderful program for kids interested in recreational soccer, SCSC is for those players who ultimately desire to play competitive soccer in middle school, high school or college. Our coaches utilize a long-term developmental program to develop all players to their greatest potential.
Q. DOES MY CHILD HAVE TO BE INVITED TO PLAY WITH SCSC?
A. NO, all players are welcome to attend the team selection tryouts for travel teams.
Q. DOES SCSC HAVE SPECIFIC GOALKEEPER TRAINING?
A. We can now say YES. SCSC has added a Goalkeeping Technical Director who works with all our keepers U12-U18 for both boy’s and girl’s. This service is unique because our GTD works with each team and individual goalkeeper to integrate our keepers into their teams respective training sessions. Gone are the days of keepers standing off to the side for 30 minutes practicing on there own with no coaching. We also offer one on one training for our keepers with our GTD. Our highly trained GTD will give our keepers the technical and tactical aspect of the position.
Q. WHAT SEASONS DOES SCSC PLAY SOCCER?
A. SCSC has the ’Starlets’ (u3-u4) and ’Development’ (u5-u8) Programs in the Spring and Fall, the Street Soccer (u7-u12) Program in the fall, and competitive ’Travel’ and ’Premier’ teams (u8-u19) for the Winter and Spring. There is no requirement that players play all seasons although coaches may make their team selections based in part upon whether a player will be playing one or more seasons with his or her team.
Q. WILL THERE BE "CUTS"?
A. Our goal is to NOT make any cuts so long as we have enough players to field a second (or third or fourth…) team in a particular age group. Players who do not make an "A" team will be put in the "B" team pool of players for their particular age group. As all of our players have experienced we have went to age appropriate teams (U11, U12, etc...) for the boys side and now our girls side has combined age grouped teams (U9/U10, U11/U12, etc...). Our "B" teams this season will be combined age group teams (U9/U10, U11/U12, etc...) on the boys and girls side. Some of our true age group "B" teams in the past just have not had the committed numbers due to various reasons and we here at SCSC want to make the most competitive teams possible at every level within the club. The "pool" of players means that each "B" team (or "A" team) can carry a maximum roster of 22 players and 18 can dress for games (based on league rules). If there is over 22 players for any given "B" team pool cuts will have to be made by that particular coach. We will encourage any players who exceed the roster limitation to practice with the team even if they would not be able to play in the league games. In the past, many kids practicing in this fashion have ultimately played their way onto the roster. Our goal is to develop players and you cannot do so by cutting players before they have had a chance to learn.
Q. IF A PLAYER IS NOT SELECTED FOR A TEAM OR THERE IS NOT A TEAM AVAILABLE FOR A PLAYER, IS MY REGISTRATION FEE REFUNDED?
A. Yes, our new online registration system permits us to very easily and quickly issue credits to your credit card if for some reason your child is not able to play with SCSC. Please note however that if your child is placed on a team, following the team selection announcements, then no refund will be issued should you decide to withdraw from the program (except in extraordinary circumstances, eg. injury, moving away from the area). All refund requests should be made in writing for review by the board.
Q. CAN WE WITHDRAW FROM THE PROGRAM AT ANY TIME?
A. Of course. Times and situations change for us all. Please note however that refunds will NOT be issued to players withdrawing after team selections are announced for each season. If you think you have an extraordinary reason for a refund being issued (eg serious injury, moving away from the area) then we ask that you put your reasons into writing and the Board will consider the request at the next meeting. Please let it be understood that these refund requests are handled on a case-by-case basis considering all factors and the Board expressly reserves the right to either accept or reject such requests in its sole discretion.
Q. WHAT IS "DOUBLE-ROSTERING" AND DOES SCSC PERMIT IT?
Double-rostering allows a player to play for two separate teams and is often used by players as a method to represent a secondary club in addition to SCSC (SCSC requires that player to be roster primarily with one at least one SCSC Team), but it also allows players within our club to experience playing against older/stronger opposition, by playing games with the ’next level’ SCSC team. SCSC does permit double-rostering in limited circumstances, and solely at the discretion of the Associate Director’s of Coaching and the coaches of both teams involved. If double-rostering is permitted, the ADOC will designate the team which is considered "primary" and which is "secondary" (generally, a player will be required to play with their age-appropriate team as their primary team). If double-rostering is permitted, the player and his/her parents need to understand that the primary team MUST take priority should any conflicts arise in training or game schedules, and they are to notify the coach of the secondary team regarding the conflict.
Q. HOW FAR DO YOU TRAVEL FOR GAMES?
A. Thankfully, the travel for travel soccer is not nearly so bad as the horror stories that you may have heard about travel programs in other sports like hockey where games are often 3-4 hours away. With the exception of occasional trips to more distant tournaments, the vast majority of travel games are played within one hour of Elmira. Most league seasons are 8 games with 4 games home and 4 games away so the travel really isn’t too bad.
Q. WHEN ARE THE TRYOUTS FOR SCSC TEAMS?
A. Tryouts are in November for Spring teams (U8-U19). Please check our website for tryout dates/schedules which are generally posted approximately one month before the tryouts.
Q. HOW ARE THE TRYOUTS CONDUCTED?
A. Tryouts are usually conducted by an assigned coach evaluating players of a certain age (i.e all U11 players are evaluated together, all U12 players are evaluated together, etc.). Depending on the number of players tryout, occasionally two age groups will tryout together (U11 and U12 players will tryout together). There are usually two tryout sessions of 2 hours each. For fair consideration, it is important that players attempt to attend both tryout sessions. During the session, the coach will evaluate many factors regarding each player. These factors are different depending on the age of the players as, obviously, we would not be looking for tactical awareness in a U10 player like we would for the more technically sound older players. However, ability aside, some factors a coach may look for that reign throughout all ages include attitude, commitment, effort, etc. We want good soccer players at the club but we also want co-operative and motivated players! Following the sessions, the coach will then make his team selections based upon his evaluation of each player. Team selections are generally announced two to three weeks after the tryouts.
Q. ARE THERE SCHOLARSHIPS AVAILABLE TO PLAY SCSC SOCCER?
A. YES!! One of our goals is to make sure that EVERY interested child can play travel soccer regardless of his or her financial situation. Accordingly, we have a scholarship program for deserving players who would not be able to participate in the program without scholarship assistance due to severe family financial situation. Scholarships are generally available for 50% of the Registration Fee but in extraordinary circumstances scholarships may be awarded for 100% of the registration fee.
All scholarship applications (available on our Forms page) will be reviewed in strict confidence by a panel of three board members consisting of the Club President, Treasurer and Registrar. Applicants (and/or their parents) that are approved will be asked to volunteer 20 hours of time (per fee paid by SCSC) to the Club in one or several areas (field maintenance, fund raising, indoor league and tournaments).
Q. ARE THERE ANY DIFFERENCES BETWEEN THE TEAM SELECTIONS FOR BOYS TEAMS VERSUS THE TEAM SELECTIONS FOR GIRLS TEAMS?
A. Yes. Given the fact that historically the registration numbers for boys are roughly double the registration numbers for girls, we have found that it does not always work to use the same approach for team selections for the Girl’s teams. Below is an excerpt from an informational email sent to the SCSC club in July 2007 regarding our plans for the 2007/8 Soccer "year":
"As everyone is aware, last year SCSC implemented a policy of single age group teams (ie all the U11’s play together, all the U12’s together, etc.). This policy worked great with our boys teams where we have a lot more players but it has proved very difficult for the girl’s teams where we have historically had lower player registrations. Accordingly, for the upcoming year it is our plan to field dual age group teams for the girls teams. For example, we will select a U9/10 "A" team and a U11/12 "A" team. These teams will be selected on the basis of both playing ability and commitment to playing travel soccer. The idea is that to have teams that will be able to optimally develop, it is important to have girls who will be working together throughout the soccer year. We will then commit to keeping these teams together in the future (while of course allowing for possible promotion of B players to the A team and/or adding new players, etc). For example, next year when the U9/10 players become U10/11 players, the team will stay together rather than tearing the team apart with some girls staying back to play in the U10 division and the others playing in the U12 division. This, too, will contribute to the long-term development of the team as a unit.
In addition to the A teams, if there are enough U9/10 girls to field a "B" team we will do so. Ditto for U11/12 girls.
We truly hope that this approach will permit girls in our program to optimally develop their soccer skills and for teams to progress to play at the highest competitive levels."
Q. WHAT IS "PREMIER" SOCCER AND HOW DOES IT DIFFER FROM TRAVEL SOCCER?
There are basically four different levels of soccer in our area:
- Recreational-- these are local, non-travel leagues like CVSA
- Travel-- these are travel leagues like the Broome County Soccer Association (BCSA)
- Thruway League Premier Blue Division-- this is a more competitive travel league, their club must be recognized as a "Premier" club
- Thruway League Premier Yellow Division-- this is a higher level league and a team must either be invited to play in this League or their club must be recognized as a "Premier" club.
SCSC has some teams that play in the BCSA League, some in Thruway. Our goal is to have each team play at the level we feel is appropriate for that particular team. We would much rather have a team challenge itself in a higher league than go undefeated in a league that does not challenge our players.
Q. IS SCSC RECOGNIZED AS A "PREMIER" CLUB AND IF SO, WHAT DOES THAT MEAN?
Given SCSC’s commitment to coaching education, player development and competitive play, SCSC is recognized as a Premier Club. Accordingly, SCSC always has the option of entering teams in the Premier League if we feel that is the appropriate level of play for a particular team. Clubs that are not recognized as a "Premier" club do not have this option.
Q. HOW OFTEN DO YOUR TEAMS PRACTICE?
Whether a team is travel or premier, most of our teams practice two times per week. Occasionally, if there is a big tournament or a State Cup game, a coach will schedule a third weekly practice but that is the exception rather than the norm. Most practices are 1.5 hours and are conducted at our home fields at Eldridge Park in Elmira.
Q. WHAT IF I HAVE ADDITIONAL QUESTIONS?
A. You can just E-mail your questions to DOC, Zach Sarno at doc@soaringcapsoccer.com, or Development DOC, Jonny Sinclair at development@soaringcapsoccer.com
