Core Information

Coaches Meetings
All recreational coaches are required to attend the coaches meeting in July for Fall season and in March for Spring season. If you are unable to attend, you may send your assistant coach.

Responsibilities
Ensure safe play – check equipment and field regularly.
Keep practices and games fun, attend a clinic to ensure that you are teaching age-appropriate skills.
Encourage your players to improve and find their personal best, not everyone is a forward and all positions are vital to the team.
Respect the referee, no matter how old, and make sure your players and parents do as well. The referee always has the final word, even the 9-year old that is reffing your U6’s. Remember that as the players grow and improve in experience each year, so do the referees. Back up the referee at all times. A coach is responsible for the spectators from their club. If the referee requests that you address a sidelines issue, do so immediately. If you need to talk with the referee about a concern, question, or incident that occurred during the game, do so after the game, in private, and away from all players. Please do not argue with referees. If you are concerned about a referee, Michelle Linnelle, the referee coordinator should be notified. Most issues are of a training variety and can be handled away from the game. Please be brief and concise when describing events and wait until your emotions have subsided to write the email.
Know the specific rules that are appropriate to your age group and league( See documents or the league website). Rules vary from recreational to advanced competition and from league to league.
Behave in an ethical manner by following the rules as outlined by Salmon Creek Soccer Club, SWYSA, WSYSA, PSPL, OYSA (see disciplinary document for more information)

Zero Tolerance
We will not tolerate verbal or physical abuse of anyone. Please fill out an incident report with the offenders’ name and list any witnesses. Memory fades quickly. Please have your assistant coach, team manager, or designate a parent to write up a brief description of the event. Before the end of the game, have this person get the names and phones numbers of witnesses. Waiting until the end of the game increases the odds that no one will remember who was standing around. Please send the incident report to your division chairperson, copy the club president, and if a referee was involved, copy the referee coordinator. The email addresses of the pertinent people can be found on the board of directors list.

We also need you to report the following:
Illegal activities, including alcohol abuse by players or parents
Abusive behavior from players, parents, or coaches (see disciplinary in documents)
Game misconduct or unsportsmanlike conduct of a serious nature.
Injury, all please – even minor if it occurred on club equipment (such as a small cut from the goal, so that we can fix the problem)
Unsafe conditions ( see field conditions in documents )
Other concerns that SCSC needs to address immediately.
Urgent issues should be sent to the coordinator relating to the problem via email, copying the division chairperson is always a good idea. Non-urgent issues can either be printed out and hand delivered to the office during normal office hours or sent via email directly to the coordinator in charge of that area. Non-injury related minor issues do not require an incident report, just an email to proper person. for example a hole in the playing field goes to the field coordinator, recreational coaching issue goes to the coach coordinator and advanced competition coaching issue to the director of coaching, no show referee to the referee coordinator, minor issue relating to the events while at an away game sent to rec chair & coach coordinator or select/premier chair & director of coaching, etc.

Rosters
Recreational teams: Before the first game you will receive a roster signed by the league registrar and our club registrar. Prior to each game, you will give the referee a copy of your signed roster. If you do not have your roster or player cards (not needed for spring rec), the referee has been instructed to not let your team play. Make sure you have all of your paperwork with you at each game and practice, whether in-club or out-of-club. If you lose your roster, please contact the Recreational Registrar.

Practices
Teams that practice on school district property is required to keep a copy of the district contract with the club on your person any time you are on school property. This is generally provided for you after practice schedules have been determined. Do not assume that any empty space is free space. Remain in your assigned area. Contact the Field Coordinator if you need to move your practice, day, time, or location. Do not schedule a scrimmage for any field without the permission of Field Coordinator as arrangements may need to be made with other teams practicing there.

Uniforms
As per state rules, all players will wear their Salmon Creek uniform at all official games. Represent our club by wearing club colors when visiting another field. At home, we will wear whatever does not conflict with the visiting team. It’s best to have players get in the habit of always bringing both jerseys to every game. Should a problem with uniforms occur and you have a player with no uniform in the week before the first game, please contact the REC uniform coordinator. We can usually work out a temporary alternative and have a number of loaner uniforms.

Rules
General Rules for all ages that have been modified from normal FIFA regulations are available in the documents section.

Current rules can be found there covering ages U6 through U19 under SWYSA bylaws. It is vitally important that all coaches understand the rules for the age bracket and league they are coaching in. The Laws of the Game have been modified to accommodate youth soccer and vary from league to league.

Licensing
Salmon Creek Soccer Club By-Laws require that all coaches have training or certification that is appropriate to the age and level of play that they coach. To maintain a high-quality program at every level the club offer tuition reimbursement for all or part of the cost of the class, no reimbursement for travel, for coaches that attend training. The director of coaching may make free in-house training available. I urge all coaches to attend this training. A couple of hours of your time can make a world of difference on the practice field and during games. Recreational coaches can also take advantage of our coach mentor.