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Frequently Asked Questions (FAQs)
- What is AYSO?
- What is VIP?
- How Do I Sign My Child up to play
Soccer with AYSO?
- What is Safe Haven Training?
- What is Different Between AYSO and
Travel Teams?
- Why Haven't I Heard from my Child's
Coach?
- Who Do I Contact with a Question?
- How Do I Volunteer?
- Who Do I Talk to about a Problem
With My Coach?
- Who Do I Talk to about a Problem
With a Referee?
- What Do I Do if my Child Cannot
Play on a Certain Day of the Week?
- Why Can't my Child Play on a Team
with a Friend?
- What Children Can Play on the Same
Team Together?
- What is a Team Referee?
- What Can I Do if Both of my
Children Play on the Same Night?
- Why didn't the Referee call offside on my U8
player?
- Why is the policy about playing with earrings?
- What is AYSO?
AYSO (American Youth Soccer Organization) is a nationwide non-profit organization that develops and delivers quality youth soccer programs in a fun, family environment based on AYSO's Five Philosophies:
Everyone Plays - Our program’s goal is for kids to play soccer—so we mandate that every player on every team must play at least half of every game.
Balanced Teams - Each year we form new teams as evenly balanced as possible—because it is fair and more fun when teams of equal ability play.
Open Registration - Our program is open to all children between 4 and 19 years of age who want to register and play soccer. Interest and enthusiasm are the only criteria for playing.
Positive Coaching - Encouragement of player effort provides for greater enjoyment by the players and ultimately leads to better-skilled and better-motivated players.
Good Sportsmanship - We strive to create a positive environment based on mutual respect rather than a win-at-all-costs attitude, and our program is designed to instill good sportsmanship in every facet of AYSO.
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- What is VIP?
AYSO VIP (Very Important Player) program is for players with mental & physical challenges. Down Syndrome, blindness, amputations, limited mobility... there's no reason ANY child can't play soccer.
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- How Do I Sign My Child up to play
Soccer with AYSO?
Before each season, AYSO Region 190 sends a registration flyer home
through the Utica Community Schools and the select Warren Consolidated
Schools that participate in our Region. This flyer will detail the
registration process, as well as dates and times for registration.
In addition, the calendar on this website will list the upcoming
registration dates for our Region. For more information, please
click on "Registration" on the left side of the page.
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- What is Safe Haven Training?
Safe Haven is a program to protect children and the volunteers who work with
them. All volunteers (coaches, asst coaches, referees, Board
Members, etc.) must complete Safe Haven Training in order to participate
in AYSO. The child protection aspect is intended to stop child abuse, educate or remove its perpetrators, and screen out predators before they get into the program. It includes proactive steps which provide a medium for positive, healthy child development, precluding the outbreak of child abuse in a weak, unfocused,
non-empowering environment. Volunteer protection comes in to play as a result of volunteer training, certification and continuing education. The Volunteer Protection Act of 1997 provides certain legal protections for volunteers who have been trained and certified, and act in accordance with a written job description. Safe Haven has these three elements, giving volunteers the highest degree of protection available under the law.
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- What is Different Between AYSO
and Travel Teams?
In AYSO one of the 5 philosophies is "Everyone Plays" - which
means that each player is guaranteed to play at least one half of every
game, despite the player's skills and abilities. Travel Teams do
not have this requirement - your player may not play as often based on
their skills in relation to the other players on the team.
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- Why Haven't I Heard from my
Child's Coach?
In AYSO, coaches are volunteers (just like all other region
positions). Each coach is requested to contact their players
immediately following the Team Draw. However, due to differing
family and work schedules, this is not always accomplished in a timely
fashion. In addition, sometimes a delay occurs in notification due
to the lack of volunteers to fill the coaching positions. Rest
assured that if you have registered a player with our Region, we will do
our best to place your player on a team and notify the appropriate
coach. Please be patient as this process may take several weeks
after the team draw. To facilitate communications with parents,
our Region sends a postcard to all registered players after the team
draw to provide you with their team number. This information can
be used to determine the proper age division and game schedule (expected
night of the week and weekend day and time for your player's
games).
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- Who Do I Contact with a Question?
It Depends! Region 190 has a volunteer Board of Directors that
is here to make sure the Region runs smoothly. These members can
answer your questions. Please address your question to the Board
Member who can most likely address your concern. For example, if
you have a question on coaching, please contact the Regional Coach
Administrator. If you have a question on registering your child,
please contact the Registrar. If you have a question on uniforms
or equipment, please contact the Equipment Director. For a
complete listing of all Board Members, please click on the
"Board" button on the top left side of this page.
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- How Do I Volunteer?
Volunteering in AYSO Region 190 is easy! Simply contact the
Board Member who is associated with the position you would like to
volunteer for. If you do not have a specific task you are
interested in, or want more information, please contact the Regional
Commissioner. To contact the RC, please click on the
"Board" button on the top left side of this page.
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- Who Do I Talk to about a Problem
With My Coach?
We encourage you do discuss any concerns you may have regarding your
player's coach with the coach or the assistant coach. Experience
has taught us that most concerns can be addressed through polite
conversation, and our coaches are encouraged to listen and address
concerns from players and parents. If this avenue does not prove
to be effective, please contact the Regional Coach Administrator
(RCA). However, the RCA will only respond to issues that are
documented and signed (in a letter or an email). Problems or
concerns submitted anonymously or verbally will not be followed up on as
it is not possible to provide the proper background nor
verification. Concerns that are documented, signed, and submitted
to the RCA will be followed up on in a timely fashion. This may
included further conversation with the documenter, the coach in
question, other coaches, and other parents either on the team or present
at the time the concern was raised. All efforts will be made to
resolve any issue amicably. If this does not resolve the issue,
the Regional Guidelines provide the mechanism for issue
resolution. To contact the RCA, please click on the
"Board" button on the top left side of this page.
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- Who Do I Talk to about a Problem
With a Referee?
Referees (like all other positions in AYSO) are volunteers, and as
such are taking time out of their busy schedules to work with our
children. All certified referees have gone through Safe Haven
Training, and have passed a test to become certified at a Regional or
higher level. Referees are knowledgeable in the rules of soccer,
and are able to lead our children on the field in a fun, fair, and safe
game. Many times participants or parents on the sidelines may not
understand or agree with a call made on the field by the referee.
However, in most instances this misunderstanding arises from the
participants and parents not clearly understanding the laws
of the game, or from not being in a good location to clearly see the
infraction. In any instance, the referee is the only person
allowed to make any calls on the field during the game. If you
disagree with the call, do not shout at the referee or incite other
parents to complain during the game. This presents a negative
example to our children. If you believe that a
rule has been misapplied during the game, please document your concern
and send to the Regional Referee Administrator (RRA). If a
misapplication of one of the rules of the game was determined to
have occurred, the RRA may contact the referee in question to alert them to the
proper application of the law. Please note - we are here for our
kids, and our kids want to have fun. It is important to keep this
in perspective, and to realize that it takes volunteers to run a soccer
game. Lets keep it positive! To contact
the RCA, please click on the "Board" button on the top left
side of this page.
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- What Do I Do if my Child Cannot
Play on a Certain Day of the Week?
AYSO Region 190 consists of approximately 1500 players on 120
teams. Efforts are made to accommodate the schedules of those
parents who volunteer to be coaches, as they are required to attend the
games of their teams. However, it is not possible to arrange game
schedules around the schedules of each and every player.
Therefore, upon occasion a situation arises where there may be a
scheduling conflict that does not fit your schedule. As parents,
we understand that work and family obligations and other planned
activities may sometimes necessitate a prioritization
of activities for our children. While we believe that AYSO soccer
provides an excellent opportunity for our children to play in a fun,
fair, and safe atmosphere, as well as the chance to grow as a person by
learning teamwork and good sportsmanship, we may not be able to do
everything at the same time. Therefore, if after the team draw you
decide that the schedule of the that team your child has been placed on
does not conform to your schedule, you are allowed to apply for a full refund
and drop your player from the program. Please note that there is a
penalty for dropping your player after a given date (always after the
team draw dates but prior to start of the season). This date is
clearly communicated on the front page of this website. This is
due to the fact that after a certain date we have already submitted the
required registration fee to AYSO National on behalf of your
player. Please note that there is no switching of teams based on
scheduling conflicts after the team draws. Requests for such an
action will not be acknowledged by the Region. However, because we
believe so strongly in our program, we do hope that you will be able to
arrange your schedule appropriately in order to be able to participate.
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- Why Can't my Child Play on a
Team with a Friend?
One of the 5 philosophies of AYSO is "Balanced
Teams." We differ from the soccer Travel Teams in that each
year we make an effort to re-mix the players into teams of similar
levels of skills and abilities. At the end of each season, coaches
for teams in age divisions U8 and above rank their players based on
certain criteria. These rankings are then taken into account for
the next season, and teams are balanced to the best of our
abilities. This provides a more enjoyable season for all.
The only exception to this rule is in the U6 age division. At this
level players are allowed to request to play with a buddy at
registration, as there is little or no competition and the focus is on
having fun and learning how to play. In the U8 and older
divisions, players are randomly mixed to form the teams.
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- What Children Can Play on the
Same Team Together?
As mentioned above, only players in the U6 age division are allowed
to play with a buddy if requested at registration. However,
Regional Guidelines allow for the retention of players on a team for
children of the team coach, assistant coach, and team referee (if the referee has been certified and is on record as refereeing at least 10 neutral games in the preceding season).
Otherwise, there shall be no automatic retention of players on any specific team or with any specific coach from the previous season.
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- What is a Team Referee?
A Team Referee is a certified referee that has refereed at least ten
neutral games (games that do not involve the a team including their own
children) in the preceding season. A Team Referee can retain their
player on a certain team (similar to the Coach and Assistant
Coach).
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- What Can I Do if Both of my
Children Play on the Same Night?
We encourage parents to indicate other children on their form at
registration. We make every effort to not put children from the
same family on teams that play on the same night. However, since
the nights of the week for each age division are determined by the
number of registered players and the limited number of available playing
fields, it is not always possible to accommodate every family.
Therefore, upon occasion a situation arises where there may be a
scheduling conflict for one or more of our children. As parents,
we understand that this may sometimes necessitate a prioritization of
activities for our children. While we believe that AYSO soccer
provides an excellent opportunity for our children to play in a fun,
fair, and safe atmosphere, as well as the chance to grow as a person by
learning team work and good sportsmanship, we may not be able to support
games for more than one child that are scheduled at the same time.
Therefore, if after the team draw you decide that the schedules of the
that teams your children have been placed on do not conform to your
schedule, you are allowed to apply for a full refund and drop your player(s)
from the program. Please note that there is a penalty for dropping
your player after a given date (always after the team draw dates but
prior to start of the season). This date is clearly communicated
on the front page of this website. This is due to the fact that
after a certain date we have already submitted the required registration
fee to AYSO National on behalf of your player. Please note that
there is no switching of teams based on scheduling conflicts after the
team draws. Requests for such an action will not be acknowledged
by the Region. However, because we believe so strongly in our
program, we do hope that you will be able to arrange your schedule
appropriately in order to be able to participate.
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- Why didn't the Referee call
offside on my U8 player?
Offside is a difficult concept for the kids to grasp (and even harder
for adults!), and while we strive to maintain a "teaching" atmosphere,
calling offside at every offense would result in very little flow and
enjoyment of the game at the U8 and U10 levels. Instead, we try to
ensure the games are played fairly and therefore only call offside when
the infraction is obvious and avoidable, such as when an attacking
player spends the whole game in the other team's goal area, waiting for
the ball and a scoring opportunity. At the U12 level, the players begin
to have more awareness of their position on the field and where they are
in relation to the other players, which gives us the basis to begin, in
earnest, calling the offside infraction. As a note, the proper restart
for offside is an indirect kick for the defending team. If taken from
within the penalty area, the ball must leave the penalty area before
being touched/played by anyone, and the kicker cannot touch the ball a
second time after putting it in play (2nd touch rule). If the kick is
taken outside the penalty area, the now-defending players must take a
position at least 10-yards from the ball until it is touched and moves.
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- Why is the policy about
playing with earrings?
Regional guidelines state that earrings and other jewelry
must be removed prior to competition. Even if your daughters ears
were just pierced and she cannot take out her starter posts, she cannot
play soccer with them in. Post and loop earrings pose extreme
danger to the players who wear them. Soccer is a contact sport and a
ball to the side of the head can seriously injure the player wearing
post type earrings. Please delay your daughter's/son's first ear
piercing until after the conclusion of the soccer season so that they
can enjoy both the game of soccer, and wearing earrings.
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