Best practices

It is important to seek out and read through the laws of the game for whichever league you are playing in. This includes tournaments and State Cup. You may know soccer and think you understand all of the laws, but it’s best if you have first-hand knowledge as some leagues often have minor differences from other leagues.

Force SC follows the US Soccer Grassroots Roadmap on player development, which states  that every player at the U13 age and younger should get a minimum of 50% playing time in each game. The more time a player gets on the field, the more they develop by being able to make in-game decisions.

On top of player development, the number one reason players play soccer is to have fun. It’s not to win. And it’s not to hang out with their friends. While those do play a role, kids play soccer for fun. Let your players have fun by giving them fair playing time. Being on the bench while watching the rest of the team play can be deflating for developing players, and remove the fun for them.

With that said, at the older and more competitive ages, playing time is earned. If your team is U14 or older, players who are working the hardest, and being the most successful in whatever activities you have set for them, should get the most playing time. There most definitely comes a time when winning is stressed, but it’s not at the younger, more developmental ages. 

There will be times during the season where players will need to be called up to help a team have enough players to play and have some subs. This could be due to any number of things (small roster sizes, players have other commitments, injuries, etc.). When that time comes, coaches should be fair and impartial on who is called up. 

In an ideal situation, an age group has both a Green and White team. The head coach of the Green team should speak with the head coach of the White team to get a good assessment of who can fulfill the Green team’s needs for that day. For example, if the Green team has an injured defender, the Green team coach should speak with the White team coach and ask his/her opinion on who should be called up to play defense. 

If there is no White team, the coach who needs a player could then go down an age group as far as two years. The process should otherwise remain the same (the coach who needs a player will speak with the coach of the team he/she is looking to borrow a player from, and the younger team’s coach will select the best options). 

Note: If you are calling up a player who is on a team two years younger than your team (for example, you coach a U13 team, and you are borrowing a U11 player), be sure that player isn’t playing up. Meaning, the player on the U11 team could be 9 years old, and therefore three years younger for a U13 team.

Once a player is selected and their family says they can play, all you need is a player card from the team you are borrowing from. Before the game, you must let both the referee and the opposing coach know you are borrowing a player.

Note: Girls can play with boys teams using the same rules (must be the same birth-year age, or two years younger), but boys cannot play with girls teams.

Poaching is when a coach asks a player from another club to join their team. While there are many gray areas when it comes to this (you can ask them, for example, to play on an indoor team during the winter), the punishment for poaching is a 1-year suspension for that coach, and a possible fine for the coach or club. Please take poaching seriously.

While we all want our teams to be the best they can be, and we may have formed relationships with players who are rostered at other clubs, it is important to understand that we cannot speak with them about joining Force SC during the season. As a general rule, players from other clubs can only be asked to attend a tryout five days before the tryout. Anything outside of that is grounds for poaching.

Be aware that this includes high school players who are playing club. High school players who only play one season (the fall or spring) still fall under poaching even when they aren’t participating in the club season. So again, please use the rule of thumb that a player can only be reached out to fivedays before the tryout.

As coaches and players, we are representatives of Force SC, and we must carry ourselves at a higher level. In doing so, we must have respect for all of those involved when we are playing. 

This can come down to perspective. The other team is a team just like ours. They are working to develop, and striving to do their best on the field. At times things will occur on the field and it’s easy to forget we are all here for a similar purpose, but it is in those times when it is most important to be self-aware. 

That respect should branch out to the referee crew who are officiating the game. The perspective there should be that these are people, just like us, who are developing at their craft. We are not professional players, so why should we expect professional referees? Everyone on the field, including the referees, are developing, and there should be some leeway for that. 

We're not saying we shouldn’t have conversations with the referee. We should be able to ask questions and get answers that will help our team understand what we did right or wrong in specific situations. And when done with respect, the response is often given with respect.