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September LUYSA Newsletter
September 2010
In This Issue
Academy Programs
Young Referees an Endangered Species
Respect Program Reminder
Please Welcome Karen Initiative
Introducing Joe Lee, Risk Management Officer
From the Technical Head Coach
Coming in October
Message From the President
300 emails and counting - a September to remember
 
September and the thrill of the grass. It's been months of hard work and planning but it all begins to pay off now as the kids finally get to kick the ball around. And it has been months in the preparation. One member of the LUYSA board of directors went away for two weeks in August and came back to find 300 LUYSA-related emails waiting in his inbox. Believe it or not, it gets even crazier in September. Which brings me to my opening message for the soccer season.
 
First, welcome to the 300+ new players and families who are joining the Club for the first time. Just a reminder to parents that you are now full-fledged members of the Club, eligible to vote in our annual elections, attend our AGM, volunteer and even run for the board. By the way, we have now registered over 1600 players, which is an enormous increase from the 1400 we had last year. That's awesome.
 
In September, things can sometimes seem a little chaotic and that's because they are, as the Club focuses on the critical core business of getting the teams organized, handing out uniforms and equipment and working with the coaches. Our staff and volunteers are exceptionally busy during this time. If you don't receive replies to your emails as promptly as you'd like, it's probably because the recipient is either working, coaching, at home relaxing with their own family (for the first time in a few nights) or answering the 50 emails that are ahead of yours! So, we ask for your patience as we get through September.
 
During the course of the season, you might find, for example, that certain things may not be as well organized as you think they should be. You should know that it's never a matter of incompetence; every volunteer I've ever met at LUYSA has been highly competent. It's just that we probably don't have enough people to manage everything to the highest possible standard. Typically, if there's ever a problem, it can usually be solved by one or two people volunteering to take charge of that need. There are always projects that need tackling. 
 
For example, we currently have a need for a youth gyms coordinator for grassroots indoor practices. While these types of positions are usually filled by parents in the younger age groups, anyone can sign on for a position like this. We have many opportunities.  Click here if you are interested in this, or other, positions.

One of my jobs as president is working with our director of volunteers, Candiss Thavonesouk, to always be looking for new volunteers for the various projects that come up or recruiting new potential board members who can join subcommittees as a first step. If you'd like to step up or just find out more information, don't hesitate to talk to Candiss, anybody on the board or myself.  Click here to view our list of board members.  And if you've got some great ideas for LUYSA's future, I'd love to hear them. But maybe, unless it's really urgent, wait until later in September to send that email.
 
Have a great September everybody.
 
Sincerely,
Betty Boucas
President, LUYSA
 
Academy Programs
Now Available For All U10 to U18 teams
For the 2010 - 2011 season LUYSA's Technical Department has initiated changes to enhance the technical development of all the players and teams within our club. We want to make all parents and coaches aware of the new academy program (Click here for more information) so they all have equal opportunity to participate.

Team academy sessions are now broadened to be available for any U10-18 LUYSA team that requests them. As we've always done with academy, these sessions are user pay. In this program, our highly experienced staff coaches will either come to your practice field or, if a turf field is available, invite you to a turf session and run a series of practices for the team while you (the coach/assistant) assist in the practice.

Cost: $35 per player for eight sessions (based on 14 player minimum participation; exception for U11 and U12). Payment due at first practice.

Registration: Send an email to [email protected] to schedule a session.
Young Referees an Endangered Species
Absolutely NO comments to the refs! 
 
Truth is, young referees are an endangered species. We now have 21 new small-sided game referees and 25 new youth/district referees who just completed their courses in Aug/Sept and a total pool of about 65. If this season goes like the last few seasons, by December, we'll be lucky if there's 30 left. Why? Verbal abuse from parents and coaches over alleged missed calls.
 
Folks, all you have to do is imagine that it's your son or daughter who is the referee. What would you say then? If you see someone else saying something, maybe ask them how their son or daughter would like to have to take that kind of verbal abuse at home, or at their weekend part-time job. If you hear any negative comments to the referee or referee assistants, tell your coach immediately as they are responsible for the behavior of their sidelines before, during and after games. The referees are not deaf, and surprisingly can hear comments from the sidelines 50 feet or more away.  We must have zero tolerance for this. That's just being respectful.

Also, please don't assume that because your referee is older, they are seasoned and therefore can take abuse as we have 25 brand new referees between the ages of 14-60 years old. 

Rae-Lynne Dicks, LUYSA's director of referees comments: "If a referee is the target of verbal abuse from a coach or parent, it will be reported to the director of referees, and those involved will be spoken to - even if it does not escalate to expulsion - and if it does then the ramifications are far greater for your coach as the LUYSA technical coaching department has zero tolerance for this sort of behavior.  So please...just don't do it and don't stand idly by doing nothing while someone else does it!  I know sometimes it is frustrating and as the parental cheering section for your team you are wound up and into it.  If you have difficulty restraining yourself - cover your mouth with something or turn away from the field and take a walk to cool off."
 
If you would like more information on what we expect from our referees please have a read through the information provided under referee development on the website.  If you have any questions or would like clarification you can email the director of referees, Rae-Lynne Dicks at [email protected].
Respect Program Reminder
Verbal abuse will not be tolerated
Just a reminder that the Langley United Respect program is now in full force. Verbal abuse or negative abusive comments directed at players, referees, coaches or parents by anyone associated with Langley United is prohibited. If you see anyone crossing the lines in these areas, send a short confidential note to [email protected] to Joe Lee, our risk management officer. We will have a quiet word with the offender. Reminder that LUYSA coaches are responsible for controlling parental behavior before, during and after the game. If a parent on the other team is saying something to our young referees or referee's assistants or our players, please let your coach know right away. He'll then talk to the other coach. Do not take matters into your own hands. The goal of the Respect community initiative is to ensure all our players, young referees and families have a completely positive experience in youth soccer.
Contact: Joe Lee, LUYSA risk management officer: [email protected].
Please Welcome Karen Initiative Players From Myanmar in U9
Langley United has been playing host to a number of young refugees from the Karen state region of Myanmar (formerly Burma) that borders Thailand. For more than 30 years, the Karen people have been in conflict with and persecuted by the Myanmar military with an estimated 140,000 refugees displaced from their villages. Wikipedia has a history of the conflict http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Karen_people.  In 2006, the United Nations settled a number of Karen refugees in the Lower Mainland with some in Langley. It soon became evident that there was a very strong need for these Karen children to continue playing the soccer they had enjoyed for hours and hours on end as kids in the refugee camps. 
 
Langley United stepped up to the plate. Since then, we've had a number of volunteers get involved to handle the coaching and organizing of the kids and parents. One problem of course is that at first they may not have played by the rules in their home country and language was a barrier. They also had never played in a structured soccer format before so the learning curve was steep. This year, there will be two Karen refugee teams playing in U9 at Douglas Park. 
 
LUYSA director of grassroots Scott Moye explains: "The kids are enthusiastic and full of energy, just like any other group of youngsters. And they'll have lots of support from parents and other community members. Parents and coaches, please keep in mind that there are cultural differences and that this is all about community and giving back. It may be a great opportunity to talk to your children about life in another part of the world and how kids, no matter their colour or culture, are just like them. That's a valuable life lesson."
 
Reminder: if you or anyone you know finds that registering their child in soccer presents a significant financial hardship, Langley United will help out. Contact us confidentially at 
[email protected] for more information. For more info on the Karen teams, contact: Scott Moye, LUYSA director of grassroots at [email protected]. You can also get more information on the Karen Initiative by going to www.kareninitiative.com.
Introducing
Joe Lee, Risk Management Officer
Langley United is pleased to introduce Joe Lee as the Club's first-ever risk management officer. Joe is a retired executive in the airline industry with experience in dispute resolution and mediation. Joe's position is focused on ensuring the safety of the children in the Club, through ensuring that the coaches' criminal check records are enforced, overseeing the medical safety training and insurance program and acting as a liaison and trouble shooter for the Respect program. He is an experienced mediator and dispute resolution expert. With the establishment of this position the Club has taken an important step forward to enhancing the safety of the children while they are in the Club. Feel free to contact Joe with any questions, concerns or suggestions you may have. Joe Lee, LUYSA RMO, at [email protected]
Report from the Technical Head Coach
Mark Parker
Mark ParkerWell, we're at the official start to our season and the training fields have been buzzing with excitement and anticipation. I personally look forward to the start of the season specifically at the U5 to U12 age groups. Over the last few months we have implemented a number of changes that affect these age groups.
 
At the U5 level for the first time in our history we have 50 four-year-old players that have enrolled in the Parent and Tot program where the parents are closely involved with the child. This program will be run on Sunday evenings starting in September.
 
At the U7 to U10 age groups we have implemented a system whereby players will be matched with players of equal abilities. Over the course of last season I witnessed many "blow-outs" which we all know are not conducive to good development either way. In order to overcome this and make the game more fun and challenging for our players the two-level program will be implemented. So in essence we will have two levels of competitive soccer where players will be challenged in a fun and fear-free environment with players of equal ability. We have received some resistance (not much I must add) but as in all walks of life change does create questions and rightly so.
 
At the U11 and U12 age groups we have implemented a training pool system where by players could be rotated through teams (three at U11 and two at U12) depending on a number of situations. This could be dependent on the opposition, dependent on the individual's performance and attendance or depending on matching teammates together for solid unit training. In another new initiative the LUYSA U12 team are hard at work raising funds for an exciting trip to visit the Bolton Football Club of the English Premier League in March 2011. The team will be housed in the same accommodations used by visiting EPL teams when they travel to play against Bolton FC. The team will train and play games on the Bolton training fields and will have access to all gymnasiums and medical facilities. 
 
In addition to this we have advanced the coaching staff in a number of areas and have signed contracts with professional coaches at the following levels: three coaches at U11, two coaches at U12, and coaches for each of the U13, 14, 16 and 18 age groups. We also have a professional coach to work with some of our older bronze and house teams and have extended last season's paid academy program concept to now be available to all house and bronze teams. I will be closely involved in the grassroots programs from U5 to U10. Essentially, we want to build success at every level of the Club from age 4 to 17 and from house to metro.
 
The introduction of the LUYSA RESPECT program has been widely endorsed from BC Soccer to the Canadian Soccer Association as well as by the Government of B.C. I actively encourage all parents and coaches to implement the RESPECT program and build a fear-free environment in which our kiddies can learn the great game of soccer at their own pace. This is what it's all about and we need the cooperation and involvement of parents to be successful.
 
I look forward to seeing many of you on the field over the next few months as we implement a number of initiatives designed to make Langley United one of the best soccer clubs in British Columbia. 
 
Mark Parker
LUYSA Technical Head Coach
Coming in October
The Business of Langley United
 
In next month's newsletter we'll talk about the business opportunities Langley United presents. With 1600+ kids registered, there are plenty of opportunities for local businesses to sponsor United or to help us offset costs by providing goods and services at cost or even lower as a community sponsorship. Maybe your business or the company you work for can help out? We can then apply the saved budgetary dollars to put towards coaching, programs and equipment for the kids. 
Langley United Youth Soccer Association
PO Box 26015
Langley, BC V3A 8J2
 
Tel:  604.530.3470
Website:  www.luysa.com 
 
 
 
 
 
 
Player soccer action photos wanted
  
If you take a great shot of the kids playing, feel free to submit it for consideration to run in the newsletter or on the website. You can email your photos to [email protected]. What makes a good photo great? You can see the player's eyes, a fun expression on their face, the ball is in the picture.  
 
Frequently Asked Questions

Grassroots Update: Parents are reminded that there is an informative Grassroots Frequently Asked Questions document on the front page of the Club website.

 
A lot of your questions may get answered there and save you having to call the Club. In addition, we're developing a Why LUYSA is Holding Evaluations at the Grassroots Level document. It explains the concept and reasons why we have done it, and should be a helpful document for the membership.
 
If you need to contact the Club on any matter, first go through your age group coordinator listed on the website as they should be very up to date on what's going on with your age group.
 
 
Reminder
Please Clean Up Your Bench Area After All Games and Practices: Parents and coaches, just a reminder to make sure you or the players pick up all used water bottles, wrappers and other items around your bench after your game or practice is over. Let's respect the field, the parks staff and the teams following us by leaving our bench areas clean. Especially at away games.
Thank you.

 

Proper care and feeding of artificial turf fields: Of course we all know no gum but many may not know that if you catch the turf just right you may unravel it like a piece of string in a sweater. So, no knives, scissors or food on the turf, avoid pop, etc.
 
An interesting point that came up at one coaches meeting is that tents may damage the turf as the metal bottoms may catch so be careful if you bring a tent. Don't use snow shovels. Snow blowers too. The parks staff will clean the snow off.
 
One question came up: is it okay to bring our barbecues? Hands up, everyone who knows the answer to this one.
  
 
Mark Parker away at coaching course
Mark Parker will be away during late September and early October in the UK attending the prestigious FA International Coaching License program. The FA International Coaching Licence is a three-week residential course for coaches who have reached the highest certification levels within their home country. Candidates will have the opportunity to develop their football knowledge and coaching competencies through a variety of related activities, both on and off the field. In addition to the licensing component coaches will receive work experience from visiting and attending Premier League and Premier League Academy training and games.
Beginning now, in Mark's absence, Neil Messmer, our director of coaching will field all coaching calls. 
Contact: Neil Messmer
at [email protected].
 
If you have a question for U5 to 12 grassroots, contact your age group coordinator or our director of grassroots, Scott Moye at [email protected].