NEWSLETTER, MAY 2005BRITANNIA SOCCER COMMUNITY DAY CAMP BACK AT CROWLEY The Dearborn Soccer Club will be hosting a Britannia community soccer day camp at Crowley Park this summer, and Club members ages 5 to 18 years are invited to attend to improve soccer skills and have a great time. The camp will run from July 18th to July 22nd. The camp will provide fundamental, progressive and advanced skill training to accommodate soccer players of all skill levels. Full day ($150) and half-day ($100) options are available each session. For full-day and afternoon campers, goalie training will be available during the afternoon. Each player receives a soccer ball and camp T-shirt. If you wish to register by mail, a registration form is included with this newsletter. Checks should be made out and mailed to Britannia Soccer. Call Marlene Bankwitz at 274-8884 for additional forms or more information. Registration forms are also available at the Recreation Department and on-line at dearbornsoccer.org. If you wish to register by credit card, you may do so on-line at www.britanniasoccerusa.com. BRITANNIA SOCCER PARENT/COACH CLINICS The Dearborn Soccer Club will host a Britannia Soccer Parent/Coach Clinic at Crowley Park on July 19th at 6:30 PM. The clinic is free and open to the community. This will be a fun and informative clinic where parents and coaches will increase their understanding of the game of soccer and learn Britannia’s innovative teaching methods. Both beginner and advanced levels are available. No registration required. Call Marlene Bankwitz at 274-8884 for more information. OPEN REGISTRATION JUNE 3 – 5 Registration for the Fall/Spring 2005-2006 season is on Friday June 3 (6pm-8pm), Saturday June 4 (10am-2pm), and Sunday June 5 (10am-2pm) at Crowley Park. Cost for the Fall/Spring seasons is $90; cost for Fall 2004 only is $55. Birth certificate required. Registration forms are available in this newsletter, at the Recreation Department or on the club web site @ www.dearbornsoccer.org. Players ages 4 – 18 welcome. You may turn your registration into your coach before the end of the season or mail your registration before June 10. Late registrations affect uniform ordering, team planning, rosters, game, and referee schedules. Your player will not be placed on the same team or may not be able to play if your registration is late. Please register on time!
NEW! MICRO CAMPS FOR 4 AND 5-YEAR OLDS Would you like to send your young soccer player to camp, but don’t think that they are ready for the half day session? Britannia Soccer is introducing a shorter session camp that might be just right! Micro Camps run 1½ hours and are exclusively for 4 and 5 year olds. The Dearborn Soccer Club is pleased to be hosting two of these Britannia camps at Crowley Park during camp week. The sessions will run July 18th through July 22nd. You have a choice of times: 1:00 p.m. to 2:30 p.m. or 2:30 p.m. to 4:00 p.m. The cost will be $70 for the week, and a soccer ball is included in the price. You may elect a Micro Camp on the Britannia web site if you wish to pay by credit card or submit a camp application and check by mail indicating which Micro Camp you have elected. A camp application is included in this newsletter. MEMORIAL DAY PARADE The Dearborn Soccer Club will again honor our veterans in the Memorial Day Parade. This year, it’s the Fireflies, Little Angels, Ogres and Thundercats who will be carrying the Club’s banner down Michigan Avenue. The banner reads “Our Goal is to Salute our Veterans.” Come out to the parade on May 30th and cheer on these teams as they show their support and patriotism on behalf of the Club. ONE-WAY TRAFFIC ON OXFORD The Club is growing at a rapid rate. The people who may be most directly impacted by our rapid growth live in the neighborhood adjoining Crowley Park. They experience the traffic jams on Oxford and the parking crunch on Westwood. They are complaining loudly to the city about these inconveniences. Let’s try to be good neighbors and minimize the headaches in the neighborhood. Please treat Oxford as a one-way street into Crowley. When leaving, utilize one of the streets to the south of Oxford to take you to Telegraph. When parking, use the lot first. If you need to park on the street, park only on the Crowley Park side. If we fail to reduce neighborhood complaints, the city will be forced to take some kind of action, which may not be in our best interest. If we all follow these guidelines, however, the complaints to the city should be minimized. Please remember that dogs are not allowed at Crowley Park or the schools. WELCOME NEW BOARD MEMBERS Tonya Hunt has volunteered to assume the responsibility of assigning the referees for the in-house games, to help coordinate the camp, and to be the in-house registrar. Her sons play for the club: Jordan on the U14 premier “Arsenal” and twins, Ethan and Tyler, on the U8 “Hawks”. Tonya’s husband, Lee, and her father-in-law, Jim, both coach. Tonya takes over from Katalin Rye, who served as referee coordinator, Marlene Bankwitz as camp coordinator, and Wendy Bardelli as registrar, all for several years. Terri Blaetterlein graciously takes over for Randy Hansen as our new secretary. Randy has moved to England for a new job opportunity. Terri’s daughter, Leah, has played for the club for four years and is currently a GU9 “Panther”. Randy also did a great job as our Webmaster. Please call the hotline 565-4433 if you could help the club with the website. Our new treasurer, Pattie Biegalski, comes with the experience of being treasurer for another city’s club. According to Pattie, “I have been very pleased with the Dearborn Soccer Club -it has been an enjoyable experience. The Board members are all very nice people. The club is very well-organized with caring people and it shows.” Pattie’s son, Alex, plays for the BU10 “Storm”; her other son, Michael, plays premier BU14 for the Livonia “Meteors”. Pattie replaces Lisa Bartkowiak who also did an exceptional job. Mohamed Faraj has volunteered over 10 years as a coach and now will pioneer a new role as Director of Coaching In-house. We are lucky to have Tom Martin continuing as Director of Coaching for Travel and Premier/Select. We have 30 new coaches this season and having two directors available to help will benefit all of us. Mohamed’s son, Jamal, also coaches for the club (BU7 “Redwings”) and another son, John, plays on the premier BU15 “Arsenal” team. In addition, the Club extends its gratitude to Katalin, Randy, Marlene, Wendy, and Lisa for their hard work and dedication over the years. Marlene continues on as our travel referee coordinator. Please extend your cooperation to our new board members as they take on these important and demanding assignments. We are lucky to have the expertise, caring and experience of all our volunteers for the club. With over 1500 players and over 130 teams, there are many volunteer tasks. Please consider volunteering for the Dearborn Soccer Club. Two committed people could share some of these roles or you might be able to help with specific tasks such as phone calls, mailings, and field clean up. CAMP COORDINATOR NEEDED The Club is looking for a volunteer to transition to the position of Camp Coordinator. This year, this person will train with Marlene Bankwitz and assume the responsibilities for Camp 2006. If interested, or for more information about this position, please call Marlene at 274-8884. GOOD SPORT SPEAK Please do not distract your child or the other players by yelling things during the game. HELP NEEDED We now have 1570 players and over 130 teams in the Dearborn Soccer Club. Did you know that the only paid positions are the referees? The club should pay to have the fields lined however Marv Purdy has been donating the field-lining labor in addition to the many, many hours he gives as President because it would be a conflict of interest for him to be paid by the club and be it’s President. We are lucky to have many caring and wonderful volunteers but always could use more help. Do you know that the Club’s biggest fundraiser is its annual tournament in August? This huge undertaking requires countless volunteer hours. Unfortunately, too few people volunteer, leaving too large a burden on those who do. All of our children greatly benefit from the tournament. Please call the Club Hot Line at 565-4433 and ask how you can help. If you cannot help with the tournament, but are willing to help by making phone calls, assembling the packets for each team, with the mailings, or could volunteer for the club in any way, please call. Crowley Park and Long School are heavily used on game days. Unfortunately, this equates to trash being left behind. At best, the result is an unsightly playing area. At worst, we may be banned from playing at the schools. For these reasons, we are asking every coach to carry a roll of trash bags with him or her to the home games. At the game, the coach can appoint a parent or player to clean up after the game—on both sides of the field! This simple courtesy will make all of our playing experiences more enjoyable. RECYCLED CARTRIDGE PROGRAM PAYS OFF A payment of $1,297.00 was made to the Club treasury from the Funding Factory Recycled Cartridge Program. Marlene Bankwitz, who manages the recycling program for the Club, thanks Ron Kolts, Barry Scott, and Marv Purdy for all their help in gathering cartridges to be recycled. Recycling is easy and can bring in substantial money for the Club. We just need more of you to participate. Look on our website under “Announcements” to see how you can help. Games are cancelled or delayed for a short time for thunder and lightening only.
USE YOUR HEAD REFEREES If you find that your referee is struggling or is having difficulty making some of the tougher calls, we ask both parents and coaches to refrain from voicing criticism during the game. Remember, our young referees are just learning the skills necessary for their position and need support and guidance in their efforts. Instead, call your referee assignors, Marlene Bankwitz for travel games (274-8884) or Tonya Hunt for peewee games (565-7080) and explain the problem. They will arrange for one of our head referees, Jess Castillo or Kerry Smith, to work with the referee to better their game. Always treat referees with respect; model good sportsmanship! DEARBORN SOCCER CLUB NEW REFEREES ON CD-TV CD-TV, Dearborn’s cable television station, has been following the journey of several of our new referees. The referees-to-be were first filmed during the new referee certification classes held in Dearborn over the winter. CD-TV then followed these young referees through the experience of their first game. Watch the home page for the dates and times of what promises to be an interesting program. KEEP THE FUN IN SOCCER AND WORK TOGETHER A soccer team is not a battle to the last person left such as “Survivor” or a political primary. Each player on a team is important and brings different skills and talents. There are not a limited number of skills being divided among the players. Fun and cooperation multiply the benefits for each player and the team as a whole. Wouldn’t if be great if everyone improved their kick strength and accuracy? Think of the power of the team if every player improved their endurance, speed, field vision, made better passes, stole other teams’ passes, took the best angles on defending and receiving. Help and support each player, coach, and parent. Players grow and develop at different rates and times. Good teamwork, sportsmanship and persevering even in hard times are skills your player can use in many aspects of their lives. POSITIVE PARENTS’ SUPPORT Parents should sit between the midline and 18 yard line, about 4 to 5 feet away from the sideline. Please be courteous to both goalies and honor these guidelines. Let the coaches coach your child, enjoy the game.
Parents who are troubled by an issue that they need to discuss with the coach should make it a policy to wait 24 hours before discussing their concern. Immediately following the conclusion of a game is the worst possible time to express your concerns and frustrations. The 24 hours will let you focus on the issues and discuss them in a calmer fashion. Remember that, as a parent, you naturally focus on your child as opposed to the whole team. Coaches need to focus on each player and the team as a whole. Talking with your coach about how your child can improve is more productive than complaining about your child’s playing time or position. On recreational teams, each player should play not less than half the game. Because substitutions are only allowed in certain situations in travel, it may seem to you that they are not being made in a timely fashion, particularly if your child is on the sideline waiting to come in. Playing time is earned on select teams; there are no rules governing playing time on select teams. One select coach invites his parents to discuss anything with him except their child’s playing time and position. His feeling is that this is not productive. Sometimes parents are disappointed when they feel their child would shine at a different position. Every position in soccer is important. Remember soccer is a low-scoring game, which makes defense in every position a priority. You will win more games with shots you prevent the other team from taking and goals you prevent than you will by the goals you score. Sometimes your coach is trying to use your child’s skill or talent in a certain position because that will increase your child’s success. Examples of this include speed at the striker and defense positions, endurance at the midfield position, intelligent use of angles at defense, great passing ability for midfielders and defenders, great clearing ability for defenders. Many coaches start their lineups with goalkeepers and defenders and then fill in the other positions. Many parents want their children to be strikers and score a lot of goals. A good midfielder can have as many high-quality chances at shooting as a striker. When your child is ready to play 11 versus 11, the positions will become even more specialized. Remember that all players will use their soccer skills of passing, defending, dribbling, clearing, trapping, settling, and kicking in all positions. To watch a skilled soccer team work together, switch, cover, and shade for each other almost looks as if they have a 12th player on the field. Soccer is a team sport and each player/position is important. POSITIVE GOAL SETTING WITH YOUR PLAYER The mind thinks in pictures so positive goals are often more successful than goals which contain the words not, don’t, or negative words. Instead of “I don’t want to kick my scoring chances right at the goalie”, try “I will aim my scoring kicks at the open part of the goal”. If you shut your eyes and say to yourself “I don’t want to see the color red”, chances are red apples, wagons, fire trucks etc will pop into your mind. If you say “I want to see the color blue”, blue sky, water, blueberries should appear. When your player is struggling with a skill or certain situation, help them to say out loud what it is they want to do. Set positive goals and celebrate the improvement (often in small steps) that you do make. |