Frequently Asked Questions

For the August 2008 through June 2009 soccer season, use the following table.

 

AGE GROUP	BORN ON OR AFTER
U18	8-1-1990
U17	8-1-1991
U16	8-1-1992
U15	8-1-1993
U14	8-1-1994
U13	8-1-1995
U12	8-1-1996
U11	8-1-1997
U10	8-1-1998
U9	8-1-1999
U8	8-1-2000
U7	8-1-2001
U6	8-1-2002
U5	8-1-2003
U4	8-1-2004

 

Or, use this link to find your player's age group... CALCULATE AGE GROUP

 

* Minimum FYSA age: 4 years old. Player must be 4 years old before 8-1-2008 for the Fall season and before 3-1-2009 for the Spring season.

You will need the registration fees as well as a COPY of the player's birth certificate.

Shortly after registration, a picture of your child is needed. Please provide a small photograph (approx 1" x 1-1/2") of you child to your coach. The team's official roster must include an individual photograph of every player.

Personal check or money order are accepted at "on site" registration. Our online registration system only accepts credit card.

If the season has not started, you will receive a partial refund. The club cannot recover the registration expenses associated with insurance and uniforms. Your refund will be reduced by these costs. If your child has played the season's first game, a refund is not available.
 

Registration fees cover insurance, referee fees, field maintenance, processing fees with the Florida Youth Soccer Association (FYSA) and uniforms. In addition, registration fees for the Youth Development Program go towards the expense of hiring certified trainers.
 

FYSA mandates that recreational teams be divided evenly. If each parent could select their child's coach, this would not be possible. If you choose to coach or assistant coach , your child will be on your team.
 

Each special request must go before the Rockledge Soccer Club board for consideration. If your child has a special need, the board will consider your request and vote on it. The parent must attend the board meeting and inform the board of your request and what the specific need is. All players wishing to play up need to have a parent/guardian complete our playing up form and turn it in with the child's registration. Players playing up 2 or more years must receive approval from the DOC of the club.
 

Registration information (including dates) are posted at the field and on this web site. In addition, registration information is mailed out to all players from the previous season.

First, check this web page to find out when registration is. If you have moved without updating your information with the club, the registration information mailing was sent to your old address.

Please understand that the club is run by volunteers. Our goal is to respond to questions within 48 hours. The registration period is an especially hectic time and responses may take a little longer. Also consider that the person you are trying to contact may be out of town on business or vacation. You may want to contact more than one board member for very important issues or questions.

The registrar can be contacted directly via email. Check the Board section of this web page for board member info. The club address is here.

No. In addition to players from Rockledge, our club has players from Cocoa, Port St. John, Merritt Island, Viera, Melbourne and Cocoa Beach.
 

At registration, volunteers sign up and fill out a coaches registration card. The card is processed at which time a FDLE background check is done. Volunteer coaches are needed for our U9 and older recreational teams while game day managers are needed for our U8 and younger players.
 

Starting in 2008, only the last four digits of your social security number are required. Your partial social security number and date of birth are used to process the FDLE background check.
 

The coaches from the returning season will be give first consideration. After that, coaches will be filled in as needed.

The Rockledge Soccer Club YDP is a program that focuses on player development set in an environment that fosters a child’s love for the game. The YDP will promote a higher level of technical instruction within a fun soccer environment. Essentially, we want to give the game of soccer back to the children.
 

For this first year of the Rockledge Soccer Club YDP, program eligibility is limited to U5, U6, U7 and U8 players. All U5 through U8 players within our club or joining our club are eligible. No selection or rating of players for entry is allowed.
 

Unlike traditional recreational soccer, all YDP players in a single age group practice together. Under the direction of a Rockledge Soccer Club YDP Director and supported by the club’s professional national and state licensed training staff, age appropriate activities are offered that work towards the long term development of the players. Players will work on individual skills in large groups under the direction of a licensed trainer. Players will also rotate through training stations or be separated into small groups for multi-player small group training all under the direction of licensed trainers. Emphasis is on skill development and learning to "love the ball" all in a positive stress-free environment. And finally, every practice will provide opportunities to play the game.
 

Each week, the Rockledge Soccer Club YDP will provide a one hour training session for every U8 and younger age group. Each session will be a step in a season long skills progression and will be based on US Youth Soccer’s "Best Practices for Coaching Youth Soccer in the United States". Each single age group will practice together. For example, on Mondays, U5s will practice from 5:15p - 6:15p and U6s will practice from 6:30p - 7:30p. On Wednesdays, U7s will practice from 5:15p - 6:15p and U8s will practice from 6:30p - 7:30p.
 

The Rockledge Soccer Club YDP will not have fixed team rosters. Teams will be formed prior to game days with the intention of forming competitive games. On game days, players may be moved between teams in an effort to field the most equally competitive games.
 

Players in the Rockledge Soccer Club YDP will play two games every other weekend. There will be a total of six weekends of play resulting in a total of 12 games. One side benefit is that families may now be able to take a weekend off from soccer every so often.
 

For the Rockledge Soccer Club U5/U6 YDP, games are played in a 3 versus 3 (3v3) format. U5/U6 games will last 30 minutes with a half-time. For the U7/U8 YDP, games are played in a 4v4 format. U7/U8 games will last 30 minutes with a half-time. The number of substitutes for each team will be sharply limited in an effort to give all of the players the greatest amount of play time. If a team is short on players, players can be moved from other games immediately over to the game that needs more players. The goal of the Rockledge Soccer Club YDP Directors and their staff is to offer a game day where every player spends the majority of their games on the field playing.
 

While the game is underway, players may be moved between teams. This may mean that players between the opposing teams are exchanged or it may mean that a player is moved into the game from some other team. The bottom line is that the Rockledge Soccer Club YDP Directors and their staff will have the ability to adjust the games to make them challenging and equally competitive. A close competitive game is the best outcome for every player.
 

Prior to each game day, teams will be formed and a volunteer Game Day Manager will be assigned. Game Day Managers work under the direction of the Rockledge Soccer Club YDP Directors and their staff to organize the teams and perform player substitutions. Little or no active coaching from the Game Day Managers is required. We’re giving the game back to the players by letting them play their game.
 

Game Day Managers are critical to making our Youth Development Program a success for the children. Game Day Managers will work with the Rockledge Soccer Club YDP Directors and participate in the YDP training sessions. Game Day Managers will be Rockledge Soccer Club volunteers and will require FYSA background checks. In addition to participating in practice sessions, the Game Day Managers help organize the teams on game day. One particular benefit of this coordination between the training staff and the Game Day Managers (GDMs) is that we are working together teaching our GDMs proper coaching techniques and styles. Our club is committed to raising our level of coaching knowledge and experience and our YDP is a great way to help us reach that goal.
 

The Rockledge Soccer Club YDP practices and games will all take place at the Community Park of Rockledge.
 

There are a number of compelling reasons for this change. But all of the reasons answer one question: Are we putting the needs of the children first? Between the ages of 12 and 14, approximately one-half to three-quarters of our country’s youth quit organized sports. And because of the physical and mental challenges and necessary maturity required to play soccer at the highest level, we’re losing players before anyone knows whether they will truly excel in the sport of soccer. Our job as soccer coaches is to keep our players in the game and keep them playing as long as possible. So we are joining a national trend that drastically reduces the emphasis on short-term gain (an overemphasis on winning) and instead focuses on long-term benefits. In other words, we are going to focus on the reasons children play sports. Children play sports because it’s challenging, because they learn new things, because they get to be with their friends and meet new friends and because it’s just plain fun.
 

With a long-term focus on the needs of the players, we strongly believe this will make us a more competitive club. The YDP will help us develop more highly skilled players than our current recreational/competitive soccer approach. The YDP will also generate a larger pool of knowledgeable and skilled players. We will also build a stronger sense of club loyalty. As more of our players and their parents meet each other, we build a spirit of community within our club. In the long run, more of our older players will choose to stay and play for the Rockledge Soccer Club. We also expect the YDP to help more children develop a life-long commitment to athletics.
 

They won’t. Suddenly the focus changes away from a game’s outcome to something that should be much more important to every parent: watching their children participate in athletics and have fun. The YDP format takes away the adult perspective of the importance of whether a team wins or not. Now the focus will be on the development of our youth players and their enjoyment of the game. Parents can now concentrate on something of utmost importance: their relationship with their child.
 

As we enter our first season of the YDP, we know we will encounter growth pains. This is to be expected. The great news is that our club will strive to provide our youth players the best possible experience and we will constantly improve ourselves. As soon as feasible, the Rockledge Soccer Club will expand our YDP to include U9, U10 and U11 players.
 

The fundamental difference between a recreational team and a competition (comp) team is that a comp team is made up of players who have tried out for the comp team and have been selected by the coach. Recreational (rec) teams are put together either randomly from those players who sign up or through a draft process where coaches meet, negotiate and take turns selecting players from the pool of registered players.
 

A comp team exists for an entire year's worth of soccer seasons. A comp team stays together for both the fall season and the spring season. For the Rockledge Soccer Club, this usually includes a 3v3 season played in January and February. After state cup finals are played (usually in late May or early June), a comp team's roster expires and tryouts are held. Players are selected and a new roster is created. This new roster is valid until the next year's state cup finals are completed. Once a player is rostered to a team, they stay with that team through the summer, fall, winter and spring.
 

In a competitive sense, comp soccer is more demanding than rec soccer. There is a greater focus on working hard and challenging each player to reach their fullest soccer potential. The comp team will put in a lot of work building the best team possible given the coach's and player's abilities. This can be a lot of fun. But, the player has to desire a higher level of soccer and thrive in a more demanding training environment.

If your child is interested, go for it! Just remember that soccer must be fun! If your child makes a comp team and finds that the level of work required is no longer fun, get them back to rec soccer as soon as possible. The most important thing is to keep soccer fun for your child.
 

Comp soccer will be more expensive than rec soccer. It starts with more expensive uniforms and possibly a small investment in supplies (i.e. team back packs). Many comp teams hire professional trainers to work with the team. This expense can range from nothing up to about $75 a month per player for those teams that use a great deal of professional training. Ask the team's coach for more information on team trainers. Comp teams will generally play in one (1) to three (3) tournaments per season. To offset these costs, comp teams solicit sponsors for the team. Comp teams will also hold various fundraisers throughout the year.

A comp team will hold more practices than a rec team. Again, the coach is trying to build the very best team that he or she can. Structured, disciplined practices are the norm. Practices will start long before the first fall game. Comp teams may also train together in the summer in soccer camps or just as a team.

There will be more travel for a comp team than a rec team. Comp teams must find a suitable play group where the comp team is competitive. If a comp team is very strong, the team may need to travel even further to find suitable competition. Winning every game is not a good teacher for the players. The players need to win some and lose some. It is important that a challenging play group be found. In general, half of a season's games are played on our home field. In the worst cases, an away game could be up to 2 hours away.