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About our Club » Responsibilities
PLAYERS Soccer is a team sport and teamwork is essential to a good team. To build good team skills, the players should be active participants in all practices. A part-time practice participant will not learn the plays and the teamwork being taught. This is unfair to the player and his or her teammates. Therefore, those players selected to a team are expected to participate in all practices and in all scheduled league games. Our families are asked to schedule vacations and camps around the travel soccer season. Team members may also be expected to periodically participate in some fundraising activities. PARENTS Parental participation is an important part of the club's success. The following are examples of the types of participation that all parents should be willing to commit to: - See that your child fulfills his/her responsibilities to the team. Provide assistance in fund raising for special events; share driving to and from practices and games.
- Provide assistance and coordination in bringing water, oranges, etc. to games, help with out of town travel plans and implementation, and assist in the installation of nets for home games.
- Treat officials with respect and as guests of our club. Negative actions or remarks are inappropriate and encourage players to do the same.
- Show respect for the coach and manager of a team. Open criticism is in poor taste. Should a problem develop, adults are expected to find an appropriate time and place to advise the coach/manager of their concern. The Mustangs provide many avenues of appeal, including coaches, managers, board members, staff, and the Board of Directors, by which any Mustang player or parent can pursue an issue.
PLAYING MULTIPLE SPORTS The Pittsford Mustangs Soccer Club Board of Directors, the Directors of the Pittsford Little League, and the Vince Lombardi football organizations are aware of the issues faced by parents when their child wants to play more than one sport which overlap in a given season. The following information is provided to assist parents in their consideration of these issues and present guidelines rather than rules. It also reflects the collective thoughts of the Mustang's organization. We have found that there are so many variables that it is unlikely one answer will fit each situation. We encourage, therefore, open discussion among parents, children and coaches. Generally, baseball tryouts (major league) begin in March with practices starting in late April and with league games starting the first week in May continuing through June. Travel soccer usually has tryouts beginning in the fall with indoor practice and games during January and February, and with outside practices beginning in late April. League games begin in late May and generally end by the first week of August. Tournaments are normally scheduled over the Memorial Day weekend, the July Fourth weekend, and other weekends throughout the summer. Teams individually decide upon which tournaments to enter, so schedules and calendar "demand" will vary by team. Football begins in early August and ends in November. It is not our intent to force a youngster to "chose" or specialize in any one sport at age 10 or 12. However, they should be aware of the commitment involved in playing in the "major leagues" or on "traveling teams". Parents and coaches should work together to minimize any pressure on children at this age. Parents should advise coaches as soon as a schedule conflict becomes evident. Advance notice allows more flexibility for all parties to consider alternatives. As our players mature, roster positions on our travel teams become increasingly selective, and it is not unusual to find players in older age groups becoming increasingly specialized or focused on a "priority" sport.
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