What's next?

• LA Galaxy has a giveaway ... at the end of this email
• Game schedule? Field availability changed suddenly, forcing a replan of the whole season. Volunteers are working on it and will let you know as soon as it's ready.
• Teams ordinarily practicing at McKinley will move to Blair Upper. Check with your coach for details.
• Sunday Soccer will be from 3:30 pm - 5 pm, for Skills Clinic, Goalkeeper Academy, and small-sided pickup games. Sign your child in when you arrive.

Usual reminders

• Team Hub ayso13.org/team with schedules and standings
• Personalized family dashboard, ayso13.org/dashboard
• Teams playing at 8 am or 8:30 am at Victory Park send 2 parents at 7 am to help set up. Sign up here.
• Teams playing the first game at other fields, send an advance squad to set up. Sign up here.
  
• Start hydrating yesterday.
  
• Dogs stay home.
  
• No earrings allowed, not even covered. Wait until after the soccer season to get your ears pierced.
  

Quiz!

1. If the goalkeeper catches the ball and then puts it on the ground, does the game start, and may other players kick the ball?

2. The ball was blocked by the goalkeeper, but while in the goalkeeper’s possession, went partly over the line, into the goal. If the ball is touching and on the goal line (ie not completely over it), should that count as a goal?

3. Are goalkeepers allowed to bounce the ball like a basketball before they kick or throw it?

[Answers at the end]

What's NEXT?

The Region 13 NEXT program kicks off for 10U–14U players this Sunday, September 22. Open to all players, NEXT is an opportunity for enthusiastic players to get together for fun and competitive scrimmages.

If you haven’t already signed up for NEXT, go to your inLeague Family Profile, click “Update Registration” next to your player’s name, and check the “NEXT – additional games for enthusiastic players” box.

RSVP for upcoming Sunday Scrimmages through the Spond groups below, or contact your division coordinator for more info:

SCHEDULE:

B10U: 9:30–10:45am
Luke Powers | Join Spond

G10U: 10:15–11:30am
David Bailey | Join Spond

G12U: 11:00am–12:15pm
Ben Hernandez-Stern | Join Spond

G14U: 11:45am–1:00pm
Adam Wierman | Join Spond

B12U: 12:30–1:45pm
Adam Wierman | Join Spond

B14U: 1:15–2:30pm
Bret Nicely | Join Spond

LOCATION: 
McKinley Middle School
325 S. Oak Knoll Ave., Pasadena CA 91101

Questions? Contact bret@ayso13.org

Picture of the week

The Hawkey family came to Victory Park at 7am, with shovels, to help park staff fill in gopher holes. Thank you to everyone who helped set up this week!

Reply with your best soccer pics for next week's newsletter.

Upcoming

See more by subscribing to the Region 13 calendar. The board meeting is usually the first Thursday of each month.

Goalkeeper Appreciation Week

Goalkeeping is a peculiar specialization in sport, requiring athleticism, coordination, and courage. Bring your keeper to Goalkeeper Academy this week at Sunday Soccer Skills Clinics, 3:30 on Sunday at McKinley.

Parents

• It's normal for a goalkeeper to freeze up and panic, the first few times they play goalkeeper in a competitive match. Encourage goalkeepers so they'll keep trying over the season.
• Who likes to have their failures pointed out to them? Yeah, me neither. The ride home is not a teachable moment.
• Set your coaches up for success, and let theirs be the only voices telling the kids what to do during games. Or, even better, give the players space to talk to each other.
• Earrings must be removed. It really, really hurts to get a spike jabbed into the soft spot behind your ear, so the Laws Of The Game say jewelry of any kind must be removed before you can play soccer. Watches and wristbands also must come off. Taping over is not acceptable. Medical-alert bracelets are the only exception, which should be taped down so they're not a snagging hazard.

Coaches

• The first two weeks are introductions. Week 3 is when the iterative training really begins, now that we all start to understand what to expect. The players come with a wide range of abilities. The teams that finish the season strongest are the ones that patiently develop all the players.
• Mastery is about knowing how to adapt to changing circumstances, like the ball spinning, or bouncing funny. So what's better than repetition? Variation! An easy way to induce variability is through small-group games, where the bumpy ground and other kids provide surprises.
• If someone is injured at a game, please report it at ayso13.org/safety. If you want to give feedback on a coach or referee, please share it at ayso13.org/feedback/
• 6U-8U, if one team is continually scoring, swap a few players (i.e., scoring team lends skilled players to the other team) to keep it interesting.
• In 10U-14U, cap the goal differential at 6. If the game is too lopsided, you can end the game, swap kids around, and play a scrimmage with the remaining time (and without referees).
• Ohio State University is known for competitive sports, right? So what do they expect their coaches to teach? Social-emotional skills! Watch OSU's Coach Beyond seminars.

Referees

• Thanks for using the QR code on the back of the game cards to transmit the results!
• Remember to confirm your assignments in inLeague by noon on Thursdays. After then, assignments are up for grabs.
• If you want to give feedback on a coach or referee, please share it at ayso13.org/feedback/.

👉 Join the Region 13 Slack

Fuel

Order pizza through ayso13.org/pizza to pick up at Green St & Madison Ave in Pasadena, and a portion of each sale is donated to Region 13. 

There will be a Shake Shack fundraiser on Sep 30. Show this email, mention Donation Day when you order, or use DONATECHICKEN in the app.

Quiz answers

1. Play does not actually stop when the goalkeeper holds the ball--but opponents are not allowed to challenge the goalkeeper for the ball while the goalkeeper has the ball in his or her hands. (And in 10U, opponents must go beyond the build out line.) Since the ball is in play, as soon as the goalkeeper puts the ball on the ground, any player is free to try to play the ball.

2. For a goal to score (and indeed any time the ball leaves play), the whole ball must cross over the whole line. That is true whether the ball is in the air or on the ground – the line shoots straight up. On close plays, one has to be very close to the goal line to know for sure whether the whole ball crossed the whole line, or whether than last smidgen of the ball is hanging over a smidgen of the line. Assistant Referees should be trying very hard to be standing on the goal line when these events arise so they can make the close call. One trick that Assistant Referees use is to see the goal posts, which should have their back edges on the back portion of the goal line. If the Assistant Referee is on the goal line so that the goal posts line up, she can tell if the whole ball crossed the whole line by seeing if the ball passes the post.

3. Yes. Law 12 says that a goalkeeper is considered to be in control of the ball “while in the act of bouncing it on the ground or tossing in into the air.”

Ask your questions, and get answers, at Ask The Referee.

Volunteer opportunities

Thanks to Kellie for coordinating practice fields, and Kristy for managing uniforms and equipment. Kellie and Kristy are stilling down after this season. 

Open board positions: Auditor, Secretary, Practice field coordinator, Uniform coordinator. Reply if interested!

You made it to the end!

Enter to win 4 VIP tickets, including free parking, for the LA Galaxy game on October 5.

Tickets are still available for the Sep 21 Galaxy game through ayso13.org/tickets. Only $25 each.

Eat at Shake Shack in Pasadena on Sep 30, and 25% of sales are donated to Region 13. Say DONATECHICKEN when ordering or use the app to order ahead.

You are receiving this message because of your involvement with AYSO Region 13, 711 W. Woodbury Rd., Unit E, Altadena, CA 91001, USA

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