Coaches Corner
Welcome Soccer Coaches!
Thank you for volunteering to coach a team this season. The Broken Arrow Soccer Club leadership hopes this will be one of the best seasons ever. Please read this letter carefully; there are several items of great importance for your coaching expertise!
GENERAL MEMBERSHIP MEETING& COACH SCHEDULE MEETING!
There will be a BASC General Membership Meeting on (See Club Calendar) in the Sequoyah Middle School Cafeteria. All members of the BASC are invited to attend. Please park & enter from the back of the building. Coaches, your "schedule packet" will be available for you to pick up at this time. Coaches or a representative must be present at this meeting. This packet will include your game schedules for the season & a memo from Miek Naumann, BASC Games Commisioner, outlining BASC Policies and guidelines for the conduct of games.
It is imperative that you read & understand this memo before your first game, since you will be held accountable as a coach to uphold its' provisions.
VOLUNTEER DISCLOSURE FORMS
If you have not already filled one out earlier this season, an Oklahoma Soccer Association Volunteer Disclosure Form will be included on the envelope of this packet & MUST be turned in at this meeting. You will not be allowed to receive your roster until you have filled out the form.
TEAM ROSTERS
This form is very important & should not be lost or destroyed. You should carefully complete the unmarked sections at the top of the form (for most this will be only the team name & colors) & insert the players’ jersey numbers in the appropriate column on the form. This will then become your “master” from which you should make copies for use as game forms each week to report game results. If you have not already done do, please phone (258-5770) or email (basc@brokenarrowsoccerclub.org) the BASC office with your team name & colors immediately so the games commissioner will have the information for scheduling. For the under 5 division the club provides a green t-shirt for each player & for the under 6 division orange & white t-shirts for all new players. U 6 coaches only need to call with their team names.
TEAM INFORMATION
All teams have been carefully formed in accordance with BASC & GCSA policies. Many long hours have gone into their preparation & they have been approved the the BASC registrar, BASC Executive Board, & the GCSA Registration Committee. Changes are generally not possible except in cases of extreme error (such as a player being placed in the wrong age or gender division).
*Please make note of this prominent problem:
Remember that any late request (received after the official registration deadline) does not have to be
honored.This includes requests for assistant coaches. The team formation process has already been done & changes are very time-consuming & at times, impossible to make. Even for on-time requests we are only obligated to honor a request not to play for a certain coach & requests for siblings to be on the same team (if space allows).
If you or the parents of players on your team believe mistakes have been made, please have those parents submit their concerns to the attention of Registrar, Diana McGinnis, c/o the BASC office, in writing, as soon as possible. Once the situation has been researched by the registrar to find out why the placement was made, you will be contacted. ALL REQUESTS MUST BE MADE IN WRITING.
CLUB UNIFORMS & UNDER 6 T-SHIRTS
Please get your uniforms ordered for your team members immediately or you will not have them in time for the first game. Teams using the club uniform will need to fill out the enclosed form for Soccer USA immediately & take to Soccer USA for all new players on your team ordering uniforms. Coaches in the under 6 division only will be given
t-shirts for their new players when they are ready, usually at the schedule meeting.
PLAYER PASSES
(Mandatory under 16 & 19 teams only)
All players in the under 16 & 19 age divisions only must have player passes in order to play both league & tournament games. Under 12 & 14 teams will only need them if they plan to attend tournaments. Contact Jane at the BASC office if you will need passes later for your under 12 & 14 teams. Included in your packets for 16 & 19 teams are your player passes for your new players with instructions how to complete them. GCSA & OSA have implemented some new procedures for the passes so be sure & read your player pass instructions very carefully.
LATE REGISTRANTS
It is possible that you may still have players added to your roster in the next few weeks. If this occurs, your new roster & pink form will be mailed to you following GCSA approval.
PLAYER DROPS
Players may not be dropped from a roster without a written request from the player’s parent, &, in the under 12 & above age divisions, the player pass must be returned also. A drop request should be submitted to the BASC office ASAP (our FAX # is 258-5967 & our email is basc@brokenarrowsoccerclub.org) so that we may add a player to your team from the waiting list. The request should include the player’s name, team name (& number where known), & the reason for the drop. If you are unable to obtain such a request in writing, ask the parent to make the written request to the BASC office within 2 days. Check with the office to make sure the parent has followed through. Be persistent as many parents will not do this & will leave you hanging so that we cannot replace their child. In the event this occurs the coach should prepare a written notification to the BASC, citing the reason for the drop. New GCSA rule: If you have a player drop in the U16 & above age divisions you as coach will need to return their player pass to the BASC office before GCSA will process the drop. You will be notified as soon as a replacement has been added to your roster.
REFEREE REPRESENTATIVES
Each recreational team in the BASC should have at least one “referee representative” to the BASC Referee Unit, except in the under 6 division. This is a certified, registered referee who will referee at least one game each week as either a “center” or “linesman” so that we have enough referees to cover your games. If you have someone on your team that would like to be a referee please have them call the BASC Office at 258-5770 to get information or go to the Oklahoma Soccer Association website at www.oksoccer.com. Coaches–if you do not have one–please talk to your team parents & older players about volunteering be a referee. For our club to grow & improve we must increase our referee pool.
BRYAN WEYGAND, GOALKEEPER TRAINER
Coaches, please inform your goalkeepers that Bryan Weygand, BASC Goalkeeper Trainer, will hold training sessions for our recreational team goalies every Wednesday night, starting March 10, from 6pm to 7pm at the Indian Springs Soccer fields. Call 449-8040 option #10 to confirm. Be sure & have your goalkeepers attend!!
COACH E LICENSE CLINIC & MODULES I & II
The Coaches' E license is recommended for all of the BASC registered coaches & assistants, but required for the under 12 & above coaches. Check the website www.oksoccer.com for clinics available in the Tulsa area. Cost is $65 & you must register online to attend.
Broken Arrow Soccer Club offers the Coaching Modules at various times during the year, please check the Club Calender for dates and times.
The modules are for those coaching, assisting or interested parents who wish to learn how to teach certain age divsions. Module one is for under 5, 6, 7 & 8 coaches & parents & module two is for 9, & 10 age coaches. Cost for the modules is $25 each. They are available to our BASC coaches & parents & you will need to pre-register by going online at www.oksoccer.com. You may attend both as the material being taught will be different.
If you attend these clinics you must go online to www.oksoccer.com and print either the E license, module manual 1 or 2 ; booklets for you to use during each session. On the website go to the coach page, then to coaching forms on the left, then to the bottom of the "coaching forms" page you will find the manual section & click on the manual you wish to print. They are lengthy so have plenty of paper in your printer. The BASC does not provide the manual & it is mandatory that you bring them to each of the sessions you attend.
PRACTICES
The BASC under 6 age division is allowed to practice once a week for an hour & play their regularly scheduled games. The following excerpt from the GCSA Bylaws explains to coaches their limitations when it comes to practice time in all other age divisions: page 14; section "IV. COACHES; b. Responsiblities & duties; 5., & 6., & &: 5. All team meetings shall be considered team activities. This includes games, scrimmages, & instructional meetings in which seven (7) or more players from the same team participate under the supervision of a coach or adult. 6. Recreational team activities shall be limited to three (3) during any calendar week except in the U16 & U19 age divisions. The calendar week shall begin on Saturday. 7. No recreational meeting shall exceeed 90 minutes in duration."
PRACTICE FIELDS
If you do not have a practice field assignment yet-- following this meeting Alvin Tupas will be available to give you a field or you may call him at 455-5176. Coaches-Please take responsibility for cleaning up your practice fields. Many of them have trash, etc. on them & they need to be picked up to prepare for your teams' practices. You don't want a player spraining an ankle on debris on the fields. Also, owners appreciate it if you keep their property clean. Please take your field trash with you after cleaning up your fields.
WORK DAY AT THE INDIAN SPRINGS SOCCER FIELDS
Field work day at the Indian Spring Soccer Complex to prepare for the season. Coaches should assign one volunteer from each team to represent their team at this event, & tell them to report to the east side equipment shed in order to be assigned tasks.
UNDER 10 & OLDER AGE DIVISION GOALIE BOXES
The BASC is limiting pre game warm ups to areas outside the 18-yard line (goalie box) on each field before games in order to preserve newly repaired goalie boxes. We would appreciate your cooperation with this very important request as it will help keep the goal areas in better condition. (No warm ups inside the Goalie Box).
GENERAL RESPONSIBILITIES
As a coach it is your responsibility to be familiar with the GCSA & BASC by-laws & Standing Resolutions & the FIFA Laws of the game (or modified rules for Under 5 through 12 teams). Updated copies of the BASC bylaws, and the GCSA by-laws are available online at www.brokenarrowsoccerclub.org. These documents provide specific guidance as to the conduct of games & your responsibilities as a coach. Ignorance of the rules is no excuse.
IF YOU HAVE ANY QUESTIONS REGARDING CLUB POLICIES, LAWS OF THE GAME OR YOUR RESPONSIBILITIES AS A COACH PLEASE CONTACT THE BASC OFFICE AT 258-5770 & A BOARD MEMBER WILL BE GLAD TO RETURN YOUR CALL & ASSIST IN ANY MANNER POSSIBLE.
"Remember the Game is for the Kids!"