Tryout Registration and Dates
PLEASE READ BELOW FOR OUR TRYOUT COMMITMENT LETTER PRIOR TO REGISTERING FOR THE TRYOUTS. Thank you.
The Scarsdale Youth Soccer Club (SYSC) will be holding tryouts for Under 10 (U-10) years old through Under 14 (U-14) years old travel teams for play in the Fall 2008 and Spring 2009. All children are eligible to try out for a team as follows:
U-10 Teams – children born after July 31, 1998 (4th graders in Sept 2008)
U-11 Teams – children born after July 31, 1997 (5th graders in Sept 2008)
U-12 Teams – children born after July 31, 1996 (6th graders in Sept 2008)
U-13 Teams – children born after July 31, 1995 (7th graders in Sept 2008)
U-14 Teams – children born after July 31, 1994 (8th graders in Sept 2008)
The tryouts are scheduled to be held as follows (players are expected to attend ALL tryout dates, however, if conflicts are unavoidable, contact your coach.):
- U-10 Girls (COMPLETED): Saturdays, May 17, May 31 and June 14, 9:30 – 11:30 am at Scout Field.
- U-10 Boys (COMPLETED): Saturdays, May 17, May 31 and June 7, 8:00 – 10:00 am at Quaker Ridge Back.
- U-11 Girls: Saturday, June 21, 3:30 – 5:30 pm at Scarsdale Middle School Field. Please contact your coach for additional tryout information.
- U-11 Boys (COMPLETED): Saturdays, May 17 and May 31, 5:30 – 7:30 pm at Scarsdale Middle School Field.
- U-12 Girls: Saturday, June 21, 3:30 – 5:30 pm at Scarsdale Middle School Field. Please contact your coach for additional tryout information.
- U-12 Boys(COMPLETED): Saturdays, May 17 and May 31, 5:30 – 7:30 pm at Scarsdale Middle School Field.
- U-13 Girls (COMPLETED): Thursday, May 29, 3:30 – 5:30 pm at Scout Field.
- U-13 Boys (COMPLETED): Friday, May 30, 3:30 – 5:30 pm at Quaker Ridge Front Intermediate.
- U-14 Girls (COMPLETED): Thursday, May 29, 3:30 – 5:30 pm at Scout Field.
U-14 Boys (COMPLETED): Saturday, June 7, 2008 at 8:00 AM at Scout Field.
Travel Soccer Commitment Letter
Travel Soccer Commitment Letter
The Scarsdale Youth Soccer Club is holding tryouts for our 4th through 8th grade travel soccer teams. More information on our teams and policies is available at our website: www.scarsdalesoccer.org . This document is a summary of the commitments that will be required of your child and family as part of a travel team. As you think about whether travel soccer is right for your family, you should consider two key factors:
(1) your child should like to play soccer as a competitive sport and
(2) your family should be prepared to make the required commitments.
OUR PROGRAM
The Scarsdale Youth Soccer Club’s (SYSC) travel soccer program begins in 3rd grade and runs through High School. Third grade teams are organized by neighborhood and do not require a tryout. Tryouts are required for 4th through 8th grade teams. Every 4th and 5th grade child that attends the tryouts and agrees to make the commitment will be invited to play on a team.
Starting in the 6th grade, the ability of travel teams to accommodate all children who want to play is dependent on 1) the numbers of children who register for the tryouts and have previously demonstrated their commitments to the program and their teams, 2) the optimal number of players on a team and 3) the maximum number of players allowed on a team, as defined by our league, the Westchester Youth Soccer League (WYSL).
TRYOUTS
Attendance at tryouts is mandatory for inclusion on one of our travel soccer teams. The schedule for tryouts is available on our website at www.scarsdalesoccer.org/tryouts.htm. You should look at the schedule based on your child's grade IN SEPTEMBER. It is expected that your child will attend all tryouts. Conflicts for existing players that would require a player to miss a tryout should be discussed in advance with your coach. Conflicts with the tryout schedule for new players should be addressed to the registrar at registrar@scarsdalesoccer.org . As well, any tryout date conflicts should be noted in the comments when you register your child for the tryouts.
Even if you are sure that your child will be on a balanced team ("C" level team), please have your child attend the tryouts so that the "C" level teams can remain balanced.
The final number of teams that will be fielded for 2008-09 will be determined by the number of children who attend the tryouts.
For U10 travel teams (4th graders) and older, the travel soccer program represents a one-year commitment that runs concurrent with the academic calendar. Players are placed on a team through a process that includes independently evaluated tryouts, an evaluation of skills and abilities
A player commits to a team from July 1st through June 30th. The team and the club also commit to the player for that same time period. Your child will not be cut from his/her team for the full year if the child maintains the level of commitment, and if the age group continues to field sufficient players (if players from the age group drop out, it might cause a team to have too few players to continue).
TIME COMMITMENT
Every family that is interested in participating on an SYSC travel team must have a basic understanding of the commitment involved before having your child tryout for a team.
Typical game expectations are as follows:
- The fall season has 9 or 10 games plus the possibility of a Labor Day and/or Columbus Day tournament. This is followed by …
- A winter season of indoor practices, scrimmages, leagues and/or tournaments, depending upon the team, and then …
- A spring season of 9 or 10 games plus the possibility of a Memorial Day tournament.
All players should expect to participate in tournaments. Participation in tournaments is determined by individual teams. "A" teams typically participate in more tournaments because tournaments present an excellent opportunity for the players to get additional playing time. Participation in tournaments requires time and planning on the part of the coaches
During the fall and spring seasons your child is expected to participate in the 9 or 10 games on Sundays each season. Half of the games are located outside of
Additionally, during the fall and spring seasons, there are two required 1½-hour weekly practices scheduled at specific times Monday through Saturday. Practices are conducted either by your parent coach or by a skills coach provided by our professional training staff. These practices are conveniently located on a
Travel soccer players in elementary school are required by the Parks and Recreation Committee to also participate in the Village Recreational Soccer program that is conducted in the fall.
All travel teams require the above commitments to attendance and participation at practices and games for the year from July through June.
Please think carefully about these time commitments before you have your child try out for a team. Anything less than an attitude of full commitment is not fair to the rest of your team. The SYSC schedules travel soccer events (practices and games) to avoid conflict with Village Recreation Department programs whenever possible. These programs include soccer and football games in the fall; basketball games in the winter; and softball, lacrosse, tennis and Little League baseball games/matches in the spring. However, there are other travel programs which
If travel soccer is not for you, the fall soccer league run by the Village Recreation Department is another quality program available to you. As a matter of both village and club policy, all elementary school travel soccer players are required to participate in this SEPARATE program. This program allows your children to learn the basic skills of soccer and have fun playing with their neighborhood friends without the time commitments required by the travel soccer program.
If your family chooses to participate in the travel soccer program, and we hope that you do, please understand the time commitment involved and the responsibility that you have to the other players on your team and to all the volunteers (board members, coaches, helpers) who are trying to manage a program for over 700 Scarsdale children. Moving players around during the year when children drop out of the program requires an enormous effort on behalf of your team, other teams in your grade, the administrative staff of the SYSC, and the administrators at the WYSL.
Your child’s prior demonstrated commitment to our program will be taken into account during team selection. Because soccer is a team sport, it is not enough to be a good player; your child must be a good teammate.
PLAYING TIME CONSIDERATIONS
SYSC has documented playing time standards to assist our coaches in managing the expectations of both players and families on each team. These guidelines can be accessed at www.scarsdalesoccer.org , click on “For Parents”, click on “Club Policies”.
FINANCIAL COMMITMENT
Each child that wishes to play soccer on a travel team must register online. There is a $50 deposit fee when registering for the tryouts. This $50 fee is refundable until the tryouts have been completed. When your child is assigned to a team in June, the club will collect additional fees to pay for the yearlong registration for your child in the league, plus fall, winter and spring operating expenses for each team. These fees will be provided to your coach to cover expected team expenses for the entire year. Your coaches may continue to collect additional funds to pay for team-specific expenses.
Once your child has been placed on a team and you have paid the fee, the fee is not refundable.
Please note that fees for inclusion on an “A” team are higher than the fees for the “B” team or “C” teams.
Any family with a financial hardship should write to our president at president@scarsdalesoccer.org . All such communication is confidential. No child is denied the opportunity to play due to financial constraints.
THIRD GRADE SOCCER
Everything written above also applies to the U09 (3rd grade) travel soccer players except that:
- the “commitment” is only for one season at a time as opposed to the entire academic year,
- there are no required practices in the Fall,
- in the spring, the expectation is that players will attend the coach-led practices ,which are usually (but not always) on Saturdays (the clinic practices are optional).
- there is no winter participation requirement.
Travel Soccer Registration
The $50 fee is a deposit for the registration fees, which will be due once the teams are assigned. The $50 fee is refundable up until the day before the travel team assignments are announced.
You will register for the tryouts using the our online registration system.
If you have EVER registered your child for ANY SYSC activity (spring break camp, microsoccer, travel soccer), or if your child is CURRENTLY PLAYING TRAVEL SOCCER you WILL already have an account.
Please use your existing account!.
If you cannot log into your existing account PLEASE EMAIL OUR REGISTRAR at registrar@scarsdalesoccer.org and we will fix EVERYTHING FOR YOU. Creating a new account causes headaches both at the club level and the league level and takes some time to fix.
CLICK HERE to AGREE THAT YOU HAVE READ THE COMMITMENT LETTER AND WANT TO REGISTER FOR THE TRYOUTS.
After you have registered online, you MUST PROVIDE PAPER DOCUMENTATION
You MUST complete the following documentation BEFORE your child can come to tryouts. Your child's registration is not complete until we receive all of the following.
- MEDICAL RELEASE: Print and fill out the medical release form (does NOT require any doctor signature). : DO NOT NOTARIZE THIS FORM. DO NOT FILL IN YOUR CHILD's SOCIAL SECURITY NUMBER.
- ONE (headshot) picture of the player. Write the name of the child and the child's age group (e.g., U10) on the back of the photo.
- BIRTH CERTIFICATE OR PASSPORT COPY. If this is your child's first time playing for an SYSC travel team, we need a copy of the child's birth certificate or passport.
All of this documentation must be sent IMMEDIATELY to:
JULIA SONING
402 Mamaroneck Road
Scarsdale, NY 10583
Tryout Organization and Formation
The Club's Guidelines for the Placement of Players and Selection of Coaches sets forth the basis for the evaluation procedure and placement process. As set forth in such Guidelines, the placement of players for teams is based on a number of factors, which include (in alphabetical order) aggressiveness, agility, athletic ability, attendance record, attitude, ball handling, "coachability," commitment, field sense, hustle, physical maturity, skill, speed, sportsmanship and teamwork. Click here for Day 1 Tryout drills.
SYSC evaluations are open to all children living or attending school in Scarsdale, including IHM in the appropriate age division, and are publicized in the Scarsdale Inquirer and on this website.
The WYSL conforms to the age categories established by the United States Soccer Federation, which are as follows for the 2008-09 school year:
U15 - 8/1/93 – 7/31/94
U14 - 8/1/94 – 7/31/95
U13 - 8/1/95 – 7/31/96
U12 - 8/1/96 – 7/31/97
U11 - 8/1/97 – 7/31/98
U10 - 8/1/98 – 7/31/99
Because the Club's teams are selected from the Scarsdale Recreation League, Scarsdale children are accustomed to playing by grade rather than by conforming to the national standards. Virtually every other club in Westchester has made the change in their team selection policy to the August 1 to July 31 "soccer year", and as a result Scarsdale's teams are younger than, and at a competitive disadvantage to, our opponents.
For more information about U10 Evaluations, see the letter to parents and the Day 1 Tryout drills .
Children are eligible to tryout for the SYSC teams if they reside in Scarsdale, go to school in Scarsdale (including IHM) or have previously played on a SYSC team.
During the past several years some middle school aged SYSC teams have disbanded or forfeited their remaining games due to a shortage of Scarsdale children at this age level who were committed to travel soccer, leaving Scarsdale children who wanted to continue playing without that opportunity. A number of these teams have added non-resident players in order to remain competitive and this has kept other Scarsdale teams viable.
