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Q: Who do I contact if my questions are not answered here? A: Contact the age group commissioner for your child's age group from the list on the left margin under "Board & Office" Q. What equipment do I need? A: Every player needs their own ball, soccer-cleats or turf shoes (no baseball cleats!), shin guards, soccer socks, soccer shorts, and a water bottle. T&C will provide a uniform shirt for each player. Q: Where are the games? A: All of the Recreational games are held at the Town and country fields. See maps at: http://www.tandcsports.org/MAP Q: When are the games played? A: Games are scheduled on Saturdays and/or Sundays. Saturday games start between 8am and 5pm. Sunday games start between 1pm and 5pm. Q: Do I have to volunteer? A: Yes volunteerism is required in order to make the program successful. Q: What does U-xx mean? A: "U" stands for "Under". For example, A U8 player is a player who is Under 8 years old at the beginning of the Fall season. The player may turn 8 at any point after the beginning of the season and still be a U8 player until the beginning of the next Fall season. There are many Spring Season U8 players who are already 8 years old. See the Age Group Chart under "DOCUMENTS" in the selections listed in the left margin. Q: Do I have to try-out for a team? A: There are no try-outs for Recreational soccer. When you register, the age-group commissioner will place you on a team based on the guidelines described below. Q: How big are the fields? A: U4-U5 play on 20x30 yard fields. U7-U8 play on 25x35 yard fields. U9-U10 play on 50x70 yard fields. Q: How often and where do we practice? A: Practices are scheduled and managed by the volunteer coaches. Most U4-U5 teams do not practice during the week. U6-U7 teams often practice once a week. U8-U10 teams often practice twice a week. Practice locations are determined by the coaches and are usually at local schools or parks, in order to keep our fields in tip top shape practices are limited at the T&C Youth Sports Complex.. Q: What size ball do we use? A: U4-U8 use a size 3 ball. U9-U10 use a size 4 ball. Q: How long are the games in U4, U5, U6? A: U4-U6 Games are 4 quarters of 8 minutes with 2 min breaks between quarters and a 5-min break at half. Including warm-up and post-game snacks, it is about an hour from start to finish. Q: How long are the games in U7, U8? A: U7-U8 games are 4 quarters of 12 minutes with 2-min breaks between quarters and a 5-min break at half. Including referee check-ins and post-game snacks, it is about an hour and 15min from start to finish. Q: How long are the games in U9, U10? A: U9-U10 games are 2 halves of 25 minutes with a 5-min break at half. Including referee check-ins and post-game snacks, it is about an hour and 15min from start to finish. Q: Can I play up into an older age bracket? A: Yes, an experienced or particularly talented player may choose to play up one age group. Under very exceptional circumstances, and only with commissioner approval, a player may play up two age groups. Q: Can I play down into a younger age bracket? A: No, regardless of how inexperienced the player is, s/he may NOT play down into a younger age bracket. Q: How many people are on a team? A: Each age group has a different system of play and as such there are different team sizes
Q: Do we get a uniform? A: Each season, each team gets a uniform shirt. In the fall the U7-U10 teams get a kit that includes shorts and socks. Q: Do we get pictures? A: In the Fall season, there is a picture day and everyone gets one print. You can purchase larger packages of photos at that time. Q: Do we get trophies/medals? A: Yes, all U4-U10 teams, both Recreational and Academy get medals at the end of each season. Many teams also decide to separately purchase trophies for their players. There are no championship or placement recognitions in the Recreational league. Q: I'm a new coach, where can I find help? A: There are lots of references that can be found for free on the web. Your age group commissioner is your first point of contact for questions. T&C also maintains a library of videos and books that can be checked out at the main club-house by field 2. Q: I'm scheduled to volunteer this weekend, where do I go? A: Show up for duty early at the referee room next to the concession stand in the middle of the 20 fields, http://www.tandcsports.org/MAP Q: Why do we play some teams twice and not others? A: Some age groups have more teams than can be scheduled together as one group. In this situation, the age-group commissioner breaks the teams into two or more brackets and teams only play other teams in the same bracket. This also allows an opportunity to group teams by strength based on their previous season's performance and try to provide more even competition within each bracket. Q: Do we keep scores/standings? A: In U4-U6 no score is kept. In U7-U10 scores are kept by the referees and the winning coach will sign the game card which the referee submits. The Winning coach should also email the final score to the age-group commissioner. There are no official standings kept in the Recreational league. The scores are used by the commissioners to monitor the match-ups and form better matched brackets the following season. Q: What is "small sided"? A: Small Sided Soccer is played with fewer players competing on a smaller sized field. These are fun games that involve the players more because fewer players are sharing one ball. Read more about small sided soccer at: http://www.usyouthsoccer.org/parents/lawsofthegame.asp Q: How are teams formed? A: We build teams by first trying to keep together teams from the previous season, then by honoring "buddy requests", and then by grouping by school and zip code. Q: Can I stay with my team from last season? A: Yes, we try to keep returning teams together and you can list your previous team's name and coach in the registration process and, if the coach returns the following season, the age-group commissioner will try to honor requests to return to the same team/coach. Q: Can I keep my coach from last season? A: Yes, we try to keep returning teams together and you can list your previous team's name and coach in the registration process and, if the coach returns the following season, the age-group commissioner will try to honor requests to return to the same team/coach. Q: Can I play on my friend’s team? A: You can enter a "buddy request" when you register and the age-group commissioner will try to honor it when creating the teams. Buddy requests work best when both players request each other. It is often not possible to honor buddy requests when a dozen players make a chain of requests with each child requesting someone different. Q: Can you put me on a team that practices on Thursday? A: Town and Country does not manage the team practices and so there is no way for the age-group commissioner to know when or where any particular team will be able to practice. If you have restrictions on your schedule, let your coach know right away so they can take it into consideration when they reserve a practice field. You can also volunteer to coach a team and then YOU get to be in control of the practice schedules. Q: Late registration is over, can I still get on a team? A: Once regular registration ends, the team counts are finalized and late registrants are placed on teams only as space is available. Once late registration ends, you need to contact the appropriate age-group commissioner to find out if there are any teams with space remaining. If so, you can be manually registered and added to the team. Q: If everyone's a volunteer why does it cost so much? A: Even though all the coaches, commissioners, and directors are 100% volunteer, there are still many fees and expenses that your fees cover. Maintaining the property and the associated utilities are the greatest expenses. There are also fees for rostering with CAYSA/US-Club soccer, insurance, uniforms, and referees. Q: How old do you have to be to be a referee? A: 12 years old. Contact the referee director or assigners for more information. Q: Where do I go to register? A: You register at the following URL: http://www.tandcsports.org Q: Can I train in the development league and be on a Recreational team? A: No, development league players scrimmage against themselves on weekends and are not placed on Recreational teams. Q: How does Town and Country notify me about my team and schedule? A: All first-level communication is done by email. With just a handful of volunteers and thousands of players/parents, email is the only way to feasibly broadcast out information. Please make sure you register with an email address that you will check regularly. Once you have been assigned to a team, your coach may email or phone you about practices and other information. You can also check the web site directly to get game schedules and check on the rain-out status of the fields. Q: How fast can our team make their kick in? A: The team kicking in can take their kick in as quickly as they want. There is no requirement that they wait for the other team. Many teams practice quick "set plays" for kick-ins specifically to take advantage of their opponent being out of position. If something else is going on that requires the game to be paused, the ref should halt the play directly and then blow the whistle to resume play. However, normally, the team with possession just places the ball and takes the kick whenever they're ready. Q: When can we substitute? Are the rules enforced for the little kids? A: There are firm rules on substitutions for U7 and up, but you can discuss with the ref and other coach if you need to make them more lenient. Officially, you can only sub on a goal kick, a mid-field kickoff (after a goal is scored), or when it's your possession on a kick in. You cannot make a substitution during the other team's kick-in, or on penalty kicks, or on corner kicks. In order to sub, you should have your players standing on the sideline ready to go in, then when you can make the substitution, get the ref's attention (usually by yelling "sub!") and wait for him to wave the players on to the field. Usually, you can ask before the game if it's ok with the ref and the other coach to sub on any kick-in instead of only your own. In any case, if play resumes before you get the refs attention for the sub, then you have to wait for the next chance. Q: Why do some referees call the game differently? A: The refs have considerable discretion on how to run the game. As a coach, it is important to meet with the referee's briefly before the game and introduce yourself and get clarification on how they plan to call the game. If you have any specific preferences you can make them known then. Some of the things that can be variable from game to game are how rigidly they enforce substitution rules, whether they're going to end quarters exactly at 12-min, or let the play conclude and call the quarter at a dead ball, whether they do a new kick-off to start the 2nd and 4th quarters or bring the ball back into play where it was when the 1st/3rd quarters end, whether they're going to call every foul immediately or allow for "advantage" and let play continue for a bit to see if the foul actually affects the team controlling the ball. Q: How do I reschedule my game? A: Reschedule process -- Refer to the "SCHEDULES"section listed in the left margin. Q: I've never coached before, can I be a coach? A: Yes, anyone can volunteer to coach a Recreational team. Obviously it helps if you're familiar with the rules and how the game is played, but many of the responsibilities of a Recreational coach are administrative in nature. Often two or three parents will work together with one being the "team manager" who handles all the communication with the parents and league, and other(s) helping run practices. Anyone who is a coach or assistant coach must go through the Kid-Safe background check and keep their Kid-Safe card with them during games and practices. Q: What is Town & Country Optimist Club and how are they involved with the Soccer program? A: Town & Country is 30 YEARS...90+ ACRES...11 SPORTS...and 8,500 CHILDREN For thirty years T&C has offered Northwest Austin families and their kids a great place to enjoy youth sports. During those years, foresighted members acquired a total of ninety-six acres of land that is now the T&C Sports Complex. The complex provides youth sports facilities and the complex is owned, managed, and maintained by the Town & Country Optimist Club. Today T&C offers eleven different sports for kids. Baseball, Basketball, Cricket, Football-Flag, Football-Tackle, Lacrosse, Miracle League Baseball (for special-needs children), Soccer, Softball, and Volleyball. Q: What is the "Academy" program? Go into very detailed answer A: Details of the Academy program are available by referring to the 'ACADEMY' section listed in the left margin. Q: Who is the Lonestar Soccer Club and how are they involved with T&C Soccer? A: Lonestar Soccer Club is the sole provider of Select soccer programs at Town & Country Q: What is the difference between DIV, DIII, and DII, levels of soccer? A: DIV stands for 'Division 4', DIII stands for 'Division 3', etc., each of those categories defines a an age group and level of play.
Q: What is the refund policy at T&C? A: There are no refunds after the start of the sason, any refund before the start of the season will be minus any administratve costs associated with the registration processes. Q: What happens if I as a parent have issues with my child's coach? A: Contact the age group commissioner Q: What is the required playing time for each player? A: Recreational soccer has a 50% per game play rule, whereby all kids are givn the opportunity to play 50% of the game. In some instances, this may be modified per the coaches discretion for player behavioral or attitude problems. Q: Does my child have to go to practice to play? A: It is not necessary that your child practice to ensure his alloted playing time.
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