PSC Club Policies

Policy on Playing Up / Playing Down in Class IV, U8 and U6

Players are generally expected to play within their own age group. The California Youth Soccer Association (CYSA) establishes age groups based on birth date, and our registration page contains a description of age groups broken down by birth date. Players will be permitted to play Class 4 (Recreational), U8 or U6 soccer outside of their age group only under the limited circumstances set forth below.

A request to play up in age groups will be granted only with the prior approval of both the Age Group Coordinator of the “correct” age group and the Age Group Coordinator of the age group that the player is looking to play into.

As a general matter, any request to play down in age groups will be denied. Play down requests will only be considered in the case of a bona fide medical or physical condition that is supported by a doctor's note, subject to confirmation by CYSA and/or any other governing body that the play down request is permitted under all applicable rules and policies.

Policy on Playing Up Class III

The Class 3 program for the Piedmont Soccer Club is in the middle of a multi-year transition to age-pure teams. To continue the success of this transition, we believe it is the correct time to define our policy on playing up requests.

We believe the best soccer experience for the vast majority of players is to play with peers of their own age group. (See our website for the range of birth dates that bound each age group.)

Playing up is a request from a player who is younger than the defined age to play on a team.

Playing up requests will be considered for players for two reasons:

1. For players to play with their school classmates when their grade in school is not aligned with the age group cutoff dates for soccer
2. Exceptional players who are sufficiently advanced so that they will not find sufficient challenge playing with their own age group.

Playing up is a major decision that affects an individual player’s soccer career as well as the long term makeup of the team. A player playing up may face too great a challenge because they will be competing against players who are one to two years more advanced in age, development, and maturity and who are likely to be larger, faster, and more aggressive. We encourage all play up requests to be made with the coming season as well as the player’s long term soccer success in mind

For players who are requesting to play up (resulting in a change of teams), the following guidelines have been adopted by PSC:

1. To be selected to play up as an “exceptional” player, a player must evaluate at the tryouts in the top half of the upper age group. For example, a U12 age player who tries out for the U13 team must evaluate as one of the top 8 players at the U13 tryouts to be selected for the U13 team. If the player requesting to play up is not in this top group then preference will be given to an older player
2. Players requesting to play up to be on a team to be aligned with school classmates will be evaluated as if they are of the correct age group
3. If a player chooses to try out for a team above their age group and does not get selected for the upper age group team, there is no guarantee that a roster spot in the correct age group team will be reserved for that player. For many age groups, the tryouts will run concurrently so a player will only be able to attend one tryout.
4. If a player requests to play up and is selected to play up this year, the player commits to continue to playing up in future years. Players are expected to pick a team and stick with that team. Any player electing this option should consider the likely ramifications in future seasons in the age groups above U14 where the club is not likely to field teams for every age group.

Players who played up last year and wish to continue playing up with the same team are to be evaluated as if they are age-appropriate players. They have “pick and stick” privileges. These players are exempted from having to evaluate in the top half of the upper age team.

For certain age groups, the club may encourage certain players to play up because the club may not be able to field an age-pure team for their age. These players retain their right in future years to select a best fit team if an age appropriate team is fielded.

Piedmont Soccer Club draws its players from a small community and tries to maintain strong competitive teams for each age group. Each year a small number of talented players have shopped for the best team. If selected to a Highlander team, these players take a spot that would have gone to another player who is typically a strong athlete who has had less exposure to soccer. Not getting selected to a Highlander team is likely to be a discouraging experience for a young athlete causing some to quit soccer at a young age. Or if they stay with soccer, they miss out on a season of training at a higher level. If in following seasons, the shopping player moves on to another team then the Highlander team could lose two players, the shopping player and the player who was knocked off the team who may not want to tryout again. The cumulative effect over several seasons can be to deplete the critical core of the team below sustainable levels. We encourage all players to pick and stick to further their own and the team’s development.

Policy on Incident Reporting

The fundamental goal of the Piedmont Soccer Club is to provide a positive soccer experience for the Piedmont soccer community. Despite the considerable efforts of our volunteer coaches and referees, and valuable support from our member families, it is an unfortunate fact that incidents impacting the soccer experience can and do occur from time to time.

The purpose of this policy is to describe our efforts to avoid those incidents and the process for addressing them when they occur.

Informal Discussions

Issues and concerns – whether related to team management, player conflicts, field conditions or anything else – have the potential to grow and become worse over time. We believe that the best way to deal with any issue or concern is to address it directly and as it arises. To this end, any issue or concern should first be brought up and discussed openly with the head coach of the team most closely associated with that issue or concern.

Any issue or concern that cannot be resolved through discussions with the head coach should be brought to the attention of our Coaching Coordinator (coachcoordinator@piedmontsoccer.org). The Coaching Coordinator will contact the parties involved and attempt to work cooperatively with them and to resolve the matter informally

Incident Reporting Committee

Any issue or concern that cannot be resolved through informal discussions should be formally reported to our Incident Reporting Committee or the Disciplinary Committee of the Jack London Youth Soccer Sports League (JLYSSL) in accordance with the reporting procedures described below. We can make no assurance that any issue or concern will receive effective consideration without the submission of a formal incident report in accordance with this policy.

The purpose of the Incident Reporting Committee is to investigate and respond to incidents that are reported to it and to act as the Club’s liaison on matters involving the Piedmont soccer community that are reported to the JLYSSL Disciplinary Committee. The committee at all times shall be guided by the JLYSSL Rules of Play and Zero Tolerance Policy (see links at the bottom of this policy), in addition to any other policies and procedures established from time to time by JLYSSL. The Incident Reporting Committee shall have all necessary powers to determine what action, if any, the Club will take in response to any reported incident. These powers include the power, following consultation with our President, to impose discipline under appropriate circumstances. Disciplinary sanctions that may be imposed include, but are not limited to, probation, suspension for one or more games or seasons, and expulsion from the Club.

The Incident Reporting Committee consists of three members: (i) our Coaching Coordinator, (ii) our Referee Coordinator, and (iii) one additional member of our Board of Directors that is designated by our President. Any committee member may recuse himself or herself from consideration of any incident due to familiarity with the persons involved or for other similar reasons. In the event of a recusal, our President will designate another Board member to represent the committee with respect to that incident in order to ensure consideration by a fully-constituted three-member committee. Unless invited by the committee, no one other than committee members and our President shall be permitted to attend committee meetings or to participate in committee deliberations.

Reporting Procedures

Reporting procedures vary depending upon whether an incident concerns a matter solely within the Club’s domain (e.g., an incident involving members of a single Piedmont team or two Piedmont teams) or a matter involving persons outside of the Club (e.g., an incident involving a Piedmont team and a team from another JLYSSL soccer club, or an incident arising at a non-JLYSSL-sponsored tournament).

We appreciate the sensitive nature of reported incidents and will make every effort to ensure that information received by the Incident Reporting Committee is kept confidential except to the limited extent necessary to evaluate and respond to reported incidents.

Club-Related Incidents

Incidents concerning any matter that is solely within our domain should be reported to the Incident Reporting Committee by email (incidentreporting@piedmontsoccer.org). Incident reports should include the following information to the extent known or applicable: (i) the relevant date, time and field location, (ii) the teams/clubs involved, (iii) the names of individuals involved, (iv) a brief description of the incident being reported, and (v) any other information that might be relevant.

Promptly following the receipt of an incident report, the Incident Reporting Committee will provide an acknowledgement of receipt to the reporting person and undertake a review process to better understand the incident and the causes that led up to it. The review process will include contacting the parties involved and may include independent investigation into such other matters as the Incident Reporting Committee deems relevant. The review process shall be completed as promptly as practicable but need not be completed within any specific time frame.

Following the conclusion of its review process, the Incident Reporting Committee shall meet to consider its findings and to determine what action, if any, the Club will take in response to the reported incident. The Incident Reporting Committee shall consult with our President before any disciplinary sanction may be imposed.

The Incident Reporting Committee shall notify a reporting person not later than two business days after it reaches a decision with respect to any reported incident. The notice shall provide a summary of any action taken or to be taken by the Club. In the event any disciplinary sanction is imposed in connection with any reported incident, the Incident Reporting Committee shall notify the person or persons to be sanctioned within two business days after the decision to impose the sanction is made. Any dissatisfaction with the committee’s decision may be registered by filing a Serious Problem Report Form with the JLYSSL Disciplinary Committee (see link at the bottom of this policy).

The Incident Reporting Committee shall provide a summary of findings with respect to any reported incident, including a description of any disciplinary sanctions imposed, to the JLYSSL Disciplinary Committee promptly after determination and to our Board of Directors at its next scheduled board meeting.

On occasion, our Board of Directors may refer matters to the Incident Reporting Committee based on information brought to its attention other than by way of an incident report (e.g., through communications from the JLYSSL Disciplinary Committee, referee reports or otherwise). The referral of any matter to the Incident Reporting Committee by our Board of Directors shall be treated as an “incident report” for purposes of this policy.

Incidents Involving Other Clubs and Non-JLYSSL Activities

JLYSSL has established a reporting system for incidents involving the greater JLYSSL soccer community (the Alameda, Bay Oaks, Grass Valley, Montclair, Oakland, Piedmont and Rockridge soccer clubs). Any incident involving another JLYSSL club or an activity that is outside of JLYSSL’s domain, such as an out-of-league tournament, should be brought to the attention of the JLYSSL Disciplinary Committee by filing a Serious Problem Report Form (see link at the bottom of this policy).

Any member of the Piedmont soccer community who submits a Serious Problem Report Form to the JLYSSL Disciplinary Committee should also notify our Incident Reporting Committee by email (incidentreporting@piedmontsoccer.org) This way, the Incident Reporting Committee will know about the reported problem and be in a position to respond to JLYSSL as the reporting person’s liaison if requested. Please include all relevant information when communicating with the committee on any issue reported to the JLYSSL Disciplinary Committee.

Incidents reported to the JLYSSL Disciplinary Committee in this manner will be processed in accordance with the JLYSSL Rules of Play (see link at the bottom of this policy) and other JLYSSL policies and procedures in effect from time to time. In some cases, incidents reported to the JLYSSL Disciplinary Committee may be referred back to the Club for investigation and follow up. Incidents that are referred back to the Club in this manner will be processed in accordance with the procedures described under “Club-Related Incidents” above.

References

JLYSSL Serious Problem Report Form

JLYSSL Zero Tolerance Policy (PDF)

Policy on Snacks

In promoting healthy habits and cleaner, 'greener' fields, Piedmont Soccer Club would like to encourage all teams to provide healthy snacks and drinks that are also environmentally friendly.

Replacing individually prepackaged snacks with bowls or trays of pre-cut fruit, breads or treats would help eliminate a majority of trash on the fields. Children bringing their own water in a reusable bottle, instead of having a juice box or throw-away plastic water container will also be healthier and greener.

The impact of our actions cannot be underestimated. Each soccer field has approximately 5 games per day and if this is multiplied by 2 teams per game, and 12 players per team, the amount of trash generated (or avoided) is quite substantial (120 players = 120 individual wrappers and juice boxes or plastic bottles).

Thank you for considering this request. It will help us all to support our children's health and our fields!

Policy on Referee Requirements

In order to provide an adequate pool of referees for our soccer games the following referee “requirement” requirements have been set.  These requirements must be met in order for teams to qualify for the year-end tournament:  

• All Class IV teams must provide a licensed referee who referees at least 5 games during the season. Class IV teams will not be allowed to play in the end of year tournament if they do not meet this requirement.
• All Class III teams must provide licensed referees who referee at least 10 games during the season. Per League rules, teams that do not meet this tournament will not be allowed to play in tournaments.

PCA - Positive Coaching Alliance

All U8 Coaches - Reaching the coaches of the younger age groups holds the best promise of building a League-wide culture of positive coaching. All U8 coaches are expected to participate in a PCA coaches workshop during the Fall 2007 Season. PCA coaches workshops will be offered in the spring and at the U8 coaches meeting prior to the commencement of the fall season. All workshops, whether hosted by JLYSL or PSC, are open to all coaches (subject to seating limitations).

New Coaches in Older Divisions - For the good of the game, all new coaches are expected to participate in a PCA workshop during the Fall 2007 Season. All assistant coaches are strongly encouraged to attend a PCA workshop. New coaches and assistant coaches of U10 and older teams may attend PCA coaches workshops offered by any of the JLYSL Clubs or find another PCA workshop to attend at www.jlysl.org.

All New U8 Parents Must Participate in a PCA Workshop

Parent Participation - To expand the number of parents who understand, practice, and support positive coaching, all new U8 parents are expected to participate in a PCA Parents Workshop as part of U8 orientation during the Fall 2008 season. Attendance at a PCA workshop earns parents "PCA Certification" - you never lose this certification. Parents of all age groups are strongly encouraged to attend a PCA Parents Workshop.

Tournament Play

Policy on Scots Teams

To be eligible for the Scots teams, players must have participated in the Highlanders selection tryouts for that season.

Policy on Team Continuity

1. The original team was formed in a properly constructed and executed Draft in the Fall of the prior season.
2. Players added in the spring season are not included for purposes of team continuity.
3. The entire team eligible to play in that age group stays together. No “cuts”. Players or their parents have the choice of not being on the team.
4. Team continuity for that team must be agreed to by the age group coordinator and the PSC President.

Policy on Registration Refunds

Refunds for the 2010/2011 season will be handled as follows:

For players U10 and above: If a player withdraws before June 1, 2010 then the player will receive $145 of the base registration fee as a refund; before the first game of the fall season, a $75 refund; and after the first game, no refund. Regardless of when the player withdraws, the player will receive a refund of the $50 uniform fee only if PSC has not incurred uniform costs for that player at the time of withdrawal.

For U8 players: If a player withdraws before June 1, 2010 then the player will receive $145 of the registration fee as a refund; before the first game of the fall season, a $75 refund; and after the first game no refund.

For U6 players: If a player withdraws before the first game of the fall season, then the player will receive a $25 refund; and after the first game, no refund.

Exceptions can be made if special situations exist.