1. The Americans is run by volunteers
The Americans Soccer Club is a community-based, volunteer led Club. It has been around since 1976 and is based out of the Highlands region. Over the past 10-15 years, many other clubs have been created with a contrasting, singular focus on business expansion and profits.
The Americans is run by soccer moms and dads – your neighbors, with full-time jobs and other commitments. The Americans volunteers do this because they love soccer and their local community. Our team trainers and field management are the only roles that are paid.
Decisions made by the Club are purely based on what’s best for the community and the children within it.
2. There are 3 broad age groups - application for tryouts is required for U8 thru U14/U15 teams
The Americans Soccer Club has 3 broad buckets – Young Americans, Americans Club teams, and High School Americans Teams.
I. The Young Americans program accepts everyone (up to capacity restraints), is designed for kids up to thru U8, is NOT team based, is ONLY weekly clinics/scrimmages, and registration is required every season (Fall, Winter, and Spring). The tryout application is NOT filled out for this program.
II. The adolescent Americans TEAMS are selective (require tryouts), are for players U8 thru U14/U15, registration is for a full year (Fall thru Spring), and dedication to the team is expected. The tryout application MUST be filled out for these teams.
III. The High School Americans teams (U15/U16 and older) form in December and exist for the Winter and Spring. The tryout application is NOT required these teams.
3. Accepting any offers and registering with the proper information
The tryouts application is for adolescent teams U8 thru U14/U15. Please understand that your child is not guaranteed a spot or offer on a team; this process is selective, and if chosen, your family must be dedicated to the team. Since the Americans is a community based club, the Club makes every effort to accept as many children as possible but constraints exist during the process.
If your child is offered a spot you must respond within 72 hours or lose that spot. Delaying the acceptance delays the entire process for EVERYONE. In rare cases, when too many people do not accept offers, teams lose a critical mass and fail to form. The Club attempts to adjust by moving players around where possible, but sometimes we are forced to retract game offers and replace them with practice offers in this rare situation.
Please UNDERSTAND YOU MUST REGISTER YOUR CHILD WITH THEIR ACTUAL BIRTH YEAR and that you MUST be prepared to accept or deny the offer in a timely manner. Please also understand that, although rare, if too many people decline offers for a team, it may no longer form.
4. Although we try to avoid it, rosters may be altered throughout the year
The Club tries to limit changes during the year, but the rosters may change due to various circumstances. In some cases, your child may asked to play for a more competitive team or in rare cases a team may get split up. The Board does not take player movement lightly and only does so if rare circumstances require it. For example, in 2021-2022, we added 2 new teams during the Winter that impacted several other rosters.
Once accepted, your child will not be cut but in rare circumstances may be moved to another team mid year. In the event a child is moved to another team, parents have the option to request a prorated refund if they don’t like where THEIR child is moved. Parents will not be refunded because they are upset that OTHER children were moved from their team.
Please understand that, although rare, rosters may change throughout the season.
5. Double carding and/or playing for 2 clubs
Double carding is when a child plays for two officially rostered league teams. Sometimes we double card our own players on two different Americans teams across different leagues. Potential issues and conflicts exist when a player double cards on DIFFERENT CLUBS. We frown upon this and expect all our players to make the Americans their primary focus. Any exceptions MUST be approved by the Board and/or President and must be known PRIOR to registering for multiple teams. Approval is rare and is especially frowned upon for U10 and below. We go to great lengths to provide a program we expect to be your priority, and the administrative work to roster children with league bodies is greater than most people realize. Joining two teams without prior approval warrants expulsion from the Club without refund. Double carding is only considered when the Board feels the outcome improves the overall Club and not any one individual.
Please understand DOUBLE CARDING and the Club’s stance on it.
6. Winning, losing, and scoring goals
The Americans SC primary focus is provide an enriching program that allows personal growth and team growth. We do NOT believe winning, losing, or scoring goals is a good or only indicator of growth. Yes, winning and scoring goals generally has a positive impact, but sometimes children learn more from grinding out losses and even having losing seasons. We ask for patience as children grow. It is not out of the realm of possibilities for a team to lose all its games in a league flight that was unexpectantly strong. Regardless of wins, losses, and goals, we hope that every child/teams learns. This is especially true for younger ages. Typically, a turning point starts to happen around U11, where coaches begin to focus a little more on wins and losses. This may also impact the competitiveness and game-time children receive as they age in the program. At the youth level, we expect players to be put into positions where they may be uncomfortable sometimes. This forces them to think and adapt; it may also lead to a perception that teams are not doing well. Judge your child on their personal journey, not by goals scored or game results.
As a result of the above, parents are asked to simply cheer on their children with motivation and NOT coach them. Our coaches are often trying new things that parents may not realize – things that may be counter intuitive. Player development is as much on the individual and the parents, as it is on the Club. The best players become great from the time they put in to training beyond standard practice. Some of the most successful teams bond on and off the field, sometimes with families becoming friends also.
Please understand you must be patient with development and refrain from judging your child’s success solely on wins, losses, and goals scored. WE WANT TO WIN, but if those are your primary markers, this may be the wrong club for you and your child. Please realize family dedication is just as important to success as practice and games.
7. Playing for your age group
League rules are very strict and are sanctioned by national soccer associations. Ages are determined by the calendar year in which he/she was born. We are NOT allowed to play older children on younger rosters simply because their parents feel they are not ready. In fact, this is never allowed during games and only sometimes occurs during practices. Conversely, younger players that show increased physical and technical prowess may be allowed to play with older kids, but this is rare. In some cases, we may play younger players on an older roster because the numbers warrant us to do so to finish a team. We do this only when we feel the child can fit and adapt to the older team. Our primary goal is properly create teams at age appropriate levels, and only after we have done that do we consider moving players between age groups. Parents must enter their child’s actual birth info and provide a birth certificate or passport to verify. Fudging this information may warrant expulsion from the Club without refund.
Please understand the constraints and rules around ages and rosters.
8. Tryout timing, offers, and joining the club
Tryouts are to be held in mid to late April. This is a time intensive process on our end, that requires much planning. Every year every player must tryout regardless of their Club status. Email is the sole communication method we use to communicate with the over 400 children we expect to apply as we build potentially 30 or more teams. Please add [email protected] to your safe senders list to avoid missing any emails.
Offers will be sent out throughout the months of May and June on a rolling basis. Some age groups may be earlier or later in the process for logistical reasons. Do not email, call or contact us for offer status. Everyone that applies will receive an eventual email with either a request to tryout, an offer, or decline. We do NOT make teams based on convenience of carpooling or any other factors other than skill, mental aptitude, and age. Do NOT request for children to play together because they are friends.
The April to May timeframe may be your child’s only chance to join the Club for the 2022-2023 season. Accepting the offer in a timely manner is critical. Once certain rosters are full, they may not have room for an entire year. It is NOT guaranteed that we will add players during the year, although we try to make some mid-year additions in December/January. We try our best to add recreational players that have an increased love of soccer after the Fall season but adding players has an impact to the Club that goes beyond individual teams.
Please understand the tryout process as described above. Also understand that the dedication is important and that rosters are not created in a recreational manner with friend requests. Finally, understand that email is the only method used and only to people that have completed the application.
9. Refund policy
In addition to the refund policy discussed in #4, a refund MAY be considered when a child has a year ending injury that can be confirmed. Once registered, refunds are NOT provided for children that switch to another club prior to or during the season; quitting the Americans impacts the entire team they have committed towards. The Board retains the right to extend or deny refunds for any extenuating circumstances on a case-by-case basis.
Once registered, the Club fee (typically about $400) is non-refundable.
If a player is caught double carding WITHOUT proper Board approval, the child will forfeit their ability to play for the Americans SC and will NOT be issued a refund.
Please understand the refund policy.
10. Volunteers
Please understand there is a lot to do to keep the Club operating effectively. There is a business aspect to it, financials, operations, etc. We never have enough volunteers. Most volunteer tasks do not require a knowledge of soccer and many tasks do not require a lot of time.
Some tasks that could always use help include: Marketing, Social Planning, Report Cards, Camps, Winter Programs, Website Updates, Photography, General Managers, Assistant General Managers, etc. If you believe you can help, reach out by emailing [email protected].