We start fall 2017 season practices the week of August 14. Our practice schedule matches our schedule from the past spring season.
| Day | Location | Time |
|---|---|---|
| Mondays (starting Aug. 14) | Quest field 7 | 5:30 - 6:45 PM |
| Tuesdays (starting Aug. 15) | Metro TOPS field | 5:00 - 6:15 PM |
| Wednesdays (starting Aug. 16) | Quest field 7 | 5:30 - 6:45 PM optional goalkeeper training, 6:55 - 7:30 (GK training starts Sept. 6) |
| Thursdays (starting Aug. 17) | Metro TOPS field | 5:00 - 6:15 PM optional goalkeeper training, 6:25 - 7:00 (GK training starts Sept. 7) |
- Before we get started, please take 5-10 minutes with your daughter to review our practice session guidelines: what to wear (and what not wear, for example, earrings and jewelry), what to bring, and so forth.
- Please label backpacks, balls, water bottles and warm-ups: We ask each family to take a few minutes to customize their daughter’s soccer backpack and label her ball, water bottle and warm-up jackets and pants. Link: customization ideas for backpacks. For balls and water bottles, marking a first initial and last name, or initials and uniform number on the items works well. For warm-ups, we recommend using a Sharpie to note your daughter’s initials and uniform number on internal tags / labels. Or you can choose to have her initials and uniform number embroidered on the items. This will prevent needless lost and found angst.
Which / how many practices to attend?
We ask the girls to attend two sessions each week. For most players, these will be the two sessions at their home park. If a player has a schedule conflict with a session at her home park, she’s welcome to attend a session at the other park, no reservation needed. (We’ll make sure she feels welcome!) If a player wants to attend an extra practice, she’s welcome to do so.
Bad weather procedures
Rain itself isn’t a problem, but waterlogged fields, lightning or unsafe driving conditions due to winter storms can cause problems. We generally practice in cold weather as long as the wind chill doesn’t drop below 20 degrees. (Link: tips on cold weather attire). For info about how we deal with bad weather, please check our weather link.
Goalkeeper training
We offer optional goalkeeper training sessions once a week at each park starting the first week of September. These are 35 minute sessions after one of our regular Junior Academy training sessions. Any player who is interested may attend. There’s no cost for these sessions. (We won’t use goalkeepers on game days during the early stages of the season, but will likely do so at some point.)
Game day schedule
We expect to receive our fall schedule in late August. We expect to have our first game day the first Saturday after Labor Day, and continue with weekly games until the weekend before Thanksgiving. Link: about game days
Schedule conflicts:
Please let us know as early as possible about any game day schedule conflicts. (E-mail to Ward is the preferred method.) We can work around most conflicts as long as we know about them by the weekend ahead of the game day.