Fall is here, which means cooler weather and shorter days. And Halloween! Followed by the end of Daylight Saving Time. This results in minor practice schedule changes, and some tips on dealing with cooler weather.
Practice schedule changes:
Metro North Park:
Starting the week of October 19, our Metro North practices (Tuesday, Thursday) shift to a 4:45-6:00 PM time slot. NTH made this change to allow the teams who practice after us to get their full practice time without having to practice in the dark.
United Quest Park:
Our practice schedule stays the same: Monday and Wednesday, 5:30-6:45 PM. We don’t have any teams who practice after us, and we have a lighted field.
After Daylight Saving Time ends (Nov. 1):
After Daylight Saving Time ends (Nov. 1):We’ll cancel Metro North Park goalkeeper training sessions due to lack of daylight. (We’ll resume our weekly goalkeeper training sessions in the spring.) We have lights at Quest Park, so we’ll continue our regular Wednesday post-practice ‘keeper training sessions.
Cool / cold weather alerts:
Label warm-ups:
There will be days when players will want to wear warm-up jackets and pants (link: tips on cold weather attire). As a player warms up, she may want to remove a layer, so off comes a jacket or pants. And on comes the evil lost & found gremlin.
Let’s stop that evil gremlin in its tracks! Please take a moment to use a Sharpie to note your daughter’s initials and uniform number on internal tags / labels. (If she has an older item that’s been through several laundry cycles, make sure the ID is still readable.) Or you can have her initials and uniform number embroidered on the warm-ups. This will prevent needless lost and found angst.
The Quest weather effect:
This note is for practices at Quest Park. As cooler weather hits during the fall, temperatures at Quest and Noonday tend to feel 5-10 degrees colder than the true temperature due to the close proximity to Noonday Creek. Whatever the weather is at your house, have your daughter dress for 10 degrees colder and she’ll be prepared. Link: tips on cold weather attire
Halloween-related schedule:
We have canceled this year’s annual Halloween Soccer Shocker costume party due to advice related to COVID-19 safeguards.
Halloween falls on a Saturday this year. We have games that day — late morning and early afternoon at the Tophat Buckhead fields.
Winter break starts November 22:
We have our last fall season game day (our Fall Finale mini tournament) on Saturday, November 21. We start our 2020-2021 winter break Sunday, November 22. Spring season practices will start in February, exact date to be determined in late January. Past history usually has us starting the Monday after the Super Bowl. Check our winter break page for off-season activity ideas for your daughter.