Clinic Soccer
SRYA Clinic Soccer is the entry level for most players and is comprised of 3 levels, each based on the birth year of the player - Tots, Juniors, and Seniors.
Soccer begins in the Fall and is comprised of two seasons - a Fall season (late August - early November) and Spring season (late March - early June). In accordance to US Soccer, your child's age group is determined at the onset of the Fall season. For example, if your child is age appropriate for Junior Clinic in the Fall, they will also play Junior Clinic in the following Spring as well.
Players are not permitted to "play down".
Participation
SRYA Clinic Soccer is a co-ed experience for young players learning to play soccer. With a player's paid registration, they will receive a SRYA Clinic Soccer jersey, a participation trophy with their name on it, and a Team party following the season.
Fees
SRYA Soccer works diligently to keep fees low while providing well-equipped, well-maintained fields for the players and coaches. Clinic fees are based on age level and SRYA is proud to provide the lowest clinic fees in the surrounding area!
- Tots - $65 per player
- Juniors - $80 per player
- Seniors - $80 per player
* fees subject to change without notice
Because SRYA's Soccer program is one of the most popular in Anne Arundel County, there is a large administrative burden placing almost 250 children on rosters, so to make things bearable on our Clinic Coordinator and promote early registrations (and help you save a couple $$), SRYA offers an early bird saving of $10 per registration on registrations made January 1 to January 31 for the Spring season and until June 30th for the Fall season. Likewise, we need to assess a late fee to those registrations made after February for the Spring season and after July for the Fall season.
All discounts, fees, savings are applied during checkout.
Due to the large nature of the program, refunds are not available.
Team Creation
SRYA strives to create balanced, equally talented teams so that all children have an enjoyable learning experience. We try to balance, by gender and age of the children participating. Teams are built by the following criteria:
- Volunteers requests. Those who volunteer (ie coach) and make the soccer program deserve their request handled first.
- Early registrations placed first, late registrations wait listed until opening is available.
- Achieve balance of boys / girls per team
- Factor in age to be balanced
Player assignment to teams begin at the very beginning of registration and continues until registration closes or all teams are filled. Many times we fill teams long before registrations closes.
Practices
SRYA Clinic Soccer practices are held twice a week, in the evenings, either on a Monday/Wednesday or Tuesday/Thursday schedule. Practices may range from 1 hour to 1 1/2 hours depending on the age of the children and the coach. The practice days and duration are determined by the volunteer coach.
All Tots and Junior clinic practices are held at Central Elementary School. Senior clinic practices are held primarily at Central Special School with overflow held at Mayo American Legion.
In the Spring, practices will begin, weather dependent:
- Tots: mid March
- Juniors: early March
- Seniors: early March
In the Fall, practices will begin, weather dependent:
- Tots: the first week of September, after Labor Day
- Juniors: the first week of September, after Labor Day
- Seniors: the first week of September, after Labor Day
All players should bring water and are required to wear shin guards to all practices. Cleats are optional but recommended.
Note: It takes an average of 3 hours per field to lay it out, measure it, square it up and line it. Currently, SRYA manages 14 - 16 fields, so it takes the field crew of volunteers 3-4 weekends of volunteer time away from their family and family events (like going on vacation to the beach) to lay down the fields. Goals will be placed on the fields after all the fields have been lined. Our goal is to have the fields lined 3 weeks prior to games beginning and goals in place by 2 weeks (guarantee 1 week) prior to games beginning. Your patience with this process is greatly appreciated.
Games
Tots clinic games are played in lieu of a practice one evening a week. The schedule will be distributed online once the season has begun. The goal of the games is to expose the young players to other players outside their team and to introduce families to one another as they will grow within SRYA Soccer together as the years progress.
New for the fall 2019, Junior clinic games are played Saturday mornings with some weather-related make up games played during the week. The schedule will be distributed online once the season has begun. The goal of the games is to provide a competitive environment where the players can use the skills they have learned during practices.
Senior clinic games are played Saturday mornings with some weather-related make up games played during the week. The goal of the games is to provide a competitive environment where the players can use the skills they have learned during practices and prepare the players for their move to County Soccer.
In the Spring games will begin, weather dependent:
- Tots: mid-April
- Juniors: End of March
- Seniors: End of March
In the Fall games will begin, weather dependent:
- Tots: last week of September
- Juniors: 1st or 2nd week of September
- Seniors: 1st or 2nd week of September
Schedules are system generated and adjustments are only made if more than 50% of a team's players are unable to attend due to a religious, school, or scouting event.
Schedules will be published approximately 1 week before the season begins.
Rewarding Our volunteer Coaches
SRYA Soccer is aware that the success of our program rides squarely on the shoulders of our volunteers. That is why SRYA Soccer will provide a volunteer coach one (1) free soccer registration each soccer season they coach provided they obtain and maintain current a US Soccer License.
For example, a Tots clinic coach will receive a free soccer registration when the coach completes the US Soccer Grassroots 4v4 online course; a Junior clinic coach will receive a free soccer registration when the coach completes the US Soccer Grassroots 4v4 and 7v7 online courses; and a Senior clinic coach will receive a free soccer registration when the coach completes the US Soccer Grassroots 4v4 and 7v7 online courses. The minimal fees charged by US Soccer are the responsibility of the coach.
Special Requests
Due to the large number of families with children in soccer, it is not possible to accommodate special requests from parents. If you have a special request you need accommodated, you will need to volunteer. The only way to guarantee your special request is to volunteer as a coach. Did we mention we need more volunteer coaches?
Contacts
Commissioner - David B. McClanahan
Soccer@srya.org
Clinic Coordinator - Tracey Thisse
Clinic.Soccer@srya.org
Travel Coordinator - Todd Lundberg
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