Hello Soccer Fans….   Today we announce some good news.    Soccer has been granted permission to use the Town Fields to launch a Summer 2020 soccer program.      As we discussed in our last communication, the key piece to make this program work this year, is you, the parents.    We need 3 parent volunteers per team to coach and manage the players (looking for 2 co-coaches and 1 Manager for record keeping).    If you are able to volunteer your time to make soccer work, then please read on and take action.

If we have reached our minimum level of volunteers and players, we will have a Season.      Here is what the Season will look like.
We are intending to run a summer Season from July 27 to Sept 3rd (with a possibility of extending into mid September if we have interest).   Given AHS, CSA and ASA guidelines, we will only be playing within each of our Cohorts of teams (Similar to house league).     Games will be a modified 7 v 7 format (6 fielders and a keeper).   Teams will have 9-10 players on them.     We are still evaluating whether we will have officials yet.     Costs for Soccer this year will be $95 and still include a shirt and ball.
For Players in U09 (Players who were 7 or 8 as of Dec 31, 2019)
*we have a maximum of 38 spots
* Practices will be Monday OR Tuesday at either 6PM or 7:15PM for 1 hour at the Birchwood (behind Sobeys)
*Games will be Thursdays at 6 or 7:15 at Birchwood
For Players in U11 (Players who were 9 or 10 as of Dec 31, 2019)
*we have a maximum of 38 spots
* Practices will be Monday OR Tuesday at either 6PM or 7:15PM, at Birchwood (behind Sobeys)
*Games will be Wednesdays at 6 or 7:15 at Birchwood
For Players in U13 (Players who were 11 or 12 as of Dec 31, 2019)
*we have a maximum of 38 spots
* Practices will be Monday OR Wednesday at either 6PM, 7:15PM, or 8:30 for 1 hour at either Birchwood or Library
*Games will be Thursdays at 6 or 7:15 at Library
For Players in U15 and U17 (Players who were 13, 14, 15, or 16 as of Dec 31, 2019)
*we have a maximum of 38 spots
* Practices will be Monday OR Tuesday at either 6PM, 7:15PM, or 8:30 for 1 hour at the Library
*Games will be Wednesdays at 6 or 7:15 at Library
To make the Season run, we need 3 parents to per team (12 per age group, 48 in total) to volunteer to coach.    With 2 coaches per team, you will not need to be present for 100% of the practices and games, we need 2 adults per session minimum.   So even if you have holidays, or a wacky work schedule, give it some thought.       We have reduced our fees for this season, so unfortunately we will not be offering discounts for parents who volunteer.     We will make the final decision to run the season no later than July17th based on the response from this ask.      Registration will run until July 24th.     Given all the other moving parts this year and our shortened window, we will not be allowing any players to play up or down age groups.
Coaches
Coaches are responsible for executing the 1 hour practice (We have lots of materials and resources to help you) and to be present for games.     We may need 1 or 2 parents/coaches to act as referees at games as well.      Coaches will also assit the manager with player screening.
Managers
New this year, is the additional of a team Manager.   Given the new requirements for screening and contact tracing, the Team Manager needs to be someone who has a tablet or phone with the Teamsnap app installed.   They need to record attendance of every participant at practices and games, and perform (with the coaches) an individual screening (observations and questions) of every player at every practice and game.    There is no need to know soccer, just to be organized to record the information.
If you are able to volunteer for this season, please review and download the new Waiver (found here) and confirmation of Risk (Found here) and sign them.   If you are able to scan it and send it to info@highriversoccer.ca we will start building the teams.   If you have another family you want to be paired with please let us know.     We will place your children on your team unless we hear otherwise.     If you are unable to scan the document, please just respond to info@highriversoccer.ca acknowledging that you have read and agree to the waivers.
That’s it for now folks, registration will be open this weekend at www.highriversoccer.ca/registration.   The proverbial ball is in your court.
Hope to see everyone on the pitch soon.
Cheers
Bob (on behalf of the Board of the HRMS)
Bob Denney
President
High River Minor Soccer
Bob.Denney@highriversoccer.ca