2023 Spring Season Club Update #2

Hi Folks,

Hope everyone is enjoying the start of the season! We're touching base on the following topics:

• Boys HS Age Tryouts (2005 - 2008)

• Elite Academy League

• Washington Cup RSVPs

• Coaching Opportunities

• Team Manager Request

• New Referees

• Player Nutrition

• Sideline Etiquette

Boys HS Age Tryouts (2005 - 2008)

Tryouts for our boys high school aged teams (2005-2008) for the 2023/24 season (runs from late May 2023 until late February 2024) will take place on Friday February 10 and Sunday February 12.

Players can view the schedule and register for tryouts here . Program details are posted on our Boys U15-U19 website page.

If everyone could help spread the word that would be fantastic!

Tryouts for our U7-U14 Boys and U15-U19 Girls teams will take place in late April/early May. This schedule will be posted in early April.

Elite Academy League

We announced yesterday in a post on social media that our top boys teams will take part in the Elite Academy League next season was announced on Sunday on our social media pages.

We're very excited about the extra exposure opportunities this will offer to our players and think it is a very positive step for the club.

We'll have an update for our girls teams later this month regarding a similar opportunity for them.

Washington Cup Update

The Washington Cup tournament for U11-U14 (2012-2009) teams takes place over two weekends in late April. Weekend #1 is the qualifying weekend, April 14-16, at Starfire Sports Complex in Tukwila. If teams advance from weekend #1 they move on to weekend #2, April 28-30 - the finals weekend, at the Regional Athletic Complex in Lacey.

For now we just want to give people a heads up on the event since it overlaps with a spring break weekend in April. We will touch base in early March with a reminder to RSVP officially for the event so we can compile rosters and enter teams. When compiling the rosters we will prioritize those players who are available for most/all of the days of the event. A typical outline for weekend #1 would be a game on Friday evening and then 1-2 games on Saturday/Sunday. Weekend #2 would be knockout games. Cost depends on the number of players on a roster but is typically around $80-$100 per player for this event.

The U10 Washington Cup dates have yet to be finalized but we anticipate it taking place the weekend of April 28-30 at Ravensdale. What a wonderful weekend we had last year - we've included some snaps of the U10 Champions below!!

Coaching Opportunities

We recently had a few parents connect us with recent college graduates who have joined the Celtic staff as in both head and assistant coaching capacities and have already made a great impression.

On the back of this, we thought it would be a great idea to touch base with our Celtic community to see if they know of, or could put us in touch with people who they think would be a good fit for our coaching staff!

The ideal candidate has played soccer throughout their youth, is energetic and has a passion for the game, is good with kids and is equipped a growth mindset. Our pay is competitive, we run our own internal coach education courses to ensure staff are familiar with The Celtic Way of playing and coaching, and also cover the cost for coach education with US Soccer.

Hopefully we'll hear from you in this regard!!

Request for Team Managers

If you are interested in taking on the team manager role for your child's team, please let your coach know as well as informing Oisín (info@seattleceltic.com) so we can pass on all the relevant documents (cards/rosters).

The role is pretty straightforward and involves the following tasks:

1. Bring the following to every game:

• Player Cards

• Game Day Roster

• Official Roster

2. Remind everyone to RSVP for team events (practices/games) on TeamSnap. It's so vital that people are diligent about RSVPing from the perspective of helping a coach plan his session accordingly, and for us as a club knowing if we need to bring in guests to ensure we have enough players on the weekend.

3. Keep an eye out for any differences between the WPL

(https://wpl-soccer.com/) and the schedule posted on TeamSnap (on very rare occasions the schedule may change on the league website and the club isn't notified of the switch - so it's good to have one extra set of eyes on this).

Often a coach ends up taking on these duties but we find that with some assistance from a supportive parent group, the coach is able to focus more on the coaching of the players which can only be a good thing in terms of player experience.

In the past, some of our teams have appointed social coordinators, snack coordinators (team

members take turns bringing oranges to the games for half-time for instance) or team

photographers/videographers to help capture the footage of the game. Team managers often organize and end of season get together to celebrate the season. A team manager may also opt to delegate the various roles among the parent group to help

make things more manageable.

New Referee Training

There are still remaining spots on the newcomers referee courses that are taking place in the area (Tukwila and Preston) on February 18 and 19 respectively. Details are included below.

We would highly recommend as many of our eligible players as possible attend these courses - aside from the benefits of developing a better understanding of the game which will translate into better performances on the field as a player, it also pays very well and is extremely good from a character building standpoint. Registration is open to players 13 or older (or a parent!) and we'd strongly encourage you to check out the courses! Registration Link: http://www.wareferees.org/AvailableClinics.aspx Online Pre-Requisite Course Link: http://www.wareferees.org/HowTo/EntryLevelOnlineClinic.aspx Ages: 13+

Player Nutrition Healthy eating is a vital part of excelling in sport and what we put in our bodies can make a crucial difference on how we perform on the field and how we feel off it. Our Nutrition page has information and advice for all players, at the elite level right through to beginners, on how to eat well in order to boost performance on the field. We've put together a list of recommended resources from the FAI (Football Association of Ireland) and the Irish FA (Northern Irish Football Association) that we highly encourage all our players to familiarize themselves with.

Sideline Etiquette & Parent Resources

This following is something we send out at the start of every season and we definitely would encourage all parents to be aware of our expectations with regards to sideline etiquette. Our club has a great reputation across the state for our demeanor both on and off the field and we would like this to be the prevailing sentiment when people think about Seattle Celtic (as well of course as the attractive soccer we try to have our teams play :) )

With league games having just started up this weekend for many teams, it's important to remind everyone on the sidelines that the focus should be on cheering on the players on the field as opposed to instructing or directing them. Likewise, referees should be respected at all times. If there is an issue the coach will address it with the referee. We'd encourage everyone to read the following articles to ensure they are facilitating the best possible environment for their child to enjoy their time on the field: SoccerParenting.com articleUS Youth Soccer article on sideline etiquette Article on the detrimental effects of parent sideline coaching We understand that for some parents, their sideline coaching is borne out of a desire to help players succeed on the field in the perceived absence of instruction from the coach. However, the coaches are trying to do the bulk of the instructing/coaching during training sessions and the games are an opportunity for players to enjoy playing, express themselves and make mistakes they can learn from. In the past we have also recommended the book Making the Ball Roll to help families understand our approach to player development. The book really hones in on the importance of developing players at any early age with a focus on skill, technical and tactical progression versus playing to win and get results. The club has partnered with the Soccer Parent Resource Center which seeks to improve and enhance the experience for youth soccer players by engaging and supporting the players’ parents on topics related to the Body, Mind, Coach, Parent, Next Level, and the Game as well as providing coach education related to establishing positive relationships with players and parents. One of the many key benefits of our club membership is the opportunity to complete one of the many great courses that Soccer Parenting has to offer like the Sideline Project. We encourage parents in the club to take this course and take on board the many lessons it has to offer to help cultivate a positive environment that can play a significant role in player and personal development. There are also a variety of other great resources in the form of articles and interviews with people involved in all levels of the game! More info can be found at this link. That's all for now!

Best,

The Seattle Celtic Team