Overview

Our Club is dedicated to the long term development of the players in this club, both as soccer players and as responsible, productive people.  As parents you have a significant role to play in the success of this mission.  The following is a guide of the expectations that we have for you to ensure that your, and everyone else's, child has the best possible experience. 

Sport is often championed as a great way to learn character.  This is the case only if the adults associated with the experience model and encourage positive behaviors. Your child will learn social skills, team building, discipline, goal setting and conflict resolution among a myriad of other important life skills, all within the context of playing a game.  Your child will also have to learn to deal with failure; the team won't win every game, your child won't play every minute, your child will miss shots, let in goals and may not make the team they want during tryouts.   Sadly, life is not without setbacks or disappointments and learning to deal with these in a healthy way, at a young age, can be of massive benefit when faced with real issues as a teenager or adult.

Remember - You are your child's biggest role model in learning how to act and interact with others.  Your child is going to watch you closely, often without your notice, and will mimic the behaviors that you display.  Strive to behave in ways that you would want your child to.  We will teach and hold your child to high standards of behavior and we expect your support in that mission.

Club Mission Statement

Our Club is a youth soccer club committed to developing youth soccer and youth soccer players throughout the San Joaquin Valley. Our Club is a player-centered club that focuses on age appropriate technical, tactical, physical and psychological development with the end goal of facilitating the player reaching his/her own potential. Our Club, and its staff/coaches, embrace their position of influence in young people's lives as an opportunity to mentor, guide and model behaviors conducive to producing positive, healthy and productive members of society. Our Club, and its staff/coaches at all times act ethically and with the best interests of its players paramount.

Our Club is committed to hiring, retaining and developing the preeminent coaching staff in the LA County. Our Club provides support, guidance and oversight for all staff coaches and additionally provides appropriate professional development opportunities to encourage continuous growth.

Our Club is committed to becoming synonymous with, and representative of the best of the LA County, and conducts itself with the utmost integrity at all times.

Contact Information

Director of Coaching -                   Emanuel
 

                                                            emanuel@jappremierfc.com
 

(661) 330-6419

Youth Academy Director -              Coming Soon.

                                                             director@jappremierfc.com
 

Financial Obligations

It is the intent of JAP Premier SC (Our Club) to provide an affordable playing opportunity for all members and every effort will be made to minimize unnecessary expenses.  In order for Our Club to meet its financial obligations, it is important that all players also meet their financial obligations to Our Club.

1. As a parent, it is my responsibility to pay the annual membership fees for the year once I commit to our Club roster unless or until, I qualify for a medical release or have written Director of Coaching approval to suspend my monthly fees.
2. As a parent, I am obligated to pay fees based on my child's team's schedule which are due in full on the 3^rd of each month.
3. Any player whose account is past due on the last day of the month will have his/her player pass pulled and will not be reinstated until the balance is paid in full or a written payment agreement has been signed by parents and Our Club.
4. A player's account must be in good standing (not past due) in order for him/her to participate in Our Club benefits such as, player identification programs, Our Club training sessions, position specific training sessions, annual tryouts, etc.
5. A player's account must be in good standing (not past due) in order for him/her to be released to another Club.
6. The season may extend beyond the average period due to State, Regional, or National Cup participation; in such case, monthly Our Club fees will extend as appropriate.
7. Parent and player signatures are required in order to participate.  If a parent or player fails to complete any obligation or violate the Codes of Conduct, the child's players pass may be pulled; preventing the child from participating in upcoming games, tournaments, or training sessions, or in more severe and/or repeat instances, the player and family may be dismissed from Our Club.
8. I understand that if my child's account is more than 90 days past due the account will be sent to collections. 

In the Event of Injury

In the event of a serious injury, a player will not be asked to pay Club fees.  A doctor's note must be provided stating that the player is not cleared for any practice or competition.  The player must be unable to practice or compete for a minimum of 6 weeks for an injury to be considered serious.  Team fees will still be collected.

Interactions with Other Parents

The soccer team is often a stressful environment. As a parent, you want the best for your children and therefore may be hypersensitive and defensive towards anything you perceive to threaten them.  This is completely understandable; however, the team environment puts together a large group of parents with these same sensibilities.  It is paramount that all parties understand the potential for misunderstanding and how high emotions can run and adhere to the following rules in order to maintain a positive environment.

1.      All interactions with other parents on the team must remain cordial at all times.

2.      Avoid criticism, or anything that could be construed as criticism, of other players on the team.

3.      Avoid criticism, or anything that could be construed as criticism, of the coach.

4.      Avoid any criticism of other parents in earshot of other parents or players on the team, including your own children.

5.      In the event that you are aware of, or subject to, someone breaking the rules above, please refer to the conflict resolution section below.

Practice

1.      Have your child at the practice location, properly attired (footwear, shinguards, weather appropriate, etc.), with a suitable ball (appropriate size, inflated, etc.), ready for practice to begin.

2.      Have a responsible person prepared to take charge of your child immediately after practice.

3.      Make sure that the coach is aware in plenty of time of any time your child will miss, be late for, or leave early from practice.

4.      If you choose to remain to watch practice-

a.      Do not interfere with practice in any way.

b.      Do not interact with players or coaches once practice has commenced.

c.      Remain at a discrete distance from drills.

d.      Remain at a discrete distance from the players' water break area.

e.      Discourage your child from interacting with you during the session. 

Games

1.      Have your child at the game location, properly attired (footwear, shinguards, uniforms, etc.), with a suitable ball, ready for warm up to begin.

2.      Do not enter the coaching/bench area once warm up has begun (except in the event of serious injury).

3.      Restrict all communication with your child to encouragement and congratulations.  Avoid ANY coaching during the game.

4.      Comments to other players may only be encouragement/congratulations.

5.      Do not communicate with the officials.

6.      Communication with supporters of the other team must remain cordial at all times.

7.      Do not communicate with players from the other team.

8.      Remain away from the team until the coach releases the players.

9.      Have a responsible person prepared to take charge of your child immediately after the game.

Conflict Resolution

1.      Playing time

 At some point during their playing career, almost every player will endure a period of playing less than he or she prefers.  This should be viewed as a major learning experience for the child and an opportunity to positively mold their character.  A lack of playing time will come about for one of two reasons; ill-discipline or poor performance.

 In the event of a disciplinary issue, it is important that you make your child take responsibility for their actions and support the responsibility of the coach to set boundaries and enforce consequences to ensure a positive team environment. 

While all players come to the table with different natural abilities, athleticism, etc., this natural talent is only a small indicator of the level of ability the player will end up attaining.  A far bigger factor is how much time and effort they put into practicing and improving their skills.  Michael Jordan was cut from the varsity basketball team in High School.  They should already know what areas the coach thinks that they need to improve on (if not, find out) and encourage them to work extra on them.  The coach will provide suggestions of extra work to do.  Empower the child with the understanding that their success is in their hands and that by hard work they can overcome the obstacles they find in their way.  They is a hugely important life lesson as we strive to develop young adults who welcome challenges rather than shy away from or avoid them.

Follow the below steps if you and your child do not know why your child is playing less, or if you believe that your child is being treated unfairly.

a.      Make sure that you are well versed in the playing time policy in the club manual.

b.      Make sure that you are aware of your coach's playing time policy as presented to you in the preseason meeting.

c.      Ask your child why he/she may be suffering from less playing time than you hoped.

d.      Call the coach on the phone (or contact by email) and politely ask why your child played less than you expected.

e.      If this does not rectify the issues, contact the DOC and request a meeting.

2.      Other parents

The parent group is an intrinsic part of the soccer team (and club) and any issues between parents can quickly affect the players.  The parent group (just like the team) is likely made up of people from very different backgrounds and with very different personalities.  You may not naturally get on well with every member of the group, just like your child will have teammates that they find easier and harder to be friends with.  It is paramount, however, that everyone is cordial and can work together, even if there are certain parents that would not choose to socialize with each other. 

Remember that you are a role model and mentor for your child and that by modeling how to cooperate and positively coexist with someone that you don't particularly like, you are demonstrating skills that he/she will undoubtedly need throughout their soccer career and life in general.

a.      Avoid being in locations that may exacerbate the conflict before it is resolved.

Leaving the Club

At the end of each season, provided that the player is in good financial standing with the club, the player will be automatically released to join another club should he/she so choose.

In the middle of any season, a player will be released to join any club provided the following conditions are met:

a)     The new club has not broken CalSouth/US Club rules in recruiting the player.

b)    The player is currently in financial good standing with Our Club.

c)     The player has paid 100% of any remaining projected team dues into the team account*

*Although Our Club has no desire to keep or financially punish any player that is unhappy with the club, we also feel that it is unfair to punish the rest of the team by having to pay significantly increased team fees (tournament, per diem, hotels, etc.) if a player chooses not to uphold their original commitment to the team. 

Disciplinary Procedure

In the case of a parent breaking this code of conduct, the discipline procedure is stated below:

1.      For minor infractions, parent will be reminded of the expectations by the coach via email.

2.      For major or repeated minor infractions, a meeting will be arranged with the Coach, parent and DOC in attendance. Witnesses or witness statements will be used as applicable.  Possible disciplinary measures are listed below in a potential order of severity:

a.      Written warning

b.      Probationary period

c.      Suspension from location of practices/games of parent

d.      Suspension from practices/games of player

e.      Removal from club

* Conflict of Interest Policy - Any club staff member or advisory board member will recuse themselves from any proceeding that directly involves their business interests or a member of their family.

Appendix 1

Tryout Policies

All players will tryout in their age group unless previous written permission has been received from the DOC.  Below are the criteria that will be used to determine whether permission to tryout in an older age group will be permitted:

1.      School graduation year - the DOC will automatically allow anyone to try out in their school year group.

2.      The best interests of the development of the player.

3.      The best interests of the development of the other players in the club.

All of the above still require the player to tryout in their own age group and contact the DOC in advance.

The below criteria will be used to determine which team the player trying out up will play for:

1.      The best interests of the player-

a.      Projected playing time on the older team.

b.      Physical suitability to play on the older team.

c.      Social aspect of playing on either team.

2.      The best interests of the other players-

a.      Positive and negative impact on the other players on the younger and older teams.

The DOC, in discussion with the relevant coaches, will make the final determination of which team the player will be offered a place on.

Note: Players not requesting to tryout up may be encouraged to do so by the DOC if it is deemed to be in the player's best interest.  Additionally, players not trying out or making the roster for an older team may still have opportunities to train and/or play with older teams throughout the season.

Appendix 2

Playing Time Policies

The over-riding priority of the Our Club Soccer Club is to develop all players to their potential.  To that end, the following playing time policies exist.  Coaches may have their own team playing time policies, but must adhere to the policies below:

U4-7

1.      We do not expect our coaches to be mathematicians, so this may mean a variation of a few minutes here or there.

2.      In a tournament situation coaches may decide to make playing time even over the course of the tournament rather than game by game.

3.      Any minutes earned as goalkeeper will not necessarily count as minutes in playing time calculations.

4.      Coaches may make reasonable adjustments to playing time based upon disciplinary issues, timekeeping issues or lack of effort.  These will be addressed to the parent and player before the game where possible.

U9-10

 All players will play at least a half.

1.     1.      Coaches may make reasonable adjustments to playing time based upon disciplinary issues, timekeeping issues or lack of effort or attendance.  These will be addressed to the parent and player before the game where possible.

U11-18

Playing time is a reward that must be earned through commitment to practice and performance in games.  All players will play in every game.

1.      Coaches may make reasonable adjustments to playing time based upon disciplinary issues, timekeeping issues or lack of effort.  These will be addressed to the player before the game where possible.