Coaches -- looking for a local tournament for your U6 - U10 team to play in this spring?   Check out the Rutland Youth Soccer Association's Mini World Cup.

June 17    Rutland Sports Fields     U6 to U10

Great way to celebrate    Fathers Day
Select your country to represent and join in the parade at noon.
Lunch provided to the teams and each player gets a World Cup Trophy
Two games      Only 100.00     Get it in fast as we fill up quickly.
Deadline June 1

To register, Click here

Team and individual photos will be taken on Wednesday, May 2, and Thursday, May 3, by Basil Cooper Photography.   Location is the Parkinson Rec Centre.   Go to the west end of the front parking lot.   Cross the little bridge to the area under the trees where photos will be taken.  Please be there at least ten minutes before your scheduled time.  All players receive a free Memory Mate (team/individual picture) as part of their registration fees.   There are a wide variety of optional packages available for purchase, as explained in the envelope that will be distributed by coaches in the next week or so.  If you do not want to buy any of the optional items, you do not need to return the envelope to the photo shoot.

To see the schedule for your team, click here:  2012 Photo Schedule

The City of Kelowna has asked us to remind parents to park legally around Dilworth and Lillooet Fields during the Saturday soccer sessions.  Do not park in bicycle lanes on Summit Drive or Dilworth Drive.  Avoid blocking driveways of neighbouring houses.  There is a huge volume of traffic in this area, and parents and children are reminded to be very careful crossing roads, and cutting between parked cars.   Visibility is often limited, and drivers are reminded to proceed slowly and carefully through the areas to ensure kids are safe.

The soccer season is well underway, with 73 teams and 1058 players wearing the blue and white of Kelowna Youth Soccer.  We are still filling a few roster spots, but we are pretty much full in most age groups.  We are gradually notifying those on the waitlist if spots are not available, and refunding fees where applicable.

FOR THOSE WHO HAVE NOT YET PAID THEIR FEES, GET CHEQUES IN THIS WEEKEND.  AS OF APRIL 23, PLAYERS WHOSE FEES ARE NOT PAID WILL NOT BE ALLOWED TO PLAY OR PRACTICE.

The Canadian Soccer Association has been reviewing and revising its programs to try to ensure elite athletes receive the kind of training and development needed to allow them to compete at the highest levels, and recreational athletes will develop their skills and attitudes to the game to enable them to become lifelong participants.  Their Long Term Player Development plan has been adopted nation wide, and will result in some significant changes for players and coaches.

One of the concepts identified in the LTPD is that for our younger players (U12 and younger) who play a small-sided version of the game (8 a side or fewer), less emphasis should be placed on the competitive aspects, and more on development.  They recommend that no scores be recorded, or standings kept, at any level U12 or lower.  This has always been the case up to U10 in our mini-soccer programs.

This week COYSA, the umbrella organization for the five local clubs including KYSA, adopted a change in policy for U11 and U12 programs this year.  They will now be considered mini-soccer programs, as opposed to the Divisional programs they have been in.  No scores will be recorded or submitted, and no standings will be kept at these levels.  They will not participate in Kelowna Cup playoffs in October, but rather will have a mini-Jamboree as in U7-U10.   For this season, there will still be two tiers, Division A (Competitive) and Division B (Recreational), but the same rules will apply to both re scores and standings.

More information will be provided as it becomes available.