Next to the players on the field, coaches and
referees are the most critical components of a soccer club.
Without these people no game could be played. Every winter the
head coach works the phone lines to contact those individuals
who have volunteered to direct a team. Sometimes there are not
enough volunteers, and that’s where the greatest challenge
occurs.
Thanks to Board initiatives put in place years
ago, all coaches are enrolled in coaching clinics, which are
paid by member fees. Coaches are encouraged to take additional
coaching clinic courses at the expense of the Club. The Carleton
Place Soccer Club also provides preseason clinics as part of
on-going soccer coaching instruction for new and returning coaches.
Coaches and those members of the Club who work
directly with players are required to undergo a screening process.
A check is conducted by the OPP. The Club Screening Officer
and the President review the information confidentially. The
goal of this exercise is to provide a high level of security
to children in our Club. Before this process became mandatory
in 2004, the Club’s Directors underwent the checks as
a sign of their support for this Ontario Soccer Association
initiative. Coaches were then asked to follow suit.
Now that you are a coach, there are 3 main
areas within the Club to apply your skills.
Many coaches get involved during the Soccer School years. Here
the youngest players in the Club are exposed to soccer in a
formal setting. The emphasis is on learning basic skills and
the concept of the game. Soccer School, which is strongly supported
by Tim Horton’s, is mostly about fun
The Soccer Club has playing opportunities at
recreational and competitive teams for all players at age level
under 10 (U10) and up. The Goulbourn Lanark Soccer League (GLSL)
is a recreational league. It starts at under 8, and is composed
of teams from Stittsville, Almonte, Munster, Richmond, and Carleton
Place. The GLSL plays one game a week and the Club provides
a scheduled field for one practice a week.
The ERSL is a competitive league that draws
teams from across eastern Ontario. Its goal is to develop soccer
skills and play to its highest level. A single weekly game is
often supported by 2 practices a week and individual training.
ERSL coaches must have additional coaching credentials, the
cost of which the Club reimburses to coaches. The most successful
teams in the ERSL are encouraged to play at a regional level
and hopefully, down the road, feed players to the provincial
and national soccer teams. All of these leagues consider themselves
to be developmental.
Both the GLSL and ERSL help to build fitness
and sporting play. They require commitment of time and energy.
No matter the outcome of the season record, soccer and all sports
contribute to building self-esteem. Under the direction of a
dedicated coach, players acquire many of the building blocks
of a successful individual. Coaching is a great responsibility
and these volunteers deserve our support, appreciation and respect.
It can be quite funny, and sometimes sad, to
sit at a soccer game and hear comments from the sidelines about
referees and the calls that they make. You might think that
everyone on the sidelines just read The Laws of the Game, which
govern play. Unfortunately, every once and awhile, the volume
button goes up and the fun can be taken out of the game.
The Soccer Club also trains referees, like
coaches. Professional instructors put referee candidates through
a rigorous 15-hour course with testing. The goals of a referee
should be to provide a safe and sporting playing environment
with the minimum of interference. These are the same goals that
parents and supporters should display, too. New referees are
watched by experienced referees to point out strengths and weaknesses
and to offer support.
The Soccer Club is always on the lookout for
adult referees, too. Adult referees bring confidence and maturity
to the field that a 14-year-old referee is still developing.
The Club provides training, a uniform (except shorts) and all
supplies. The Club even reimburses referee registration fees
once a minimum number of games has been completed. Referees
do get paid. The Club pay scale is competitive with clubs in
both leagues but no one becomes rich as a referee at this level.
For most adult referees it is about putting something back into
the community and the game that they love. There is also an
upside in improved fitness.
Younger referees are usually players, too.
They are earning their summer job money in front of often emotional,
excited crowds. Their job is difficult at the best of times.
No one would hassle a hard-working teenager serving a customer
in a store so please, treat the referee as you would your own
child on the field. Remember to thank a referee after a game,
it’s the best words a spectator can say to the referee.
The referee corps is managed by the Head Referee
and is ably assisted by the Scheduler and a Paymaster. Their
jobs are well described by their titles, but the titles don’t
indicate the hours given freely by these people to the Club
and the community. The Club relies on 40 referees to cover 500
games a season, in good weather and bad, and sometimes on very
little notice.
The Club needs more referees. If you want more
information on refereeing, please contact Head Referee Irv Emmanuel,
256 – 6751.
