Players and Parents

LHYSA Policies & Procedures for Players & Parents

Your child’s safety is our top priority

The safety of the children is LHYSA’s first priority. Not only do we work to keep our facilities safe, we also take certain steps to be sure that children are safe in the care of our volunteers. All coaches and assistant coaches, referees, and members of the Board of Directors have completed comprehensive background checks through Kidsafe.

Please review all LHYSA Policies & Procedures:

Park Rules
Volunteer Requirements
Team Assignments
Attendance Requirements
Medical Release
Practice & Game Day Essentials
Conduct
Game Cancellations
Laws of the Game

View the complete Parent Handbook

Keep Sundance Fields clean and safe for children

  • Never allow your children to climb or hang from soccer goals or nets.
  • No pets are permitted in the park at any time.
  • Dispose of all trash in the receptacles provided.
  • No smoking, tobacco products or alcoholic beverages are permitted.
  • No glass containers.
  • Park only in designated parking areas.

Volunteer Requirements

LHYSA is an orgnization run completely by volunteers. Members of the Board of Directors and Coaching Staff are not compensated for their time. Therefore, it is essential to the continued success of the organization that all parents volunteer in some capacity.

Parents may volunteer to serve as Coach or Assistant Coach, pending their approval of the Board of Directors. Parents may also volunteer for field maintenance, concession stand duty, fundraising, and special events. A Volunteer Log is maintained by the Board noting the contributions of LHYSA families.

Those parents unable to volunteer their time to the organization may pay $50 per family to exempt them from participation. The fee is due at the time of registration.

Team Assignments

Creating teams that are fairly balanced is the first priority of LHYSA. In order to achieve that goal, the Board of Directors requires parents to accurately complete the registration form paying special attention to questions regarding their player’s experience, physical size and date of birth.

Beginning spring 2009, players in U10, U12 and U19 are required to participate in a Skills Assessment for the purpose of team balancing. This is not a “try out.” In future seasons, only players NEW to the league will be asked to participate in the Assessment. Players returning to LHYSA after the spring 2009 season will not be required to participate in subsequent assessments unless their absence is two consecutive seasons or longer.

It is the intent of the Board of Directors to make participation in soccer as convenient as possible for LHYSA families, without jeopardizing the fair balancing of teams. Therefore, the Boad will do its best to accommodate the following parent requests when it comes to team assignments:

  • Assign siblings to the same team ONLY if they are eligible to play in the same age division. (See age chart)
  • Assign players to teams that practice on days requested by parents. Coaches set their own practice times prior to the registration deadline so that this request may be considered when making team assignments.

The Board’s first priority is to fairly balance teams. However, it may consider a parent’s request for a specific coach if an explanation is provided on the registration form as to why the child should be assigned to the coach. The Board does not guarantee that a coaching request will be honored.

Attendance at Practice and Games

LHYSA players are expected to attend all practices and games. When a player does not attend, the absence hurts the entire team. During games, it means remaining players must go longer without breaks increasing the risks of dehydration, fatigue and serious injury. When a player misses practice, he or she misses valuable instruction, physical conditioning and team strategy, which is critical to the team’s performance on game day.

Because LHYSA plays small-sided games to allow everyone significant playing time, teams are small. In many cases, only two or three extra players are assigned to each team. When a player is absent, the rest of the team must work harder to be successful.

If a player is ill or is unable to attend practice, the coach should be notified at least three hours prior to the scheduled starting time. If a player is unable to participate on game day, the coach should be notified no later than the day before the game, or in cases of illness, three hours prior to game time. A coach may limit playing time during a game for those players who do not attend practice without a reasonable explanation.

Medical Release

Parents must complete and sign the Medical Release included on the registration form. A parent who does not complete and sign the form will not be permitted to leave the child during practice or games in the care of LHYSA staff. If a non-life-threatening injury should occur, emergency personnel and local hospitals will not begin treatment unless there is written authorization.

Should an accident occur during practice or a game, LHYSA maintains medical insurance on each enrolled player. The insurance is intended to serve as a second policy to the family’s primary insurance. Your coach and a Board member should be notified immediately of any injury requiring medical treatment.

For insurance purposes, only currently enrolled LHYSA players are permitted to participate in scheduled practice sessions or games on Sundance Fields.

Practice and Game Day Essentials

  • All players must wear shin guards at every practice and game. Coaches and referees will not permit your child to participate in soccer activities without them.
  • Soccer cleats are permitted, but not required. Tennis shoes are acceptable.
  • Players must bring a soccer ball to practice: Size 3 for U6 and U8, Size 4 for U10 and U12 and Size 5 for U14 and older.
  • Water bottle.
  • Parents will be asked to provide drinks and snacks for their teams (U6 and U8) on game days on a rotating schedule coordinated by your Team Parent. Snacks are optional for U10, U12, U19, but all players should bring water bottles to practice and games.
  • For U8, U10 and U12: Your Team Parent will coordinate a rotating schedule for parents to volunteer to serve as line judges on game days. Line judges call out of bounds on the sidelines. LHYSA provides a Center Referee. For U6: coaches serve as referees. For U18: Center Referee and two Assistant Referees are provided.
  • Uniforms are provided by LHYSA. Please take proper care of your child’s uniform by washing jerseys inside out in cold water and hanging to dry. Shorts and socks may be washed in cold water and dried on low heat. Save uniforms for game days.
  • Coaches, parents and players should stand or be seated at least three feet away from the edge of the field during play. Spectators must enjoy the game from the side of the field opposite teams and coaches. Teams and coaches will be located in the area where benches are provided. On Fields #1 and #2, spectators may not stand or be seated in the area between the parking lot and the goals.

Conduct

To promote a healthy and safe learning environment, LHYSA has adopted rules of conduct for players, parents and coaches. During practice sessions, coaches are encouraged to use a form of time out to discipline uncooperative players. During games, the Progressive Discipline System will be utilized. The penalty point system described in the Parent Handbook is an attempt to discourage violent play and misconduct.

Game Cancellations

Games may be cancelled due to inclement weather. In such case, your coach will notify you by phone at least one hour prior to your scheduled game. Rainouts may be rescheduled if time permits. Notice of cancellations will also be posted on this web site and subscribers to our e-mail list will be notified by e-mail.

Laws of the Game

The LHYSA Board of Directors and Coaching Staff have adopted the FIFA Laws of the Game as the basis of our soccer program. We have adopted US Youth Soccer’s modifications of the Laws of the Game for U6 through U12 play. Parents may find those rules online at www.usyouthsoccer.org and may purchase the Handbook for Small-Sided Games at the LHYSA Concession Stand. Liberty Hill soccer coaches and certified referees will be teaching and enforcing these rules.