1.           What are the differences between the Intramural Program and the Travel Program offered by your Club?

2.          What are the goals of the Travel Program?

3.           When does the Travel Program start and end?

4.    How old must my child be to play in you Travel Program? Why is there an age limitation?

5.    How does my child join your Travel Program?

6.           When and where are tryouts for the Travel Program held?

7.           How will I know if my child is selected to play on a travel team?

8.           How far do teams travel to play games?

9.           Where and when are games played? 

10.      Where and when are practices held?

11.      How are coaches selected for the Travel Program?

12.      How is playing time determined for children in the Travel Program?

13.      Which league or leagues does your Travel Program participate in?

14.      Do the travel teams attend tournaments? Which ones?

1.           What are the differences between the Intramural Program and the Travel Program offered by your Club? 

There are many differences between the two programs, but the primary differences are as follows:  a) Our Travel Program is a competitive program designed for children that want to develop the skills necessary to play soccer at a very competitive level.  Our Intramural Program is a non-competitive soccer program designed for those children and families that want to participate in soccer and learn basic soccer skills.  b)   The coaches and trainers in our Travel Program are all experienced active or former soccer players and are all licensed by the US Soccer Federation (USSF).  Our Intramural Program utilizes volunteer coaches that may have very limited soccer experience and knowledge.  c)  As a competitive soccer program a high level of commitment is required of the child and thus his or her family to attend training sessions, league games, and tournaments.  It is through training sessions and games that your child will develop the necessary skills required to play the game at a high level.  For children and families unwilling to make that commitment the Intramural Program may be a better fit.

2.            What are the goals of the Travel Program? 

The overarching goal of our Travel Program is to develop youth soccer players that can play and compete at the collegiate level.  This is done by teaching both individual and team soccer skills that are needed to compete at that high level of play.  Our Travel Program focuses on four main areas of player development needed to play the game of soccer:  1) Soccer techniques – teaching the individual skills, e.g. passing, dribbling, receiving, etc.  2) Soccer tactics – teaching the group and team skills and strategies, e.g. defending and attacking, switching the point of attack, systems of play, etc.  3) Conditioning and fitness – insuring that players have the fitness needed to play, e.g. speed, endurance, strength, etc. 4) Soccer psychology – teaching how to deal with the mental aspects of the game, e.g. motivation, attitude, communication, etc.  We seek to place our players and our teams in environments where they are challenged, but can reasonably compete. We believe that winning will be a by-product of our development efforts with the players and the team.

3.           When does the Travel Program start and end?

A travel season as defined by US Youth Soccer runs from August 1 to July 31.  However, our pre-high school age teams, age groups U-8 to U-14, typically play a ten month season, starting in mid-August and running through mid-June.  Our high school age teams, age groups U-15 to U-18, typically play an eight month season starting in late November, when high school soccer seasons end, and running through mid-June.  Teams in the U-8 to U-14 age groups typically play in two outdoor seasons, one in the fall and one in the spring.  The seasons are usually 8 to 10 games in length and start the weekend after Labor Day in the fall and end mid-November.  The spring season usually starts late March (weather and field conditions permitting) and ends in mid-June.  Teams in the U-15 to U-18 age groups typically start training in late November and may participate in some fall tournaments and college showcases while the weather is still moderate.  The U-15 to U-18 teams play in the spring outdoor season which runs concurrently with the younger age groups spring outdoor season.  All age groups train indoors at the Rockland Community College field house and participate in indoor tournaments during the winter months.  Some teams may participate in indoor winter leagues as well.

4.           How old must my child be to play in the Travel Program?  Why is there an age limitation?

Children must be at least seven years old before the start of the travel season that they will participate in.  For example, children wishing to participate in the 2007-08 travel season must be at least seven by July 31, 2007 (born before July 31, 2000).  The age limitation of playing competitive travel soccer comes from US Youth Soccer, which is one of the governing bodies of the US Soccer Federation (USSF) for youth soccer.  Our Club is a member of US Youth Soccer and thus must follow their rules and policies.  Although there has been considerable debate about this topic amongst the experts on youth soccer and player development, US Youth Soccer believes a child will develop a better appreciation and love for the game of soccer and thus improve his or her development in a non-competitive environment during the younger years.   If your child does not meet the age requirement, please consider entering him or her into our Intramural Program which will allows players entering the first grade in the fall to participate.

5.            How does my child join your Travel Program? 

As a competitive soccer program, we hold tryouts for our travel teams each season.  At the tryouts, candidates are evaluated for their athleticism, soccer skills, and aptitude for the game.  All of our tryouts are run by our licensed coaches and trainers.  Occasionally teams may be looking to add players to their roster in mid-season and may invite candidates to participate in a number of team training sessions.  Based on those training sessions, the coach will determine if there is a good fit for the child to join their team.

6.   When and where are tryouts for the Travel Program held?

Initial tryouts for the pre-high school age groups, U-8 to U-14, are held in May for the upcoming season that starts in the fall.  Tryouts for the high school age groups, U-15 to U-18, are held in November prior to the start of indoor practice and the spring season.  Specific initial tryout dates and times as well as other detailed information is posted on this web site a few weeks prior to the tryout dates.  Additionally, we advertise our tryouts in the local Rockland and surrounding area newspapers.  Our tryouts are held at Kennedy Dells Park on Zukor Road in North New City.  After the initial tryout sessions, each team coach will typically hold additional tryout sessions or practice sessions before making a determination about a candidate’s ability and the fit within the team.  Children that have either missed the initial tryout sessions or are looking to join a travel team in mid-season may contact travel@cscsoccer.org .  

7.            How will I know if my child is selected to play on a travel team? 

After the initial tryout sessions and any additional sessions, the head coach for the team will contact the parent or guardian of the child either via telephone or e-mail and discuss the results of the player’s tryout.  For the teams in the U-8 to U-14 age group, these discussions may not take place until after the current season ends which is in mid-June. 

8.           How far do teams travel to play games? 

Most league away games are within a 30 to 45 minute car ride from New City, NY.  A few may be as far as one hour away.  Tournament games and State Cup games may require additional travel.  For the Memorial Day weekend, the Club attends a tournament that typically requires overnight lodging.  

9.           Where and when are games played?  

Our home games are played at local fields: Kennedy Dells Park, Zukor Park, Rockland Country Day School, and Felix Festa Middle School.  Away games are played at the opponents facilities.  Our home indoor tournament and indoor league games are played in the Eugene Levy Field House at Rockland Community College (RCC). As noted in question 8 above, most league away games are played within a 30 to 45 minute drive of New City.  League games are scheduled on the weekends, but occasionally there may be a mid-week make-up game.   Start times of games vary based in the schedule developed by the league in which the team is participating.

10.      Where and when are practices held?

Practices are held at our home facilities listed in question 8 above.  The time, duration and frequency of the teams’ practices are determined by the head coach.  Most teams practice in mid-week and hold practice a minimum of twice a week during the season, but may add additional sessions if needed for tournament of State Cup play preparation.   During the winter, training sessions may be less frequent depending on availability of the Rockland Community College Field House and other indoor facilities.

11.      How are coaches selected for the Travel Program?  What qualifications do they have? 

The coaches and trainers in our Travel Program are all experienced active or former soccer players and are all licensed by the US Soccer Federation (USSF).  Many of our coaches also coach at the State ODP level, and at local high schools and colleges in the Rockland, Orange County and Northern NJ area.  Coaches for the Travel program are recommended by the Club’s Competition Committee, which is comprised of the Club’s most senior and tenured coaches and trainers, and approved by the Board of Trustees.  Those experienced and licensed individuals seeking a coaching position should submit a resume of their coaching and playing experience and education to the Competition Committee.  That committee will review the candidate’s qualifications and may ask the candidate to run one or two training sessions that they can observe.  Based on that review and observation, the Competition Committee will make a recommendation to the Club’s Board of Trustees to either approve or deny the candidate.  The Club also has a coaches’ mentoring program, in which younger and less experienced coaches may work as an assistant coach with a more experienced head coach for a few seasons, so they can gather the experience and knowledge needed to take on a head coaching position.

12.      How is playing time determined for children in the Travel Program? 

As a competitive soccer program, the amount of playing time in a match is not guaranteed.  Coaches will determine playing time based on a number of factors including the player’s ability and commitment, the level of the competition, the opposing team’s strengths and weaknesses, and the match situation.  As a Club focused on player development, we believe match-play is an important component of that development and we encourage all of our coaches to find opportunities for all players to contribute to the team and develop their skills in match-play.

13.      Which league or leagues does your Travel Program participate in? 

Our travel teams compete in a number of leagues.  Most of our teams participate in the Northern Counties Soccer Association league (www.ncsanj.com ) where over 75 soccer clubs and over 700 teams from the northern New Jersey, Manhattan and Rockland, NY and Orange County, NY areas compete.  Some of our older teams have elected to play in the Mid-Atlantic Premier Soccer (MAPS) league which is part of the Central Jersey Youth Soccer Association (CJYSA) (www.cjysa.org ).   Our teams also participate in the Counties United Soccer League (CUSL), which is comprised of local New York state teams that wish to play in New Jersey leagues, but also wish to participate in the State Cup tournament run by Eastern New York Youth Soccer under US Youth Soccer.

14.      Do the travel teams attend tournaments? Which ones? 

To supplement the match play that a team experiences in their league, our travel teams participate in a number of tournaments during the year.  Many teams participate in Labor Day, Columbus Day, and Memorial Day Tournaments during the outdoor season.  Our teams also play indoor tournaments during the winter, including our own Clarkstown Invitational Soccer Tournament held on Sunday’s in January and February at the Rockland Community College Field House.  With the exception of the Memorial Day tournament, each head coach decides which tournaments to attend based on the team’s needs.  For the Memorial Day weekend, the Club selects a tournament to be attended by all teams.  The tournament selected usually supports a wide range of age groups and a wide range of competitive brackets so that all Club teams can find a suitable bracket for their team to compete in.   For the past several years the Club has attended the Virginian Tournament in northern Virginia as it meets the criteria stated above.