Questions and Answers

Questions & Answers

What equipment does my child need for soccer? 
   

What are my registration fees used for? 
Every year over 800 players are registered to play outdoor and indoor soccer in Morinville. A lot of work goes into making it a memorable season for each of these players. 

Our registration fees are used to provide soccer to our registered members. Fees are paid by everyone and cover our program costs. All soccer associations basically have the same costs.  

Soccer registration fees do not pay:
    Coaches - all coaches are volunteers.
    Executive Committee members - they are also volunteers.
    Board of Director members - these folks are volunteers too.

Soccer registration fees pay: 

• Indoor soccer field or gym rentals for games and practices.
• Alberta Soccer Association and Canadian Soccer Association compulsory fees for membership and insurance.
• Tri-County league fees, St. Albert league fees and Edmonton league fees - fees associated with each of the leagues in which we play.
• Coach training related fees: instructor fees for coach courses, gym and meeting room rentals, coach packages, soccer program information packages.
• Referee fees, ASA instructor fees for referee courses, gym and meeting room rentals for training courses.
• Alberta Soccer Rural or Cities Provincials participation fees.
• Soccer's portion of administrative costs including: P.O. Box and equipment storage rental, accounting services, meeting rooms, webpage, postage, printing/photocopying, advertising, electronic payment and registration systems and other administrative fees.
• Jerseys for players and referees.
• Equipment - balls, bags, corner flags, mesh & pop-up nets, first aid kits, cones, ice packs, etc.
• Medals for our younger players.
• Outdoor field rentals and services with the Town of Morinville
• Facility rentals for referee courses, coach & player clinics and player assessments.
• Meeting Room and gym rentals for Executive Committee meetings, coach meetings and training, team, and various other meetings.
• Costs associated with registration, such as: print and sign advertising, printing of forms and information packages, electronic payment and registration systems, credit card fees.

Why does registration start and end so early? 
Between the end registration and when the players go onto the fields there are many tasks to do, deadlines to meet and ASA forms to complete.

Once registration closes we are able to determine how many potential teams we can have this season. Regardless of how many players register, without volunteer coaches we cannot have teams. Some years we may need extra coaches at a particular level. We try and recruit more coaches. If we are unable to find enough coaches we have the unpleasant task of telling some players they are unable to play this season.

Once we have enough coaches we can start dividing the players into teams. At some levels we may have multiple teams so we do player assessments to try and balance skill level between the teams. Many hours go into balancing teams during team selection.

There are also coaches to train. Criminal Record Checks to gather. Referees to train. Equipment to hand out. Schedules to make.

Everything is done by volunteers who have full-time jobs and families.

When can we go on the outdoor sports fields? 
The Town of Morinville determines when the fields are ready for the sports teams. Depending on weather conditions we can generally be on the fields the first week of May.

When are U11 to U19 schedules available? 
Our U11 to 19 teams follow the schedules prepared by the host leagues in which we play. 

When are U3, U5, U7, and U9 schedules available? 

Before we can form the U3, U5, U7, and U9 games schedule we need to obtain enough volunteer coaches and assistant coaches.
 
Once we have sufficient coaches we can form our teams. Then after we determine the number of teams we are able to develop the games schedule. 

Why do volunteers need to provide a RCMP Criminal Record Checks (CRC)? 
The Alberta Soccer Association requires all soccer volunteers to provide CRC's. Morinville Minor Soccer Club must make all our volunteers' CRCs available to Alberta Soccer and our District.

Morinville RCMP provide CRCs at no cost to soccer volunteers who provide a letter from Morinville Minor Soccer Club which identifies the person as a soccer volunteer. All CRCs are kept on file for three years with MMSC.

Why do coaches need to take a coaching course? 
The Alberta Soccer Association requires all coaches to be trained to the appropriate level at which they are coaching. These courses are designed to help coaches learn soccer skills appropriate to the age level they are coaching. Plus coaches learn techniques which help them coach to children at their teams age level. 

We host courses in Morinville each spring for our soccer coaches. Watch our website around registration time for more information about which courses we are hosting each soccer season. Morinville Minor Soccer Club covers the course costs for our coaches.

Can my child move up an Age Category? 
Morinville Minor Soccer Club will review any and all requests for age movement. However, we are reluctant to move any player out of their age category unless the request is necessary and justified. We believe that a player moving up has a definite disadvantage against older, stronger, and faster children and this may affect the child’s self-esteem and confidence. We are also concerned about the unfair position it puts the team in, by having an underage player on the team. There are also the socialization aspects that you should consider. By that we mean that there is more to being on a child’s soccer team than simply playing soccer. One must consider that there is a certain ‘value’ in your child being able to comfortably associate with others on his/her own team that are of the same mental/emotional/physical level. We would prefer that wherever possible you keep your child in the age group that he/she is supposed to be in. Again, all age movement requests must be made in writing on our Player Movement Request form.

How do I make special requests or report concerns? 
Team or coach related special requests and concerns are to be identified on the original registration form. Morinville Minor Soccer Club will only review team related special requests and concerns submitted during the registration process. Special requests submitted in any format after the registration will not be reviewed. Reviewing a request does not mean a request can be granted. Any Concerns can be addressed by email to Admin@morinvilleminorsoccer.ca or president@morinvilleminorsoccer.ca

What is Tri-County? 
The Alberta Soccer Association (ASA) is the governing body for soccer in Alberta. The ASA has divided the province into 19 soccer districts.  Morinville Minor Soccer Club is part of the Tri-County District which is District 10. The Tri-County Soccer Association is the governing soccer body for the soccer associations located in the Tri-County District. In addition to Morinville, other soccer communities in the Tri-County District include: Ardrossan, Athabasca, Bon Accord, Boyle, Bruderheim, Fort Saskatchewan, Gibbons, Legal, Redwater, Smoky Lake, Riviere Qui Barre, Thorhild, Tofield and Westlock.