Monday, Jan 26th - CAYA Parent Meeting Presentation + Rosters

Dear CAYA Families,

Thanks again to those who attended the meeting on Thursday evening. We have received a tremendous amount of support for these changes and we are excited to for the spring season to begin.

Click HERE to view the PowerPoint presentation from Thursday evening’s CAYA Parent Meeting. It combines both age groups and provides a basic overview of the plans for the spring.

Click HERE to view the GAME rosters for the spring season. As explained training groups will be different. Please keep in mind that players develop at vastly varying rates. Over the years I have seen players go from the 3^rd team at U11 classic go on to make ECNL teams and boys who were the best player in the age group at U11 lose all motivation and drop out of the game because others caught them and surpassed them in ability. Players develop at vastly varying rates and it is unfair to compare them to other players as this young age. It is expected that as kids they will say “well why does that player get this or he/she get that? However, as adults we must steer them on the right path and explain that it is consistent hard work and application over time that allows to work towards fulfilling our potential.

Please note players included in the NCYSA YA academy pool for the spring who were not YA players in the fall MUST complete the NCYSA waiver and get to your regional director by Thursday's practice at the latest. The waiver form can be found on the left side of the blog.

FAQ's

How do the mixed/balanced teams work?

The tiered training format from this fall worked well and feel strongly that players of similar abilities should train together in order to be develop. We will continue with this method as the main format for training. However, we will also utilize other formats too in order to keep training fun and engaging for the players. The game structure from the fall we felt was lacking in terms of competition. Our young players are being tested and challenged in practice but not in the games. We want to shift away from the team centric mentality that was developing and shine the spot light on individual improvement. The new format for the spring will see players competing against players whom they may consider their equal and will now have to find ways of winning the 1v1 battles, while helping their teammates to be successful. It is a relatively easy prospect to run out on to a field with a lot of good players and play against a lower level team. Everyone does their jobs and you are fine.
 

We are trying to create an environment whereby the players determine their own destiny and hopefully experience some success and some failure, which is vital to growth. Each player’s performance in training and games will determine the group within which they train in on a weekly basis. We have flexibility in training to monitor, adjust and create environments for players to grow and be challenged.

 

Below are  answers to some FAQ's that hopefully will help paint a better picture of the spring changes.

I am concerned my child playing with players of a lesser ability will affect their development?

The fall system limited our player’s opportunities since we were so team centric. We feel our players need to be challenged and have different experiences because they are so young.  Just being on a winning team that runs up the score on their opponents, may feel good, but is not the best thing for all of those players.  By creating balanced teams, players will need to find more ways of impacting the game and helping their team to be successful.  The goal is to bring more out of our players naturally by creating the right environment for them to be successful and also learn from their mistakes.

Why do you wait to tell us about these changes when we have already registered?
With the re-registration process for CAYA we are unable to proactively plan ahead until we know who is and is not returning. The CAYA staff have spent a lot of time and effort evaluating and trying to find areas to improve the environment for our young players to have fun, work hard and grow on and off the field.

Will all of the current North U10 White team be promoted to NCYSA YA?  

There will be a pool of 27 players. There were 24 players in the North U10 boy’s pool and this number will only increase slightly due to the change in format (8v8 to 7v7) and desire to put players in the best possible environment developmentally. This will see the strongest players from the North U10 White Boys team being added into the NCYSA YA.

Will there be any spring tournaments for U9/U10 CAYA teams?

None of our CAYA teams will be playing in tournaments this spring. We feel with the schedule we have put together from both a training and game perspective will provide ample opportunities for our players. As they move up the youth soccer ladder and get older there will be plenty of tournaments for them.

How will you relay the information to the players?

Rosters will be unveiled tonight (Monday, Jan 26^th) following practice via a link on the blog which will list each roster for the spring season. The directors will speak to the players at practice to discuss the changes and the reason for them. We understand that there will be players who are disappointed and potentially upset. However, we would like to reiterate that we have made these changes with each player’s best interests at heart. There are two ways of looking at everything and we hope that our young players will see the greater challenges that will be presented to them and embrace the opportunity to try and conquer them.

Thank you for your support of the program,

The CAYA Staff