SASC Recreational Soccer Program

The purpose of recreational youth soccer in SASC is the development of the soccer playing ability of the child. Safety, fun, excitement, and player skill development are the primary focus of the program. Regardless of the ability of a child, everyone deserves an equal chance to play and to learn in a safe, positive, and supportive environment.

SASC also offers a higher level of play within its Competitive Program.

Sunnyvale Alliance is currently offering these great programs for recreational players:

• Presentation material from Spring 2023 Coaches meeting 3/1/23


• General Information for Parents
• General Information for Coaches


• BYGA home page
SASC uses BYGA for online team management. Your games and practice schedule will be loaded there and made available for syncing to your mobile devices. All email communication from your coach and the league will come via BYGA, so it is important to make sure your contact information is kept up to date.


• Age Group Rules
• Game Schedules
• Important Dates


• Frequently Asked Questions


• Player Registration page
• Coach Registration page


• Risk Management Guidelines

The SASC Recreational program is a volunteer-driven league. All team coaches are volunteers - in most cases a parent of a player on the team. Please consider being your child's coach! There are many other ways for parents to help their child's team - please check with your team's coach to see what assistance you can provide.

Teams will be formed based on age divisions to be established by SASC prior to the beginning of each season. Only those players whose birth dates fall within the age divisions as established by the Rec. Director shall be eligible to participate. Proof of age documentation may be required for players. Age divisions may be combined at the discretion of the registrar. At the time of registration a player may request to "play up" one age division. Players are not allowed to "play down" in a younger age division. Registration of a player in the wrong division as a result of misinformation on the registration form may result in the player not being assigned to a team in the correct age division. If the error is found early enough, attempts will be made to place the child on a team in the correct division.

Team assignments within an age/gender division are done by evaluating specific player preferences first, then by other factors such as: school, geographic distribution, and date of registration. No one is guaranteed a place on a specific team. Age Group Coordinators and the SASC Rec. Director may make changes to any team rosters to balance and improve fair play across an age division.

Important - SASC recreational players may not be registered on any other team during the season. This especially includes competitive teams for any club.

SASC contracts with the City of Sunnyvale for the use of its fields for practice and games. The City of Sunnyvale may close the fields if they feel that the conditions are not suitable for use, forcing the club to cancel practices or games. If fields are closed we must honor the decision, or risk losing our future access to the fields.

Furthermore, SASC may decide to cease any soccer activity if conditions are deemed to be unsafe or inappropriate for play (e.g. Air quality). You can also check field status at city parks with the City of Sunnyvale Parks and Recreation Turf hotline at (408) 730-7585.

If you do not confirm a cancellation you should go to the field for your game at the scheduled time. If conditions deteriorate prior to or during the game, it is the referee and coach's responsibility to suspend and/or terminate the game. The decision to suspend or terminate the game will be based on an evaluation of the conditions, the danger to the players or potential for damage to the field. DO NOT attempt to play games on days when cancellations have been announced.

Due to the difficulties of rescheduling games and in conformance with our policy of not guaranteeing a set number of games, the Club will not schedule makeup games due to cancellations of any nature. However, we do encourage coaches to make arrangements with their opponents to play during the week in lieu of one of their scheduled practices.

At no time can coaches decide to cancel a game (except for game-day weather conditions described above). Every effort should be made to play each game - even if a an assistant coach manages the game, or if a team is short a few players. SASC has commitments with its referees, including referee mentors for refs-in-training, and it's very disruptive (and expensive) for games to be canceled without a lot of notice.

My child has no prior soccer experience, can they play?

• Yes, definitely! We welcome players of all skill levels.

My child is 4, can they play?

• Yes, players as young as 4 can play in our League. Please see specific birth date requirement on the registration page.
  We also have our Sunnyvale4Soccer classes which are targeted to 4-5 year olds who are new to the game of soccer.

What's the difference between Sunnyvale4Soccer and Recreational Soccer League?

• Sunnyvale4Soccer is a series of classes taught by SASC for beginner 4-5 year old players, held on Wednesday afternoons.
• The Recreational Soccer League is comprised of parent-coached teams, with mid-week practices and scheduled games on Saturdays.

What coach training is available?

• We supply multiple layers of coach training to our volunteer coaches! We have a preseason meeting, plus on-field training, we also offer assistance at a team practice and game assistance and feedback. We will do all we can to assist our volunteer coaches to be highly successful!

What are the game formats? Are they going to play ‘real’ Soccer?

• We will be implementing small sided games per US Soccer recommendations for the youngest players. Check this page for the anticipated game formats and rules.

Is a uniform included? What other items are required?

• A uniform (to keep!) is included with all League registrations. Parents need to provide soccer shin guards and an appropriately sized ball for their player. Cleats are optional, sneakers can be worn.

When will we hear from our coach?

• Coaches will contact registered players about two weeks before the first game. Each coach determines the practice time and location based on their availability.

Practices

• Teams will practice at a time and location determined by the team's coach. SASC guidance is for up to 60 minute practices once a week for up to U10, and possibly longer or twice a week for older age groups.

Where will the games be held?

• Most age groups will play 'in-house' and play on fields within the City of Sunnyvale. For the older age groups (U12+) our teams may participate in a 'play-through' league which means we play against other clubs in the South Bay area, which will require travel to away games.