General Information – 4U / 5U Programs
There are 3 time slots on Saturday mornings. The season will start in early September and continue for 8 weeks. Players meet only once per week, for one hour, most likely on Saturday mornings.
Find yourself on the roster to see when to show up and which team to play with.
The objective is to provide young players and their parents with a pressure-free introduction to the beautiful and simple game of soccer. At this age, players will be exposed to soccer by playing simple, fun activities and games that require little or no practice and a minimal time commitment.
The focus is on improving fundamental motor skills in a fun, parent participatory atmosphere, utilizing age-appropriate activities and storybook adventures. Your player will hop, skip, jump, run, throw, balance, kick and play, building a foundation for sports success.
Note: Playground is NOT a mini-World Cup experience. Your child will not be playing actual soccer games. This program is heavy on motor skills development and not on competitive soccer. Come enjoy watching your little one have fun running and kicking a ball.
Key Points
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- No practices during the week.
- Players meet only once per week, for one hour on Saturday mornings.
- When: Usually, 3 Saturday sessions: 8am-9am, 9am-10am, and 10am-11am.
- There are typically 3 U4 teams and 4 U5 teams per session.
- Find yourself on the roster to see when to show up and which team to play with.
- Where: Victory park – see orientation briefing for details
- Registered players are randomly assigned to a team and session. Sessions are led by professional trainers.
- Some requests to change teams can be accommodated up to season start -2 weeks (if a kid changes teams, that means another kid has to be moved to maintain team balance. all families affected need to be ok with the move)
- Every session ends on scrimmages between players of each team
- There are 8 weekends of activities spread over 8 weekends in the Fall.
- The dates for Fall 2023 are tentatively 9/9/2023 through 10/28/2023 (with one rain day just in case: 11/04/2023).
- Parents do not need to formally apply to volunteer or be trained to coach or referee.
- However, parents are expected to sign up to do a casual volunteer task once per season – sign up lists are available via google docs here: orientation briefing.
- two simple volunteer tasks are available for the taking: snacks for the team, or signup/“coach” assistant
- You can coach a team yourself in a year or two, in 6U.
- All parents are expected to be available to help trainers in some of the sessions by pairing up with their kids.
- Each player will receive a trophy at the end of the season.
Each player receives a uniform (jersey, shorts & socks), since it is part of the fun to get dressed up for “the game”. The uniforms are identical for all players. Each player should have their own ball (size 3), shin guards, and a water bottle. Shin guards are mandatory. Soccer cleats nice to have, though are not required.
Uniforms for the Fall of 2023 will be distributed directly to parents from the Region 13 Clubhouse (in Altadena). Dates are TBD.