Please read through it entirely as it contains a lot of information for coaches for this upcoming season. Many details are the same as the past, but as always we try to make improvements so we do have several new things as well – efficiencies we have put into place to hopefully enhance the experience and reduce the work for all of us.

First and foremost, THANK YOU for volunteering to be a youth rec league soccer coach for our 2021 rec league season. We really appreciate it and it we will do what we can to ensure you have a good experience. With nearly 1300 players and 120 teams in our rec league, it is quite the undertaking to organize and run, but as a coach you are the key to a great experience for both the players and the parents. We fully know that not everyone has extensive soccer experience so for any coaches that have questions at any time or encounter any difficulties please reach out to us right away. We prefer to take a proactive approach whenever we can.

The first part of our rec season kicks off for our U4-U14 teams in May and our High School League begins mid/late June. We need to wait until the end of the WIAA season to finish for that league to begin. If you have any involvement at the High School rec team level we will be sending info on that at a later date.

Let’s start off with who to go to with questions:

· U6 Coed and U7-U14 Boys Teams: Luke Newman is our Rec League Director (and also VP of the Club) and can be reached at recdirector@fondysoccer.com or via phone at 920.979.4283 and organized all the teams for U6 Coed and the U7-U14 Boys teams.

· U4/U55 Coed and U7-U14 Girls Teams: Chad Collett organized the U5 Coed and the U7-U14 Girls Teams and can be reached at president@fondysoccer.com or via phone at 920.539.6059.

Below are a few key areas I want to make you aware of. I know the #1 thing on everyone’s mind is the rosters. We had 800+ special requests for team placement. Try to imagine putting that puzzle together. Some people requested coaches that are not coaching (or were not signed up yet), some requested to play with players who were (a) not signed up (b) were in a different age group, and for some teams we frankly had too many requests for a single team that exceeded the max roster size so could not accommodate. Bottom line, Luke and I want you all to know that we spent a month putting these teams together by hand vs letting a program do it randomly. We know we were not able to grant every request so we hope that you see you teams, and will make the best experience for those players.

Registration Software – Demosphere:

· Home for your Rosters + Schedule + Communication for Teams: For those who have coached with us in the past, you know it as a bit of a manual process to get your rosters, your schedule, and reach out to your teams. This new portal launched in 2019 will help streamline that process. When we send out team communications, you will get two emails if you are a parent + a coach inviting you to the portal. One as an Admin (Coach) and one as a parent. This portal has a lot of exciting features:

• Game Schedules: Although your game schedules are in your TeamNet calendar you can also view all team schedules via the Demosphere Team Schedule Page. From here you can navigate through your age group, to your team page. Please feel free to share this URL with friends, family, etc who want to know where and when your games are. If by any chance we do change a game time or field for your team, you will get an email notification from the system this has occurred. Your schedule will also be updated automatically on this page and in your TeamNet calendar. This is a significant upgrade from our old way of doing it so hope you enjoy it!
• Get Your Full Roster Contact Info: Via the TeamNet App you don’t have access to email addresses, phone numbers, etc. But as a coach you can access that info in Demosphere. Login to your Account.
  • Once you are in, under “My Account Information” you will see a tab for “My Teams” – When you click on that tab it will show you any teams you are assigned to with a hyperlink (on team name) to the full roster and contact info for your team. It is a good idea to have this should you need to reach out to a specific parent directly via email or phone.
• Admin Rights: Only coaches have admin rights but if you have a parent willing to help out and run this, you can give them admin rights to the team page on the Members section.
• If you coach multiple teams: Your dashboard will have portals to each team page.
• TeamNet App: Everything you can do on TeamNet page you can do on the App. Plus, even though there is not text messages, if parents have the TeamNet App on their phone they will get instant notifications of your messages.
• Communication Tools: You can email your team through this app and also include any additional “members” you want to. This is perfect for families that want to add people to the communications (i.e. Grandma always drops off or picks up so needs to know times). You can use this to change times, change fields, send out any communications you want. It does NOT currently include text messaging.
• Calendar: This calendar will automatically have your scheduled games on it including date, time, opponent, and field location. You can also add your practices to this calendar or other team events you may do. For practices and games, communications go out to parents to tell them about them and asks them to RSVP so you will know if any players will not be attending a specific practice, game, etc.

More info…

· Jerseys: The Fond du Lac Soccer Association utilizes Hopper’s in Fond du lac for our player jerseys. We will keep you informed as we lock in the date they will be ready. Your players will need to provide their own shorts, soccer socks, shin guards, and ball.

· Coaches Shirt: All coaches will also get a coach t-shirt. You will be able to pick that up, when you pick up your team jerseys at Hopper’s.

· Rosters: Please reach out to your team and introduce yourself. Parents will be able to email you via the TeamNet portal so if you don’t, I am sure they will. You can be brief to start in your intro email and ramp up information as the season gets closer.

· Coaches Meeting: Similar to the past, we have moved to a full digital meeting so we do not hold in-person coaches meeting anymore with a packet handout. We put together this short presentation you can view instead and we will be sending that out next week which will contain A LOT more information. Also, for any coaches that do have questions you want you can contact either Luke or I.

· Practices: We do not schedule your practices. You can conduct them at a date/time that works best for your team. All fields at the Fond du Lac Soccer Complex are first come, first serve. We do ask that each team practice at least once per week. If you do need to cancel a specific week, please try to make it up if you can.

Risk Management Pass:

· WYSA Background Check: We do need ALL coaches who are currently not holding an active coaches card or has a current risk management card to complete this online application for a risk management card. Note when you do this you will need to include a headshot photo of yourself. This card is valid for two years and costs $15. Once you complete this application, you can submit an expense reimbursement if you wish and we will send you a check or apply a credit to your account in Demosphere towards a future program.

Registration to volunteer coach can be done within the Demosphere system. Simply click on the 2021 Summer Rec League and register "as a volunteer". This can be done as a stand alone act, or at the time you register a player.