Policies and Bylaws

It is the mission of Ames Soccer Club to foster the development of local youth through the sport of soccer. We are dedicated to providing our participants with a fun, high-quality soccer experience that encourages sportsmanship and a love of the game through the development of player, coach, referee and team. (Full text of mission statement)

Have questions about how we do things? This should be the place to find answers. If you don't find what you're looking for, be sure to email or call. In order that you not have to scroll through long text to find what you're looking for, we post links to policies here, rather than all the text. Policies on "playing up" are contained in the Team Formation policies.

Bylaws

Approved December, 2006. You can also download bylaws in Word format.

Child Supervision Policy

Approved September 25, 2007. This policy states that coaches must stay with players whose parents are late to pick them up from practice of games, and gives procedures of what to do if the parents cannot be contacted/located after a reasonable period of time.

Coach Training Policy

Approved October 17, 2007. The goal of the Ames Soccer Club is that every coach within the program holds an appropriate USSF Coaching certificate or license. Toward that end, the club will sponsor appropriate clinics in Ames and pay for all licensures up through the USSF D License for all coaches. All coaches are expected to hold appropriate licenses by the beginning of their second year. Click to read the full policy, including implementation plans and budget implications.

Weather Cancellation Policy

The weather cancellation policy is a bit long, so we published it here.

Recreational Team Formation of the Ames Soccer Club

Please click the next link (and read section 13 in particular) to read the Iowa Soccer Association's policies on team formation. These are the reason that we cannot generally grant request team/coach pairings unless they happen to work out because you go to the same school. Section 13 is also posted below.

Player families may request to have their player removed from a team (e.g., because of a personality conflict), but cannot select which team the player will be placed on.

For Spring 2007, teams from Fall 2006 will be preserved to the extent possible. New players will be added to teams primarily based on school affiliation, though roster balance and coach availability may need to be taken into account.

Beginning with Fall 07, the club intends to move towards 1-year age bracket teams. We plan to start with the U5/U6 age group (and potentially the U7/U8 age group, depending on enrollment). This will allow teams that choose to do so to stay built on the same nucleus of friends for a few years more easily than our current two-year system, and should enhance competitive balance, compared to current practice, where some teams are "old" or "young" based on luck of the draw. There will also be a promise that players may continue on their team from season to season and year to year as long as they sign up on time. (Some adjustments have to take place when team sizes change.) Click here to download the team formation policies to be used for Fall 07 and beyond.

IPSL association and recruiting rules

These regulations are adopted by the IPSL and describe the regulations regarding signing up for teams from one club or another. In short, if you play with a given club (e.g., Ames Soccer Club) the "seasonal year" is for both Fall and Spring. Moving from one club to another requires some substantial paperwork. The clubs have a responsibility not to "recruit" players from another club.

ISA Recreational Team Formation Policy

SECTION 13: RECREATIONAL TEAM FORMATION
Specific guidelines are contained herein for youth recreational team formation and player assignment.

The team formation process will be random in nature. Special requests by players, coaches or parents for specific team assignments are strongly discouraged.
Criteria for player assignment will include NO consideration for the ability of the player or the relative strength of the team.
All forms of recruiting, invitations and tryouts are specifically prohibited at the recreational level. Coaches will have no direct input to or involvement with the assignment of players to their teams.
Minimum half game playing time is mandatory for all Member Organizations in recreational play.
Teams which fail to meet one or more of the rules for Recreational team formation and player assignment specified herein may be considered select in any Association sponsored or sanctioned competitions including tournaments. The team status/eligibility will be determined by the State Office Staff.
The modified rules for small-sided games will be followed. U06 players may be bulk registered as an age group division. U06 will play 3v3. U08 will play 4v4. U10 will play 6v6. U11 and U12 will play 8v8.
Clubs may choose to adopt the “side-by-side” approach to training and games for the U06 and U08 age divisions. In these cases the roster size for U06 will be 10 and U08 will be 12. Games will be played jointly between two (2) teams with two (2) games being played simultaneously. Each team MUST have at a minimum either co-coaches or one head coach and an assistant coach who are always in attendance at training and games. U08 teams choosing this format WILL NOT be eligible for tournament play.

A. For U06, U08, U10 age divisions:

There are no select players or teams in these age divisions. If a Member Organization permits teams to remain together from season to season, the player has the right to stay on the team and the Member Organization must insure that all those rostered players have been contacted and given the opportunity to remain on that team.

New recreational teams and returning teams that need players are formed by one of the following methods:

a. Players are assigned (rostered) to a team by age groups on a territorial basis (neighborhood, schools, precincts, zip codes, etc.)
b. Players are assigned (rostered) to a team by a random draw from one (1) player pool on a territorial basis as stated in (a) above

Players’ names shall not be identified to the coach until the player is placed on the team. Only the Head Coach may request their child be rostered to the team that he/she is coaching. If a person becomes the head coach of a new team formed by the Member Organization in the current season, the coach may request that their child be rostered to the new team he/she is coaching.
Any other method of player assignment or team formation is considered non-recreational and the players on such teams will be registered as select team members with the State Association.

B. For U11 - U19 age groups:

All rules of team formation stated in (A) above apply in these age divisions except: If no players are available in the player pool, Member Organizations may actively seek players of the proper age division to be added to the team as long as no methods are used to assess the ability of the player and:

a. The player is not presently registered on an existing team.
b. The player did not play for a returning recreational team during the previous season

C. Adults

Adult recreational teams are formed by rules adopted by local leagues.

D.A team not formed of players assigned as defined above is considered a select team.

U6-U10 Registration Refund Policy

We realize that sometimes plans change, and every season we get a few requests for refunds. In order to keep our fees as low as possible, we do NOT build in extra fund into the fees to cover the expenses incurred for players that ask for refunds after they have registered, such as the processing fee, the insurance fees, and the marginal costs of coaches we hire. Thus, the board adopted the following refund policy:

Requests for refunds before team formation will receive a full refund, less $10.
Requests for refunds between team formation and the first game will receive a full refund, less $25.
After the first game of the season, no refunds will be granted, save in the case of season-ending injury or illness. Such refunds will come in the form of credits for registration for the following season.

U11-U19 Refund Policy

Signing up for a competitive soccer team is a complex thing, involving tryouts, verbal acceptance, and finally, a deposit of $100. It at least potentially involves excluding another player if/when the small number of teams is full. Thus, the $100 deposit is considered non-refundable for withdraw without exceptional circumstances.

If the balance of fees (that beyond a $100 deposit) has been paid, and the player withdraws before the first tournament or league game, the player will be entitled to a refund of the registration fee, less the $100 deposit. A player that withdraws is entitled to receive back any pro-rated tournament fees that have not been used by the team already.

In case of season-ending injury/illness, a reasonable pro-rated credit can be applied to the following season, or refunded in the case of a U15-U19 player.

Summer Play Policy for U11-U19 Teams

All teams may play in summer events, from the end of the IPSL/GDMJSL season until August 15, but all teams that choose to do so must obtain the approval of the Director of Coaching because of IPSL regulations. The DOC will have the discretion to approve coaching assignments for such summer events. Invitations to non-ASC players to participate as guest players should go through the DOC, as should requests for ASC players to participate on teams from other IPSL clubs. Players wishing to participate on summer high-school-based teams (e.g., for Iowa Games) need not seek permission from the DOC, but those that would like to guest-play on teams from other IPSL clubs need to go through the usual IPSL procedures of getting DOC approval.

Summer Coaching Policy (U11-U19 teams)

Teams participating in summer events may elect to ask the DOC for professional coaching. This policy governs how those coaches will be paid.

Director of Coaching. If the DOC works with a team during the period July 1-August 15, he or she will be reimbursed for hotel expenses, given a food per diem of $30 per day on travel days, and given travel expenses of $0.25/mile for travel outside of Ames. Teams will be charged $30 per hour for training sessions and $100 per day at tournaments ($50 per day at local tournaments); these funds will be paid directly to the club.

Assistant Director of Coaching and & Non-Contract Employees. If the Assistant DOC or a Non-Contract Coach works with a team during the period July 1-August 15, he or she will be reimbursed for hotel expenses, given a food per diem of $30 per day on travel days, and given travel expenses of $0.25/mile for travel outside of Ames. Teams will be charged $30 per hour for training sessions and $100 per day at tournaments ($50 per day at local tournaments); these funds will be paid directly to the club. The Assistant Director of Coaching and non-contract employee will receive 75% of the monies received for coaching at training and games, and the club will receive the remainder.

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