Travel Policy

The intent of this policy is to present guidelines for the conduct of the Warminster Soccer Club Travel Program.  This policy is intended to supplement all existing rules of the game established by FIFA, EPYSA, and Inter County Soccer League.  Where there is a current or future conflict between the rules, laws, or guidelines of these organizations and this policy, the rules, laws, and/or guidelines of FIFA, EPYSA, and/or Inter County Soccer League will govern.

Changes to this policy are expected going forward to adjust to the changing needs of the club.  Revisions can be suggested by any club member to the VP of Travel and must be approved by a majority vote of the travel coaches and then presented to the WSC Board for approval.

Field Use

Field time will be coordinated through the WSC Travel coordinator (VP of Travel)

If a field is wet, DO NOT USE IT!!! William Tennent H.S., Parks & Recreation and the WSC VP of Travel will determine whether a field is playable. Playing/practicing on an “unplayable” field may result in lost practice time.

The goal mouths (18-yard area) at Log College and Munro Park “A” and “B” are for games only. Goals on the side of the fields are to be used for practice. Use of the goal mouths for anything other than games may result in lost practice time.

Red Cards

• If a player or coach receives a red card, that team’s coach must notify the VP of travel within 48 hours of the incident.
• Any Player or Coach who receives a red card is subject to review by the WSC Grievance Committee.
• Coaches are required to pay all fines associated with red cards, forfeits, etc., promptly.

Correspondence

All official correspondence (petitions, protests, etc.) with ICSL and EPYSA must go through the VP of Travel. Coaches can call for information.

Fund Raising

The Board must approve all fundraisers. Coaches must submit fundraising requests in writing to the VP of Travel. Requests must include specifics of the fundraiser (i.e., description of event, dates, place, times, etc.).

When advertising for team fundraisers in papers, flyers, etc., the travel team must represent that the fundraiser is strictly for their team (i.e., Warminster Wave Boy’s U12 Travel Team Bowling Party). At no time will a Travel team advertise as the Warminster Soccer Club.

Travel Uniforms

The Warminster Soccer Club Travel Program now requires all teams to wear Adidas Toque Uniforms (this includes a Maroon Jersey Top, White Jersey Top, Maroon Shorts, and Maroon socks). Teams may purchase the Adidas Toque uniforms at the vendor of their choosing. Each team may use their own team logo on their uniform however the Warminster Logo must be on the front left of the Jersey.

All teams that need to purchase new uniforms for 2009 will need to order the Adidas Toque. Any teams that do not need to order new uniforms for this upcoming year must purchase the Adidas Toque the following year.

New Travel Teams

The formation of any new Travel team requires the approval of the WSC Board. The VP of Travel must approve new forming for the Spring League. The VP of Travel will place a newspaper advertisement each year to solicit for coaches for the new U9 teams. The WSC newsletter will also solicit volunteer coaches for these new teams.

Developmental / “B” Teams

Developmental teams will be considered if the required number of registrants are met by the first tryout.

• 8 v 8 Travel teams – 26 + registrants
• 11 v 11 Travel teams – 32 + registrants
• Consideration will be made to those teams that are already established.

Selection of Coaches

New head and assistant coaches require the approval of  both the VP of Travel and the Director  Of Coaching. If approved, the VP of travel must inform WSC Board Of Directors of this decision where it will be put to a final vote. The VP of Travel along with the Director Of Coaching must approve new coaches for the Spring League.

Coaching Licensing

All new coaches must be licensed at the “D” level within 3 years of entering the program. The WSC has agreed to pay the cost of the “E” license and 50% of the “D” license upon completion. Existing coaches will be grandfathered, however are encouraged to attend the program if not already licensed. Payment offer by the WSC will apply.

“Underage Rule”

Underage players will be permitted to “play up” with the following guidelines.

• From the youngest age group up to and including U-12, each travel team (Male and Female) is permitted to roster a maximum of two (2) underage players.
• There are no underage players allowed on Developmental “B” teams where two (2) travel teams exist in the same age group and gender.
•  It will be up to the Vice President of travel soccer to decide which team is designated as the “A” team should a conflict arise.

Teams from U13 up to and including U15 may have a maximum of 3 under aged players on their rosters. Teams older than U15 will have no age restrictions.

Recruiting

Recruiting between Travel teams is strictly prohibited

The Travel coaches are permitted to recruit from the Intramural program. However, at no time shall recruiting be conducted directly with a child. Recruitment will consist of the Intramural VP giving the Travel VP, the fall game schedule for each age group for player review by each coach. The VP of Travel will then distribute the schedule to the appropriate Travel coach. The Travel coaches are encouraged to attend the games and note the player(s) names or numbers (team color, age division, or name of coach will also be helpful to identify the player(s) and forward all player information to the VP of Travel. The VP of Travel and the VP of Intramural will exchange information and be redistributed back to the Travel coach.

The Travel coach can then contact the parents of the selected player(s). Contact with the Intramural coaches should be avoided.

At the request of coaches, a list of Intramural players containing their age and ratings, will be distributed by the V.P. of Travel, which can be used to recruit into the travel program. 

Secondary Team Players

A travel team may carry a secondary player(s) with the following conditions:

• Must show written approval from the player’s parent(s) and both coaches involved.
• Must be approved by the VP of Travel.
• When a conflict in scheduled games, the primary team has first priority of the player
• All secondary players must be registered with WSC.

Travel Tournaments

Fall Tournaments

The name of the Fall Tournament is the “Al Perlini – Warminster Soccer Club Travel Tournament”.

• The format for the Fall Tournament will be (4) four teams to host the Tournament. The age groups hosting the tournament will be the U12/U13 Girls and Boys. “B”/ Development teams will be eligible to participate in hosting the Tournament.

• In the event any of these teams decline, the right of first refusal goes to the oldest team that has not been involved in the tournament. If the oldest team has had an opportunity to host the tournament and decline, the next younger team may opt to participate. If there are no older teams who are eligible to participate, it will revert to the next younger team.

• It is customary to give a donation to the WSC from the proceeds of the Tournament. The donation has ranged from $500 to $1200 depending on returns.

• The teams hosting the tournament must have an ambulance at the Munro Park site and an other ambulance on standby.

• All trash is to be collected by the last day of the tournament and put into dumpsters in front of each site. Teams must check with Parks & Wrec for details.

• All WSC Travel teams will play free of charge but may be required to supply a Coordinator for games played on “their site”.

• The VP of Travel must approve any changes in the format from the previous year.


• The Travel Coordinator oversees all EPYSA sanctioned tournaments. The Tournament Director reports to Travel Coordinator. Travel Coordinator makes final decisions.

• The VP of Travel has the responsibility to see that the event is operated in accordance with the policies set forth by the WSC. This is not to imply that he will oversee the day-to-day operations or coordination of the event.


• The tournament must reimburse the WSC for all costs associated with paint used for the fields.

Winter/Indoor Tournaments

• The primary philosophy of the indoor tournament format is to offer a mechanism of fund raising for those teams, which have not had the good fortune of hosting the “Al Perlini Tournament”.

• All requests for such a tournament should be made in writing to the VP of Travel.
  
• Gym availability at William Tennent H.S. (WTHS) will be coordinated with the Athletic Director of the school.

• The following chain of command will be in practice for any WSC Indoor Tournament:

Male	Female
U9	U9
U10	U10
U11	U11
U12	U12
U13	U13
U14	U14
U15	U15
U16	U16
U17	U17
U18	U18

• Multiple teams may choose to host a single weekend tournament. However, no team shall host more than one tournament per year.

• All hosting teams must adhere to the facility rules set down by WTHS.

• “B”/Development teams will not be eligible for this tournament format.

Spring Tournament

• All requests for such a tournament should be made in writing to the VP of Travel.

• The tournament will consist of a 3 v 3 formats only.

• The following chain of command will be in place to host a Spring 3 v 3 Tournament:

The oldest age group, either gender will be in place to host this tournament. If either of them refuses the next lowest age group will have the option. This format will continue down to the youngest age groups.

• Whatever team hosts this tournament, they must realize that the Spring Tournament is not to be priority for field allocation.

• “B”/Development teams will not be eligible for this tournament format, except for those formed prior to 1995 Fall season.

Travel Team Tryouts

• Tryouts will be held and completed in May. All new participants will be given an equal opportunity to compete for a team.

• Each team will have at least four (4) tryouts, unless there are no new players. Participants must attend a minimum of two (2) tryouts to be considered for the team.

• Two (2) independent evaluators must be used from the youngest age group up to and including U-12. It will be the responsibility of the Director Of Coaching to set up and schedule the evaluators for each age group during tryouts.

• All teams must use rating forms during tryouts and turn them in to the VP of Travel.

• All players trying out for a travel team must be registered with the WSC prior to the tryouts.

• The cutoff date for submission of rosters will be announced. The VP of Travel must approve any roster additions, after the announced cutoff date. Where a “B” Development team exists, the “A” coach has the right of first refusal.

• Age groups, which are considering having a “B”/Developmental team, will have tryouts with all registrants for that group together. The “A” team will pick their team first and notify the “B” team coach of the selections. A player selected for the “A” team will have the opportunity to elect to play for the “B” team.

• Any participant not making a Travel team, who has attended the minimum number of tryouts, must be contacted by phone or in writing.

Refreshment Stand at Munro Park

As of the 1993 season, the Travel Program operates the refreshment stand. Any team who is not involved in the travel tournament is eligible.

Residency Restrictions

The following residency restriction format will be in effect starting the Fall Season of 2001:

• Ages U9 to U12, the maximum out of township players registered with WSC will be 25% of their official team roster.

• Ages U13 to U14, the maximum out of township players registered with WSC will be 35% of their official team roster.

• Age U15, the maximum out of township players registered with WSC will be 45% of their official team roster.

• Ages U16 and older will have no restrictions.

• Any player registered for with WSC for 3 consecutive years will not be considered as out of township.

Smoking

Smoking by registered coaches during practices and games is prohibited.

Grievance Committee

A Grievance Committee will be setup consisting of coaches within the Travel Program, as well as the VP of Travel to handle travel coaches who violate the articles of the WSC Policy.

The Grievance Committee will consist of coaches from U11, U13 & U15.

Team Evaluation

At the conclusion of each fall season, a parent’s evaluation form will be distributed by each coach to be completed by each of his or her Travel parents. (Anonymity of this form will be optional.) With the approval of the WSC Board of Directors, the WSC Travel Coaches will construct the evaluation form.  All responses will be sent to the V.P. of Travel for review. The Reviewing Board will be made up of the WSC President, VP of Travel and U13 Boys and Girls Head Coaches.  Each team, at the request of the coach, will receive a written summary of the evaluations. If the Reviewing Board, from the evaluation form determines, that a majority of the parents on any team desire to address a specific problem or concern, the Reviewing Board will determine the next steps. Next steps will be determined by the type of problem or concern and will be handled in a manner that gives due consideration to all interested parties (coaches, parents, players and the Travel program).

If a specific problem is waged against a current Reviewing Board Coach (U13 Boys or Girls), that coach will be excluded from addressing that particular problem and be replaced by the U14 Coach of the same gender.

Policy Violations

Any violation of this Policy will be considered a serious offence and the WSC Board of Directors will take appropriate disciplinary actions.