Parent
Resources
2024-25 Playing Season
Welcome to the 2024-25 Playing Season
This page is for FC Storm Parents, particularly those who either are new to select soccer or new to the FC Storm Club. It contains a lot of useful information for the 2024-25 Playing Year, and links to other information on the website.
My hope is that our Club and all of the people associated with it meet or exceed your expectations. If we are not meeting that goal, please contact me at [email protected] and let me know what we can do to improve.
Important Dates June – October
| Date | Activity |
| By June 10 | Welcome letter sent to parents from FC Storm and Team Head Coach |
| June & July | Private training options June and July – READ MORE In- Person Team Meetings with Team’s Coach Optional Pick-up games June 24 to 28 | Select Soccer Camp – READ MORE Early July | Practice schedules added to Team Snap July 15 to 19 | Summer Soccer Camp – READ MORE |
| End of July to early August | League Scheduling done by coaches. Completed by about August 15 and game schedules loaded into Team Snap |
| August 5 | Storm Night at FCC Game – READ MORE |
| August 6 | Fall practices can start |
| August 6 to 9 | Coaches Fall Clinic |
| August 12 to 15 (Mon – Thurs) | Preseason Camp for all teams in the evening |
| August 17 & 18 | Preseason Friendly Tournament Games against other invited select clubs |
| End of August or Early September | League games begin |
| October 23 – 27 | Last week of practices |
| October 28-29 | Last weekend formost league games (a few teams might have games the following weekend) |
| End of October | Spring high school teams rostered; teams may hold supplemental tryouts |
FREQUENTLY ASKED QUESTIONS
If you have a question not addressed here, email FC Storm at infor@fcstorm and we will get back to you!
How Do I Order a Uniform
All of the information you need to order a uniform if you are new or have moved from Select to Premier can be found on the Uniform Tab.
Who Do I Contact About Club Fees
Jennifer Paumier at [email protected]
What is Team Snap and How Do I Use It?
TeamSnap has an introduction page for anyone that is new to the app. If you haven’t received the invitation or have any questions or problems using Team Snap, contact Jennifer Paumier at [email protected].
Match Schedule/Preseason
All training, game and tournament schedules will be listed on the Schedule. If something is missing, please ask your coach.
Mobile App/Team Chat
Please download the mobile app if you do not have it. There is a Team Chat feature which is only on the mobile app. It is similar to texting and is primarily for parents to send updates and keep in touch with each other. It’s great for finding rides and sending any messages the other parents will need to see. The Team Chat will also feature live score updates during the games for anyone that is unable to come in person
Notifications
Feel free to make whatever changes you want to receive more or fewer emails. The page is automatically set to send practice and game notifications two days before each event.
Adding New Users
If there’s anyone else that needs to be added to your profile, you can login and do so yourself. If Grandma and Grandpa want the schedule or if there’s a sibling that will be giving a ride to practices or games, they can also be added.
Coaches Contact Info
The email address and phone number for all coaches will always be in TeamSnap.
When Will I Know My Practice Schedule?
Practice schedules for the fall are geneerally completed by mid June.
When Will I Know My Game Schedule
The leagues most of our teams play in generally have games scheduled by the end of July. Scheduling is done by your team’s coach. If you have fall activities or will be out of town during the fall, please share that information with your coach.
What if Player Can't Attend a Practice?
Note your availability in Team Snap. We recommend you also text or email your coach. Knowing how many players will be at practice is helpful to the coach as they design the practice plans.
What Do I Need at Practice?
Soccer shoes
Shin guards
Water bottle
Does My Player Need to Attend All Practices?
We believe it is important to attend practice unless the player is sick or has a family obligation. Players only improve when they attend practice. If multiple players skip practice it negatively impacts the team’s development.
When Does My Player Need to Arrive for Practice?
Most coaches ask players to be on the field 20 to 30 minutes ahead of time.
Can My Player Play Other Sports?
Yes, FC Storm has no rules against playing multiple sports. The Club supports all of the studies that show the benefits of participating in multiple sports. Many of our players play basketball, baseball and softball, lacrosse, swim and run cross country and track and participate in gymnastics.
It’s very important that you let your coach know that you are playing a another sport. Early communiation and flexibility are critical to making this work. Coaches will do their best to be flexible, but our teams have a number of soccer only players so coaches can’t build schedules to meet the needs of all multi-sport athelets.
Soccer is a year round sport and we expect players who commit to an FC Storm team can play both seasons. It does create a challenge if you have committed to two seasons and then decide that soccer will be the ‘second’ sport one of those seasons in favor of another sport. We create small rosters so that players get a lot of playing time in games. Coaches count on players being available for games. And, if a number of players are missing from practice on a regular basis it does impact the team’s training.
If a player misses a lot of practices to participate in another sport, it’s likely that their skill development or understanding of the game could be impacted versus the other players on the team. It’s another reason to keep in touch with your coach.
Many of our families manage this well and their child(ren) have a great experience with soccer and the other sport they play. But, we have instances where lack of early and often communication, poor attendance at practice and games, or coaches being surprised that a player just isn’t going to focus on soccer one season without any notice have resulted in a poor experience for the player and family, and the team.
Are There Snacks at Halftime and End of the Game
Most teams do not have organized snacks. Younger teams might choose to do this.
Halftime in select soccer is an important time for players to rehydrate and get a few instructions from the coach. Snacks can interfer with that. Check with your coach.
WHAT DO WE VALUE?
FC Storm was created with a simple mission; to offer the best soccer experience for players and families. It is built on four pillars that are the foundation for everything we do. Our goal is to excel in each of these areas to support our player’s and their families’ soccer journey.
(1) Provide professional training to enable players to become the best they can be
(2) Intentionally invest in players personal growth to provide opportunities to develop the life skills that lead to succeed off of the field
(3) Connect to and give back to our communities by participating in projects to serve those who are less fortunate and offering campus based teams for our youngest players
(4) Have fun being part of a team, club and community of like-minded players and coaches
PRACTICAL PRACTICE TIPS
We have some simple tips to help make your player’s and family’s practice experience better. READ MORE
GAME TIPS FOR PLAYERS AND FAMILIES
We have some simple tips to help create a more positive game experience. READ MORE
GUIDE TO TOURNAMENTS
Our teams play in 2 to 3 tournaments each season. We are intential about the tournaments we attend. READ MORE
LEAGUE PLACEMENT
Our Directors of Coaching, in collaboration with established coaches, place teams in divisions where expect them to be competitive. An ideal season is one that has about as many wins as losses. That gives teams healthy competition against both stronger and weaker teams. READ MORE
IN WHAT LEAGUES DO FC STORM TEAMS PLAY?
Most teams play in one of two leagues, Cardinal Premier League(CPL) based out of Cincinnati and the Buckeye Premier Youth Soccer League (‘Buckeye’) based out of Columbus. Our top level competitive Premier teams play in the Ohio Soccer State League (OSSL). It is a regional league encompassing a larger geography than the CPL or Buckeye. READ MORE
STAY IN TOUCH WITH FC STORM
By receiving the monthly newsletter
INSIDE FC STORM. It contains club news, upcoming events, spotlight on teams and coaches, and other information to help you stay connected and informed.
Practical Tips for Practice
Helpful practice tipsfor fall practices drawing on the feedback from our coaching staff:
Use Team Snap availability to keep your coach informed of the times your player will not be at practice. Knowing how many players will be at practice makes a difference. Some things work with 10 kids but don’t as well with only 7 or 8. If something comes up last minute, text or call the coach.
Send LOTS of water to practice. A a lot of players come to practice with a small water bottle. If it’s a hot, humid night, they run out of water. And, it’s not unusual for water to being spilled. Our advic; invest in a large bottle to send to practice.
Tie shoe laces. Most nylon laces on soccer shoes come untied unless double or even triple knotted. Help your coach and make sure laces are tied before practice begins.
Use the bathroom at home before practice. There seems to be an epidemic of needing to go to the bathroom at the soccer field. Once one player goes, it everyone has to go and it can easily disrupt practice.
Put air in the soccer ball. If a player brings an under inflated ball, it’s not very useful during practice. Players need to practice with a ball that is properly inflated. The touch and feel is different if it’s inflated vs. underinflated.
Put your name and phone number on anything you bring to practice. The Club has a growing collection of water bottles, soccer balls and even clothing that have been left at fields and don’t have a name or phone number. We’d rather not add to our lost and found collection.
Game Tips for Players and Parents
Tips to help you and your player create a positive game experience:
Keep you coach in the know. Most coaches make the line up the night before a game. If you know you have to miss a game or will be running late, text your coach.
Plan ahead. Does your player have:
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- both game jerseys; yes, sometimes teams need to switch jerseys to avoid a color conflict
- soccer shoes – we know familes who ended up a game with only sliders – doesn’t make for a happy family
- filled water bottle
- layers for cold weather; September is hot, but by October the early morning games are cold. Shivering players have a hard time concentrating
Bathroom stop before leaving home. Not all fields have convenient bathrooms for porta potties. Enough said.
Arrive on time. Most coaches ask players to be on the field (not arriving to the field) 30 minutes ahead of time. That gives the players time to organize gear, focus on the game and participate in the team warm up.
Know the field number. Most complexes have multiple fields.
Practice the 4 ‘rules of good sideline etiquette’:
- Do cheer for your player and your team
- Do be positive
- Don’t yell at the referee
- Don’t coach from the sideline; it confuses the player, disrespects the coaches authority and is generally wrong advice.
Game Length & Ball Size
| Age Group | Game Size | Length of Half |
| U9 & U10 | 7 v 7 | 25 minutes |
| U 11 & U12 | 9 v 9 | 30 minutes |
| U13 & U14 | 11 v 11 | 35 minutes |
| U15 & U16 | 11 v 11 | 40 minutes |
| U17 to U19 | 11 v 11 | 45 minutes |
| Age Group | Ball Size |
| U9 & U10 | 4 |
| U 11 & U12 | 4 |
| U13 & U14 | 5 |
| U15 & U16 | 5 |
| U17 to U19 | 5 |
League Placement
Our goal is to place teams in divisions where they will be challenged and grow. Ideally, teams should win a little more than half of their games and lose or tie the other half.
Why? Playing both stronger and weaker teams contributes to player and team development. Stronger teams force teams to play faster and be able to handle more pressure. Playing weaker teams builds confidence and enables a team to work on skills they have been practicing in training.
Through tryouts we have a good idea about the competitive level of each team in an age group. We also have a good idea how competitive teams are from other clubs based on past history. Let me use the 2015 boys for example. There are 8 divisions in the league. We have 5 teams. We didn’t think we’d be competitive in the top division. We placed our most competitive team in the 2nd Division and the rest of the teams in subsequent divisions according to our assessment of their competitiveness.
Since leagues are only for one season, we have a chance to adjust placement going into spring if needed. At the end of the spring we make similar adjustments for the fall season. Typically, teams that finish towards the top of their divisions can be moved to a more competitive division the following season.
Tournaments
We pick tournaments to enhance the fall and spring playing seasons. Like Goldilocks we want ones that just right for our teams; not too hard and not too easy. It should challenge but offer an opportunity for success. After over 14 seasons with hundreds of tournament entries we have a good idea about the best tournaments in the Cincinnati to Columbus region.
Things we consider when picking the club tournaments that we assign teams to include:
- Competitiveness
- How well it’s organized
- Does it do a good job placing teams in the right brackets to create a fair level of competition
- Parking; some venues are better for parking than others
- How far away is it – with the abundance of local tournaments, the Club doesn’t recommend in general that our younger teams (U9 and U10) travel to tournaments that require an overnight stay.
League & Game Related Information
Teams play in one of three leagues, Cardinal Premier League(CPL) based out of Cincinnati, the Buckeye Premier Youth Soccer League (‘Buckeye’) based out of Columbus or the Ohio Soccer State League which covers the state of Ohio plus additional regions.
Cardinal Premier League
The Cardinal Premier League is a greater Cincinnati based leage that offers division for teams from U9 through U15. Most of the select clubs in the greater Cincinnati are place their younger teams in the league. The U9 and U10 Divisions often have from 6 to 8 brackets of 8 or more teams. Having a local league keeps travel distance to games down; fields are genearlly in the I275 loop and at most a 45-60 minute drive.
Buckeye Premier Youth Soccer League
The Buckeye Premier Youth Soccer League (‘Buckeye’) begins at U 11 and offers divisions through high school (U19). Historically, it has been considered a more competitive league for older teams. Buckeye League has teams from Northen Kentucky to the northern part of Columbus. Teams playing the league can expect some away games to be a 90+ minute drive. The top bracket of each age group, State Division, is very competitive. The goal is for Premier teams to be able to play competitively as this level
Helpful Soccer Rules
Basic rules (laws) of soccer – CLICK HERE
Misunderstood soccer rules – from the Ohio Soccer Association referee course – CLICK HERE
Small Sided Rules for 7v7 and 9v9 games – there are special rules for small sided games. 7v7 soccer includes build-out lines that are explained. CLICK HERE
Heading rules and ages it is allowed; heading is not allowed at U9, U10, U11 – CLICK HERE
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Player numbering system – soccer has a standardized system to number the 11 positions – CLICK HERE
Game Referees
There is a separate organization that certifies, manages and assigns referees to soccer games. Select Soccer uses a three referee system; Center Referee and two Assistant Referees (ARs; sometimes called line referees). The Center Referee is in charge of the game and is responsible for determining all fouls. The ARs in youth soccer are responsible for offsides and out of bounds. The AR may signal that they have observed an infraction, but only the Center Referee can actually make the call on the field.
Severe Weather Policy
All of the local municipalities along with all of the Clubs we play have a common severe weather policy. Please abide by it. Our ability to use public park fields is always conditional on compliance with policies like this one.
Upon hearing thunder or seeing lighning, the fields are to be cleared immediately. NO exceptions!
A lightening detector is located at Phillips Park. One long blast indicates lightning has been detected in the area. It is possible lightning will be seen before the detector goes off. Upon hearing a lightning detection siren (long blast), fields are to be cleared immediately. The lightning detector will give 3 long blasts to indicate all clear.
Regardless of how far you estimate thunder or lightning to be from the field area, coaches and trainers are to clear all team personnel from the field area and ensure they are under a shelter or in a vehicle for safety. There must be 30 minutes without thunder or lightning before players/parents/coaches may return to the fields. There are no exceptions; the safety of our club members is the top priority for FC Storm.
FC Storm requires referees to wait 30 minutes after hearing thunder, seeing lightning or after a lightning detector goes off before making a decision to resume play.