Parent
Resources
2023-24 Playing Season
Resources
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- Calendar
- Directory
- League Information
- Ball Size and Game Length
- Severe Weather Policy
- Rules of Soccer
Everything You Need to Know about Uniforms
Parents
Welcome to the 2024-25
Playing Season
We are delighted to have you join the FC Storm family for the 2024-25 Playing Season. This page is specially designed for new families.
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 so that our players and their families soccer journey exceeds their expectations.
(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
Important Dates
June & July | Parent Meetings
August 5 | Practices can begin
August 12 – 15 | Preseason Camp
August 17 – 18 | Preseason Friendlies
Parents Guide to Tournaments
Parents Guide to Leagues (and how did my team get placed in its division?)
Administrative Staff
Jessica Buringrud
Jennifer Paumier
Bruce Jones
Anthony Doherty
Directors of Coaching
Anthony Doherty, Sr DOC
Kyle McLaughlin, DOC u9 & U10
Edwin Sam, Jr, DOC U13 – U15
Senior Trainers
Conner Clark – U 11 & U12
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.
Club Tournaments
We pick tournaments that enhance the fall and 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.
Practice Tips
A few practical tips as we near the start of 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.
Practical Tips on Games
Coming …..
Helpful Game 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
Player numbering system – soccer has a standardized system to number the 11 positions – CLICK HERE
League Information
Currently, our 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. The league registration fees are part of the the annual Club Fee.
Cardinal Premier League
The Cardinal Premier League offers division for teams from U9 through U15. Most of the 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.
Buckeye League
The Buckeye League begins at U 11 and offers divisions through high school (U19) in the spring. Historically, it has been considered a more competitive league for older teams. Buckeye has teams from Northen Kentucky tothe northern part of Columbus.
Game Related Information
| Age Group | Game Size | Length of Half | Ball Size |
| U9 & U10 | 7 v 7 | 25 minutes | 4 |
| U 11 & U12 | 9 v 9 | 30 minutes | 4 |
| U13 & U14 | 11 v 11 | 35 minutes | 5 |
| U15 & U16 | 11 v 11 | 40 minutes | 5 |
| U17 to U19 | 11 v 11 | 45 minutes | 5 |
Fall 2023 Game Fields
7 v 7 Fields for U9 & U10
Lever Park (Loveland)
McCoy Park Field 2 (Loveland)
Boike Park (Loveland)
VFW (Loveland)
tbd (Indian Hill Teams Only)
Miami Meadows tbd (Milford)
9 v 9 Fields For U11 & U12
Phillips Park Field D
Maimi River Park Field 3 (Loveland)
McCoy Park Field 1 (Loveland)
Miami Meadows (Milford)
Indian Hill xxx (Indian Hill Teams Only)
11 v 11 Fields for U13, U14 and U15
Loveland High School Turf Field (Sundays Only)**
Phillips Park Field B (U13)
Phillips Park Field A (U14 and U15)
Miami Meadows tbd
** All Sunday games will be scheduled at the Loveland High School as a first priority
Severe Weather Policy
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.
Frequently Asked Questions
Are there snacks at halftime or after the game?
Teams do not have half time or end of the game snacks
What should I do if my player can't be at 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.
Does my player need to attend all practices
Yes, we believe it’s important for our players to attend practice unless they are sick or have a family obligation. Be sure to let your coach know if your player won’t be a practice.
How early do I need to arrive for practice?
Most coaches ask players to be at the field 20 – 30 minutes ahead of time.
Can I 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.