Following is a selection of some frequently asked questions about the club and its programs. We will continue to update this as appropriate.
Q: Is the Port Washington Soccer Club the “league”?
A: No! We’re a soccer club, with recreational and competitive travel soccer programs. We enter our teams primarily in one of two regional leagues - (1) the Long Island Junior Soccer League (LIJSL) or (2) EDP North Atlantic, managed by New York Club Soccer (EDP). Both leagues are sanctioned under the Eastern New York Youth Soccer Association (ENYYSA), which is the state association for US Youth Soccer, a national youth soccer organization (USYS). Above USYS is US Soccer (the national federation), which mandates various guidelines in coaching requirements and structure of games (number of players at each age, etc.) that are followed by USYS and the state associations.
Q:. Why are all/most of our travel games on Saturdays?
A: For teams in Long Island Junior Soccer League, the league dictates that all U9-U12 matches are initially scheduled for Saturdays. With a bottom-heavy (U9-U12) travel program mostly registered in LIJSL, this means almost all of our teams play on Saturdays.
Q: Does the PWSC control our travel team game schedules?
A: Yes and no. The league gives us the list of home games, which we do schedule and submit to the league, but the same is true for all other clubs and their home games, so we don’t control the times/locations of our away games. Thus, we are able to manage trainer schedules and field availability for our home games, but not for away games.
Q: We’re a U9 team, and it feels like we’re not matched up properly in our division - why?
A: U9 soccer is the first year of travel soccer, so leagues do not have any data/history on any teams. While we try to provide guidance as to appropriate placements of our teams (for all age groups), the final alignments are still at the leagues’ discretion. Generally, the teams finish at the top of a division will move up the following season, and the teams at the bottom of a division will move down, to hopefully even things out. It’s not a perfect science, since some teams gain players and some lose players, which impacts the competitiveness of teams, and may require further adjustments in alignments once they play a season with the revised roster.
Q: How does the PWSC determine which players should be guest players when travel teams are shorthanded?
A: All carded players that are age-eligible (i.e., at the given age group or up to 2 years younger) may join another team for games when needed. Our training staff, Jigs, and team managers discuss appropriate players for assistance, based on various circumstances, including possibly having a player join a higher division team to gain experience and confidence at that level, a player joining a lower division team to also gain confidence, if they’ve been struggling a bit, and in the end, it’s also based on simple availability and lack of conflicts (which sometimes means a younger player will play up to help a team). One thing we avoid is trying to bring players that may significantly impact the results - if a team has wins that they may not have earned with their regular roster, it may adversely impact their alignment for future seasons.
Q: How is playing time managed?
A: Our general goal is to get all younger travel soccer players on the field for at least 40% of each game, depending on roster sizes, age and other factors. Again, this is not an exact science, although we do encourage managers to track playing time to ensure all players are receiving their fair share. What we do ask is that if a player has not received adequate playing time (based on the general 40% goal, not necessarily based on other players’ times), the player (or parent) alert the manager and/or trainer, so that they can ensure it’s being addressed appropriately. Players do need to learn that at least some of the playing time is earned, even at young ages. It’s part of #goingproinlife.
Q: My travel team’s trainer is present at all practices, but not for all league games - why?
A: As noted above, we don’t control all league schedules, particularly away games that require additional travel times. Each of the trainers provided by Jigs Soccer is assigned to multiple teams, depending on their overall availability, so there are inevitable conflicts in schedules. However, Jigs Soccer has implemented protocols in both formation, style of play, and sharing of team and player information that makes it possible for substitute trainers to properly coach games for any teams. Over time, teams become accustomed to several trainers due to these conflicts, which gives players a different voice and perspective. Jigs Soccer will try to manage conflicts in a manner to avoid disproportionate numbers of games handled by substitute trainers, but sometimes it’s out of their hands due to scheduling quirks (with the goal to maximize each trainer’s attendance at their primary teams’ matches).
Q: Why doesn’t each team have its own dedicated trainer?
A: The model of having trainers primarily train multiple teams is the customary structure in youth soccer. For starters, trainers (contracted/employed by Jigs Soccer) obviously want to maximize their work hours on the pitch, and the 3 hours of training for each team plus the 1 game per weekend is not enough for an individual trainer. Generally, trainers typically work with 2-4 teams each season, depending on their personal availability. Further, for a team to have a dedicated trainer (and to reserve all of that trainer’s time) would not be a cost-effective approach, in any youth sports model. This, combined with the Saturday-only requirement of the LIJSL (see above), makes conflicts inevitable, and we and Jigs do our best to manage them, with the ultimate goal of ensuring professional training coverage at all club events. Over time, there’s benefits as well, as secondary trainers and teams get to know one another, and players receive advice and input from multiple trainers in the club (all of whom are following the training guidelines proscribed by Jigs Soccer).
Q: Can parents coach teams?
A: No. In recent years, the club moved away from a more parent-run and team-centric travel soccer model, where groups of parents selected teams, selected trainers for their teams, managed team finances, and often coached their teams at both practices and games. Sure, for some teams it worked out reasonably OK, if the parent coach was fair and capable. But all too often, it led to an inconsistent experience for the club’s players, depending on which team they were on, sometimes selected (or not selected) based on non-soccer factors. It also led to teams butting heads with each other, competing for players in the age group, resources, etc. Around 2019, when we appointed Jigs as our Director of Coaching, the club moved to what we call the “annual travel program” model, where teams are formed for the entire school year (not season to season, which led to teams folding over the winter due to lack of continued commitment), and also moved the tryouts/rostering/financial/training functions to a more centralized club-based model. That leads to significantly more work for Jigs and the club’s admins, but it also provides many advantages to our players, including objective tryouts and rostering procedures, a culture of sharing of players across teams, consistent curriculum (formations, tactics, vocabulary, etc.) across all teams, and the elimination of the inevitable “nepotism” that results from a parent-led travel team model. As a point of fact, in recent years the children of team managers (even board members) have been moved to other teams, at times against their desires or preferences, due to the objective evaluations of Jigs and his staff. Rest assured, the club’s model is as fair as possible for all players in the program.
Q: Does the PWSC play U8 teams up into U9 travel leagues?
A: No! While that is a known practice of many clubs in the area, we believe the 4v4 model promoted by US Soccer for all U4-U8 players is the better/correct model for long-term development. We do have a small number of players participate in a "Select U8” program, playing against other U8 teams in a 4v4 format. While playing “real” travel league games may seem ideal or desirable, when you go from 4v4 to 7v7, you’ve effectively cut the number of touches on the ball by around 40% for each player, on average. The ability to be creative is also lost a bit, since the players are more focused on a team structure and winning games for standings, etc. We may be wrong in our approach, but then so would be US Soccer and the federations in Europe and South America that are actively promoting 4v4 (and even 3v3 and 2v2) soccer at the U4-U8 ages (and older, in some cases), over organized competitive travel soccer games. Our new U8 Diamond League addresses the desire for a bit more ‘competition’, while also maintaining the fun and relaxed atmosphere necessary to give young players the freedom to develop at their own pace. There’s so much time to play competitive soccer starting at the U9+ age groups, and we believe the extra year away from that format is the better approach for most players, particularly if they are trying to play multiple sports each season.
Q: Does the club favor its higher division teams?
A: Absolutely not. While we do have teams that compete at very high levels, and have the structure to make that possible, we do not view ourselves as an “elite” or “academy” club. Those words are used inappropriately by almost all programs that use them, in our view. (For a true academy experience, learn more about the players we’ve placed at NYCFC Youth Academy, where invitations are for the very best players in the region, and they pay $0 once accepted!) We are proud and fortunate to have teams in all levels of competition, and need those options to provide the best experience for all players in the community and club. When we (or any other club) only has only one team in an age group, it means there’s players of varying abilities, where some may be above the level of competition and some below. While it may balance out, it doesn’t provide each individual player with the best possible competitive environment for them to grow their skills and confidence. When we have multiple teams in an age group, as we now do at our younger age groups due to the growth of our intramural program, we can get players to their proper levels in leagues, making the experience fun and rewarding for all players. Thus, we are grateful to have every single team in the club, no matter what level/division they are in, as it enables the club to fulfill its primary mission of expanding and promoting soccer in the Port Washington community.
Q: Who owns the Port Washington Soccer Club?
A: The community! The PWSC is a 501(c)(3) registered nonprofit entity, with no shareholders and no salaried employees. It is a community trust, passed down from generation to generation. While we do pay for professional services such as accounting, bookkeeping and soccer training (through Jigs Soccer), everyone else is a volunteer. And yes, it’s quite unusual for a 1300 player soccer club to operate with no paid employees! So far we’re managing, but the concept of the nonprofit youth soccer club (which provides a valuable service to the community) does require a certain level of volunteerism to flourish, and we hope more parents from our travel program will find ways to assist and support the club and its mission.