Freq Asked Questions
1. What type of soccer opportunities do you provide?
The Monticello Soccer Club provides both recreational and competitive soccer to kids ages 5-19. Our rec soccer program is available for kids in kindergarten through 5th grade and our travel soccer program is open to kids ages 8-19.
There are also opportunities for adults to participate in soccer. From being on our board of directors; to coaching and managing teams; or just volunteering at a fundraiser or maintaining our fields.
2. Where does the money I pay for soccer go?
The Monticello Soccer Club is a non-profit organization. We try to keep all our fees as low as possible, but we have to pay for fields, equipment, referees, and fees charged by the Minnesota Youth Soccer Association. Unlike many clubs, we have to pay for use of fields, purchase goals, and maintain the fields. Those costs are ongoing and account for a significant part of our annual budget.
Fees pay for maintaining and running the club as shown below. Once you get beyond all the expenses it takes to run the club and pay all the expenses for that what each player gets (at a very basic level considering costs below) are practice times with their teams on the fields from early April (or whenever the fields are opened up to us) to mid July and the regular MYSA season - which is typically 10 games and for U11 + includes playoffs.
Fees do NOT include: paid coaching fees or salaries, tournaments or spring gym training time. These are all optional for each team and should be discussed at your team meeting. Most of our teams actually use parent volunteers that have soccer experience or knowledge, but if your team decides to hire a coach your team pays for that expense.
Please see the chart below to see where MSC spends your fees. (chart below includes travel and recreational soccer - so total club expenses)
2010 MSC expenses
3. At what age should my child start playing travel soccer?
The same question may be asked of having your child start piano or guitar lessons. For the right player, there's no such thing as "too early." There is only "too late." With that being said within MSC you must be a true U8 in order to travel on a U9 team. Prior to that players should continue with Recreational soccer only.
The English FA's (Football [soccer] Association) latest research shows that there's a "Golden Age of Learning" in soccer and - in general - it's between the ages of 8-14. After the age of 14, it is almost impossible to cure technical flaws in a player. That's why there's no such thing as "too early" as some coaches will have you believe.
The only real way to find out whether or not travel soccer is right for your child is to come out and train with one of teams, see for yourself the level and quality of training and play, and base any decision you make on the knowledge you gain from that experience. Also you should speak to other families who are members of our club about their experience.
4. My child is a multi-sport athlete. What about playing other sports?
Young athletes are actually encouraged to play other sports because it is healthier to do so. At a young age, as athletes’ bodies are developing, it’s important to experiment and cross train. As players approach high school age, it becomes increasingly difficult to play several sports and truly excel at any. As a result, high school age athletes must often choose between travel soccer and other sports. The final determination is really on a case-by-case basis and centers on an athlete's ability to transition between sports during the year.
5. What is the club's policy regarding playing time?
It's a given that almost every child plays a sport to participate in the games. Players that are on teams just to be part of a team are few and far between. That is why the club encourages playing as much playing time as possible for all players.
For recreational level players, the club's policy is that not only should playig time be split evenly among all players available for a game, but that players should also play all positions, including keeper, to become well-rounded players and try positions that they may not initially believe they would like or excel at playing.
For travel team players, please refer to the play time policy on the documents / club policies page of this website.
If you ever have any questions about your child's playing time, be it for rec soccer or travel soccer, please contact a board member to discuss.
