East Greenwich Soccer Association
Travel Program Charter

 
The East Greenwich Soccer Association (“EGSA”) shall provide a Travel Program that fosters a fun, safe, and positive environment in which children will learn and grow as soccer players. EGSA will maintain a process for coach and player selection, and team formation that is fair and unbiased. Day-to-day operations of the Travel Program shall be conducted by the Director of Travel Programs and the Assistant Director of Travel Programs. The Board of Directors (“The Board”) of the EGSA shall oversee the Travel Program including policy decisions and final approval of team formation.

Roles of the Travel Program Directors

 
The Director of Travel Programs and Assistant Director of Travel Programs shall be responsible for the following:

1. recruiting, selecting and maintaining quality travel coaches

2. promoting and organizing travel team tryouts

3. overseeing the team formation and the player selection process

4. soliciting and maintaining coach and player evaluations

5. providing supplemental training for coaches and players as deemed appropriate

6. coordinating the licensing and continuing education opportunities with the coaches

7. establishing a baseline curriculum for coaches in each age group

8. working with the EGSA House Program to promote soccer at all ages and abilities
    

Travel Coaches

 
The Board recognizes that our Coaches are the key to promoting and improving the quality of soccer in EGSA.

• The Board will solicit coaching applications in the spring prior to the travel tryout registration period. Applicants will be required to provide personal information regarding coaching experience, certifications, licensing, soccer background and prior evaluations.

• All coaches will be required to pass a background check.

• EGSA Travel Team Coaches serve on a voluntary basis and are not entitled to receive compensation for their time and services.

• All appointed coaches are strongly encouraged, but not required, to obtain soccer teaching/coaching certificates in accordance with Soccer Rhode Island guidelines. Additional training will be promoted and encouraged.

• Coaches will be required to provide age appropriate training, consistently work to develop player skills, promote the principles of Fair Play and create a team environment for learning that is fun, focused and geared toward achieving success.

• Coaches are required to provide player evaluations to their players to help them identify their strengths and weaknesses and encourage guided growth as well-rounded soccer players.

• Anchor team coaches should work in cooperation with the other age group coaches to promote a consistent development and progression of the age group throughout the competitive year.

• Coaches will be required to provide the Board with seasonal player rankings to assist in future team formations.

Professional Trainers

 
The Board may hire professional trainers for the travel program to assist all travel teams and their coaches with additional soccer training and development. The Board will seek applications from potential professional trainers and will review criteria such as cost, the vendor’s credentials and experience, and the overall benefit coaches and players will receive from the professional services offered. The Board will make paramount the goals of the EGSA Travel Program when deciding on who will be hired. All contract and financial arrangements with the hired paid trainers will be handled through the EGSA Board of Directors. Parent coaches seeking additional training may petition the Board for approval.
 

Player Residency Requirement

 
Residents of any Rhode Island town may participate in EGSA tryouts and may be invited to play on an EGSA Travel Anchor team.  Players who are residents of East Greenwich shall have first preference for any EGSA "United" Travel Teams. 
 

Travel Team Tryouts

• The Board is responsible for promoting registrations for the travel team tryouts, which are held at the end of the spring season, typically during the first two weeks of June.
  Dates shall be communicated via the ESGA website, social media, and any other means necessary to ensure widespread knowledge of the dates. Online registration for the tryouts will be required and a nominal fee will be collected at that time.
• Professional trainers and EGSA travel team coaches will coordinate the tryouts.
• Players must attend a tryout to be considered for an EGSA Travel Team.
• There is no guarantee of travel team placement for every player who participates in the tryouts.
• Players who are sufficiently skilled but are not selected to a team roster will be added to a waiting list for their age group. 
• A player wishing to tryout with an older age group can petition the Board for a waiver. The player will also be required to tryout with his or her own age group. The player will have to rank at the top of the older age group and will only be considered for placement on the Anchor Team. (Example a U10 Player trying out to play on the U12 Anchor Team.)
• For age ranges where there are limited numbers of players (typically U14 & U16), tryouts may be waived at the discretion of the Board.

Team Formation and Naming Convention

 
Numerical data from the tryouts and coach evaluations from the previous season will be used in the team formation process. Teams shall be formed if there are a sufficient number of competitively skilled players. Below is a breakdown of teams that EGSA typically forms and their naming convention.

 
- EGSA will field at least one boys and girls team for each birth year. These will be called Anchor Teams.

- EGSA will field additional boys and girls teams if there are a sufficient number of skilled players in a birth year. These will be called Rhody Teams.

- When it is necessary to combine two birth years to create an additional team, these will be called United Teams. For these teams, 9U and 10U players will be combined for 10U United Teams, 11U and 12U players are combined for 12U United Teams.

- Due to lower numbers in the older age groups, 13U and 14U players are typically combined to form the 14U Anchor Team. 

Player Commitment

Players selected to a roster on an EGSA travel team will receive a written offer from the Board or the Competitive Director within three weeks of the last tryout. The player will be required to provide written acceptance or refusal to join the team to which he/she was selected within 48 hours. Acceptance of the offer to play on an EGSA Anchor Travel Team is a 1-year commitment (fall, winter, and spring seasons) to play with that team. Acceptance to play on an EGSA United or Rhody Travel Team does not carry the 1-year commitment. Players will accept the offer to play in the fall season and will then be offered the opportunity to continue playing in the winter and spring seasons. Alternatively, players can choose to exit their team to pursue other activities without financial penalty.

Players will be required to identify any premier club affiliation they have which could affect team rosters and divisional play. EGSA Travel Team Players are expected to participate in all team training sessions, with exceptions for sickness, vacation, or the occasional conflict. EGSA Travel Team Players are expected to play in all Super Liga and Tournament games in which their team is participating. In the event of a conflict, players must give their coaches ample notification of their anticipated absence to secure enough players on the roster.
 

Roster changes

 
Only with the approval of the Travel Program Directors will roster changes be permitted. Coaches shall not change team rosters.

If realignment of teams in certain age groups is required due to maximum roster limits, the Travel Program Directors and the age group coaches should work together to provide the best solution for the affected teams and players. 
 

Playing Time

 
U11 and older “Anchor” Teams: coaches shall have the discretion as to the amount of playing time each child receives in a given game, but the coaches shall, over the course of a season, use best efforts to provide a balanced playing experience for each child.

 
U10 and younger “Anchor” Teams: Coaches shall use best efforts to provide equal playing time for each child.
 

All "Rhody" and “United” Teams: Coaches shall use best efforts to provide equal playing time for each child.
 
All teams: If a player demonstrates unsportsmanlike conduct during a game, the coaching staff present shall have the discretion of removing the player from the field of play. Examples of unsportsmanlike conduct may include, but are not limited to: yellow card, repeated fouls, insulting a referee, swearing at the opposing team, disrespectful attitude towards coaching staff or teammates, a blatant demonstration of poor character in the field of play.
 

League Play

 
For the Fall and Spring seasons, the Board promotes play in the Rhode Island Super Liga (www.thesuperliga.com). Working with the team coaches, the Travel Program Directors will place teams in a competitively-appropriate division that offers a challenging and rewarding soccer experience.

 
Only Anchor teams will be allowed to play outside of the RI Super Liga in another Soccer Rhode Island (SRI) approved league. The Anchor team coach must petition the Board for approval.

 
Winter Play / Training - The Board will determine what approved venues will be available for winter indoor soccer and/or futsal. Coaches will be required to meet with the Travel Program Director prior to the start of the winter season signups to determine what venue is best for their team, the age group, and the EGSA organization.
 

Tournaments

EGSA Travel Teams will be required to participate in regional tournaments once per fall and spring season to represent the EGSA travel soccer program. In coordination with teams in the same (or younger) birth year age group, a unified tournament team may be formed based on the availability of coaches and players. The per-player cost to participate in tournaments is not factored into seasonal registration fees. EGSA subsidizes $50/team for tournament play.