Palo Alto AYSO   Home .. Calendar .. Fields .. Divisions/Schedules .. Policies .. Coaches .. Referees .. More Info

Palo Alto AYSO Winter/Spring Select Teams: Under-16 Girls

Player selections for the 2008 U16G Spring Select Team have been completed and players have been notified. Email Lee Berg if you would like to be contacted if any openings become available.

Head Coach Lee Berg AYSO Advanced Coach

Assistant Coach Laren Richardson

Email if you have any questions about the 2008 U16G Spring Select Team.

Team Objective
The objective of the U16G Spring Select Team is to have fun playing soccer at a higher level of competition than the fall season and to further develop each player's individual skills and understanding of team tactics and strategy.

Eligibility
To be eligible to play on the 2008 U16G Spring Select Team, a girl must

(1) have been born on or after August 1, 1991,
(2) have been on the roster of an AYSO team during the Fall 2007 season, and
(3) have played in at least 50% of her Fall 2007 team's regular season games.

Team Formation
We will have one U16G team consisting of 15 to 18 players. It is possible that a few additional highly motivated players will be invited to practice with the team.

The goal of the team formation process is to select players for each field position who have the requisite skills and competitive attitude to enjoy the stronger competition of the Spring season, who have a strong interest in improving their soccer skills, and who will enjoy practicing and playing together as a team. Players will be chosen for the team based on the their play during the Fall 2007 season and their performance at the tryouts. Factors that play a part in player selection include skill, speed, effort, understanding of the game, sportsmanship, practice habits, commitment to improving soccer skills and physical conditioning, commitment to participating in two practices and one game per week and both tournaments in May, the team's positional needs, team chemistry, family volunteer commitment, and the recommendations of Fall season coaches.

While the ability to attend every practice and game is not an absolute requirement for selection to the team, because space in the program is limited, all other things being equal, players who want to gain the full benefit of the practices and games of the Spring Select season will be preferred over players who give higher priority to another activity. If a player will be concurrently participating in another sport (examples: softball, basketball, volleyball, track & field, swimming, lacrosse) or will be playing concurrently on another soccer team, her parents must contact the Select Team Head Coach prior to team selection to discuss the player's (and their) level of commitment to the Select Team.

Unlike the Fall season, the Spring program is selective and not every player who is interested in playing can be accommodated on a team. Player selection is solely the responsibility of the Head Coach. Selection decisions cannot be appealed. While some players who played in a previous Select season may be chosen for the 2008 team, participation on an AYSO Select team in a previous year is no guarantee of selection to the 2008 team.

Tryouts
All players who attend a tryout will be notified of their selection status by email within one week of the last tryout held.

U16G Select Team Tryouts
Date	Time	Location	Status
Saturday, Nov. 3, 2007	9:30-11:30 a.m.	Jordan Middle School #1	Completed
Saturday, Nov. 3, 2007	2-4 p.m.	Terman Park #2	Completed
Saturday, Nov. 10, 2007	9:30-11:30 a.m.	Jordan Middle School #1	Canceled
Saturday, Nov. 10, 2007	2-4 p.m.	Terman Park #2 661 Arastradero Rd.	Completed

Team Practices
The team will have optional practices on Saturday mornings, January 12 through February 2 at Mayfield South (located at the corner of Page Mill Rd. and El Camino Real). Regular, twice-a-week practices, beginning Saturday, February 9 and continuing through May, will be held Saturday mornings at Mayfield South and Wednesday afternoons at Terman Park.

To play competitively against CYSA teams and other AYSO Select teams, physical conditioning must be higher than in the fall season. Players should expect team practices to be more rigorous than Fall season practices and should expect some form of running to be a regular part of practices.

Select Team practices are expected to take precedence over team members' other non-academic activities. Except for brief periods and exceptional circumstances agreed upon ahead of time with the Head Coach, a player must be willing and able to attend both weekly practices on a regular basis.

Spring League and Tournaments
The team will play in the Pacific Coast Spring Soccer League, one Sunday game per week, from March 2 through May 4, 2008. Games postponed due to weather or field conditions will be rescheduled, possibly to Saturdays or to May 11. Roughly half the games will be played in Palo Alto and the remainder at other fields on the Peninsula (South San Jose to Daly City).

The team will participate in at least two out-of-town, weekend tournaments. Some families may choose to stay overnight in Concord during the Concord Cup (May 17, 18) if the team has early morning games on Saturday or Sunday. The Davis World Cup (May 24-26) will require overnight stays in the Davis area over the Memorial Day weekend (2 to 3 nights, depending on morning game times). If feasible, the team will play in one additional tournament (likely to be the PHMSA Soccer Festival in the Concord/Pleasant Hill area, April 5 and 6, which is the weekend after the weekend that ends Spring Break). These tournaments feature top-flight competition in a fun, exciting environment. Most players and parents remember the tournaments as major highlights of the Select season.

Cost
The cost for each regular roster player, which covers the cost of home and away uniforms, registration fees for Spring League and the tournaments, and city field use fees, is expected to be about $350 plus the cost of transportation, meals, and accommodations for the tournaments.

Parent Volunteers
Because spring teams are self-supporting, providing a parent volunteer is a significant factor in player selection. A parent from each team member's family will be expected to perform some significant team support activity during the season. Click here to read descriptions of the most important volunteer positions. Although each family will usually be asked to perform only one volunteer function, when filling out the Player/Parent Declaration, please indicate all the positions for which a parent would be prepared to volunteer. Indicate any previous experience if you have a strong preference for a function that you have performed in the past.

Read this entire document. Print and complete the Player and Parent Declaration (links below). Bring the completed Declaration and a signed copy of your AYSO Player Registration Form to the first tryout you attend.

Player and Parent Declaration:  HTML   Word

Last revised: 01/13/08 1:25am