Boys and Girls between the ages of 4 and 18 years of age play in our Fall (“House”) league.
Even though we're called the Pleasant Hill-Martinez Soccer Association, there is no residency requirement. We have kids from all of the surrounding communities in addition to Pleasant Hill and Martinez residents.
Parents or guardians must come in person to one of our Open Registration sessions. If your child did NOT play with PHMSA last season, please bring proof of age, such as a birth certificate, medical card, or passport. Children who played with us last season will have pre-printed registration forms indicating that their age was verified previously. Please pre-register with e病yso? (see below).
Registration is from 6 to 9 pm at the Pleasant Hill Community Center (directions) on the following nights:
Thursday, March 11th, 2010
Tuesday, March 16th, 2010
Tuesday, March 30th, 2010
Tuesday, April 13th, 2010
MESSAGE REGARDING
LATE REGISTRATION
For players and parents who missed the Registration nights, you may still be able to play this fall season by registering through our late Registration Procedure by following these steps.
1. You must go to eAYSO and properly pre-register and print and SIGN two copies of the Registration Form on both the first page and the second page. (Make three copies if you want to retain your own copy.)
2. Mail the forms along with a check payable for $85 per player. Checks should be payable to PHMSA. They should be sent to: PHMSA, PO Box 2327, Pleasant Hill CA 94523 ATTN: Late Registration
3. Late Registration applications will be processed based upon a number of factors including the number of teams we have formed, the available slots remaining on teams, and team player rating balance. As such, we cannot make any guarantee as to when or if a player might be added to a team. Nevertheless, it is extremely important to send in your materials as soon as possible.
E病yso is an online pre-registration system maintained by AYSO National.
Speed your registration process by pre-registration with e病yso.
Please print three (3) copies of your registration forms to bring to registration.
If you register your child at one of our open registration sessions, they will definitely be able to play this fall assuming that we have enough volunteer coaches. If you register late, then we cannot guarantee your child will play although we certainly will try to find a spot. Families move and children change their minds after registration so there are always drops to fill.
Players get a uniform (shirt, shorts, and socks) at the beginning of the season and trophies at the end.
PHMSA has many other expenses such as soccer balls, and other equipment, coach training, referee training, referee uniforms, paint for the fields, and even new goals from time to time. PHMSA is part of Area 2C of the National organization of AYSO (American Youth Soccer Organization) and both organizations assess our region fees for their services. PHMSA is non-profit, however, and everyone who coaches, referees, administers the league, or helps out in any other way is a volunteer.
It depends on the age division, the coach, and the calendar.
Under-5 players will participate in a weekly jamboree activity with their parents that begins with soccer games and drills and finishes with a 3 v. 3 scrimmage to give each player the most "touches" on the ball.
Under-6 teams typically practice once per week for an hour and have one game per week, usually on Saturdays. Practices may continue all season, but teams usually stop practicing around the end of Daylight Savings Time at the end of October.
Under-8 teams typically practice twice per week for an hour and have one game per week, usually on Saturdays. Once games begin (usually the Saturday after Labor Day), teams often drop to one practice per week. Practices may continue all season, but teams usually stop practicing around the end of Daylight Savings Time at the end of October.
Under-10 and older teams typically practice twice per week for 90 minutes and have one or two games per week. For the first few weeks of the season, these older kids will have both a Saturday game and a mid-week evening game while there is daylight. After the first four weeks, these teams will just play on Saturdays too. Practices may continue all season, but many teams drop one or even both practices while the midweek games are being played.
Teams begin practicing for the Fall Season on August 1st. Games typically begin on the Saturday after Labor Day and continue until mid-November. Teams in the Under-10 and older divisions may have play-off games after the regular season.
The complete schedule will be posted on the web site when it is ready.
Yes, for our Under-10 and older age divisions. All teams in the older division may participate in regional playoffs in new World Cup format (i.e., playoffs involving just PHMSA teams) and in the Area Tournament of Champions against teams from nearby AYSO regions such as Concord, Mt. Diablo, Baypoint, and American Canyon.
PHMSA is committed to following AYSO's Vision to provide world class youth soccer programs that enrich children's lives, as well as AYSO's Mission to develop and deliver quality youth soccer programs which promote a fun, family environment based on AYSO's Six Philosophies:
As such, PHMSA is proud to provide the finest soccer organization in our area.
Practices are usually held on week nights or on the weekend during the day before the season begins. The times and locations for practices are not generally available until July. The league cannot assign practice times until after we receive field permits from the school districts and city park departments. The coaches will then work with their age division directors to find a practice time that works for them.
There is something for everyone to do. And since our region is so large, we depend on your help to get all of the work done. We have volunteer opportunities for every interest. You may sign up at registration for one of the following jobs.
No, but please do anyway. With ~2500 kids in our program, we need all of the help we can get.
No. We provide training classes, clinics, and mentoring. Read all about it on the Coaches page.
No. We provide training classes, clinics, and mentoring. Read all about it on the Referee page.
If your child drops before the season begins, you are entitled to a refund. Contact the Registrar.
Please fill out the Player Withdrawal Form and mail it to the P.O. Box to receive your refund.
PHMSA has a Board of Directors. We are Region 281 of Area 2C of Section 2 of the American Youth Soccer Organization.
(But sometimes it helps to remember that the "A" in PHMSA stands for Association and not Organization.)
Maybe. We have a buddy program in our Under-6, and Under-8 age divisions. Read the Buddy Policy for details and fill out an Under-6 Buddy Form or an Under-8 Buddy Form.
In older age divisions, the answer is generally no although there are two exceptions:
As the season rapidly approaches, we wanted to highlight a number of changes made in 2009 to improve PHMSA and continue to fulfill AYSO’s vision as “The nationally recognized premier youth development organization providing quality youth soccer programs.”
Perhaps the most exciting change was the introduction of a World Cup type format for our U10, U12 and U14 age groups. We will again implement PHMSA’s version of the World Cup near the end of our season in order to determine which PHMSA teams will move to the Area Tournament of Champions (TOC).
This was an exciting change, but of course, making the TOC should not be the only goal of a team or coach. All coaches, players and parents should be reminded of AYSO’s Mission Statement “To develop and deliver quality youth soccer programs which promote a fun, family environment based on the AYSO philosophies.” We feel that his change is true to AYSO's Mission and Vision statements, and will continue to strengthen PHMSA's standing as the leading youth soccer organization in Northern California.
The Far Past:
Those of you who have been involved in our organization for a long time will recall that teams in U10, U12 and U14 age groups formerly vied for spots in the TOC based purely on standings, (i.e. wins, losses and ties). This unfairly punished those teams that might have taken a longer time to develop over the course of a season and was thus contrary to the mission of developing players. Because every game counted in the standings, coaches were reluctant to move players into different positions and instead kept them in areas that gave their team the best opportunity to win a particular game. As a result, players were not challenged to learn different skills. Moreover, teams that that took longer over the course of a season to come together were often too late in stringing together wins that would put them in the TOC.
The Immediate Past:
During the past few years, PHMSA addressed this shortcoming in utilizing the standings alone by implementing the PHMSA Regional Tournament. That tournament has been held on the final weekend of our season, and it was introduced so that ALL teams had the chance to move to the TOC.
It permitted coaches the opportunity to focus on working with their players and teams throughout the course of the season, without worrying about standings. As a result, more coaches were willing to move players into different positions, without the fear that a loss or two (or even ten) would preclude them from moving forward to the TOC. This change has produced players that are tactically and technically more sound. It has also shown us that teams, which might have had difficulty early in the season, can come together at the end and still move on to the TOC.
The Present and Future:
The new PHMSA style World Cup format is the next step in this progression. As of Fall 2009, PHMSA is not be keeping standings in any of the age groups. Instead, teams in the U10, U12 and U14 age groups will play their regular season games, just like they have done in the past. But during the final 2-3 weeks of the season, we will place teams in brackets and groups - just like they are placed in the World Cup. Then we will have those teams play in and emerge from their brackets, with the goal of identifying the teams that will move to the TOC.
PHMSA feels this is a major improvement for a number of reasons:
Conclusion
We realize that there are many questions you might have regarding this exciting new chapter in PHMSA history. Feel free to ask them.
We also want everyone to know that their opinion is greatly valued and if they have some ideas on how we can implement our plans, please contact your Division Coordinator or come to a Board Meeting. During the course of the season, make sure you attend one of the Coaches Round tables during the season and you will receive updates on the PHMSA Cup.
Thanks and we will see you out on the field,
Jeff McClure
Regional Commissioner, PHMSA, AYSO Region 281
PHMSA greatly appreciates the supports of its sponsors and is committed to ensuring that sponsors receive a great benefit for their sponsorship dollars, particularly in this economy. Among the benefits sponsors receive are a listing on our website and our end of season volunteer dinner program, a plaque to display in their place of business, and the option to select the uniform colors of the team they are sponsoring. But perhaps the most important benefit is the knowledge that a sponsor is helping make the great game of soccer available to nearly 2500 kids in our community.
Like with any other issues, the PHMSA Board constantly looks to see how we can improve our Region. This year, we have elected to remove an option that had been provided to sponsors葉he option to select a coach or a buddy for a player.
This is a change that we have debated for several seasons. At first glance, the decision move may sound controversial. But after reviewing it from the standpoint of AYSO’s 6 Philosophies, it is the right thing to do at this time.
First, it will remove a very time consuming element from our team formation process. As our Region has grown larger, our volunteers time is at a premium. The time spent working with the eAYSO system to accommodate our buddy program had simply become too time consuming.
Next, the removal of this option will eliminated the uncomfortable situations that PHMSA volunteers were placed in where more than one sponsor wanted to have a child play with a particular coach, or buddy with a particular child. These matters unfortunately never worked themselves out, and PHMSA volunteers were compelled to resolve them, typically leaving bad feelings for the sponsor who did not get the coach/buddy they wanted, and blaming PHMSA volunteer for that situation.
Finally, and perhaps most importantly, the change will lend a further measure of credibility to the team formation process. One of AYSO’s philosophies is Balanced Teams. With the option to select a coach or a buddy, PHMSA volunteers worked diligently to ensure that teams were still balanced. Despite those efforts, there were grumblings that this sponsorship option unfairly skewed the team balancing process. While I personally do not believe this to be true, I can certainly understand why a person might reach such a conclusion. Thus, removing this option will put to rest any concerns over this aspect of the team balancing process.
Again we greatly appreciate all of our sponsors and hope you will understand why we are making this change. If you have any questions, please do not hesitate to contact me at rc@phmsa.org.
Thank you for your continued support,
Jeff McClure, Regional Commissioner, AYSO Region 281-PHMSA