Just a few things as we enter Week 6, and while we made it to week 6 before having to send this email, I was hopeful that we would make it all sense, nonetheless, here we are:

1. Parent Conduct – Coaches, please remind parents that they should also be acting in a “Christ-like manner” while watching the games.  I am getting reports of parents verbally attacking the referees and opposing players during some games.  It goes without saying that this is not the behavior that should be witnessed by players, and referees or field monitors reserve the right to ask people that are acting in such a manner to leave the premises.  By all means cheer and root for your teams, but please keep it positive and be a good example to the kids that are playing.

2. Injuries – Injuries happen, the game is a physical game and accidents happen. None of us want injuries to occur to any player on the field and we as coaches should do everything within our ability to limit them.  This includes calling off the field one of your players that is intentionally fouling others and have a discussion with them about expectations.  However, coaches should not be yelling or speaking to another team's players in any situation.   If you as a coach believe that another player is being reckless or intentionally fouling, the appropriate course of action is to respectfully bring that issue to the referee or opposing coach's attention.  Bear in mind that your perceptions may be different than the referees or other coach's perceptions so inaction on their part does not give you license to address any issues with opposing players on your own.  If there are problems that are not being addressed, let me know of them.  I do track these things behind the scenes and if I see patterns emerging I will reach out on my own  and separately to the coach/soccer coordinators that are involved.  Also, if an injury occurs that necessitates hospitalization or a doctor visit, please remember to fill out and return to me an accident report form.  That form can be found on the web page under our forms page – https://pittdsl.org/forms/

3. Games –   We are about halfway through our JV/V season and a little over halfway through our developmental season.  I know that as of last count roughly 1/3 of the JV/Varsity games have been played (65) and there are 95 games that still need to be played between now and the end of May.  Once those games are played, please remember that the winning team (or in the event of a tie, the home team) needs to upload the game cards and results to the website for the game to be counted.  Here is a link https://pittdsl.org/report-score/ .   Also, from time to time, please check and make sure that the scores were correctly uploaded so that when playoff determinations are made, they are made with the most accurate information.  Teams can check their game results by clicking on the following link – https://pittdsl.org/results/

That's all from me, hopefully the weather will shift a bit for us all and we can get some of these games in and played this weekend.

Rob