Serving Hamblen, Jefferson, Grainger, Greene, Cocke, and Hawkins counties

Welcome to the Mini-Kickers for the Spring 2010 season!

The Mini-Kickers program gets four-year-olds involved with soccer in a fun environment.  We "practice" - actually, I just say we have "sessions" - once a week for about an hour.  We use silly games for the about the first 2/3 of each session to let the children laugh and use their imaginations while moving with a soccer ball.  They don't always realize it, but they are learning soccer skills, like dribbling stopping the ball, turning, shooting, passing, and tackling.  They also learn about the field and its markings, and about restarts.  After a few weeks, they can really play soccer.  Late in each session, we play a "game" between teams.  We don't worry about the score; we cheer for any good move, pass, dribbling, tackle, or shot.  The children will go home smiling and have a good first experience with soccer.  I can see the difference when Mini-Kickers alumni reach the U6 Division - they already have the basics and are ready.

We started the Mini-Kickers in Fall 2008, so this is our fourth season.  We typically have 40 to 50 children in the Fall seasons and 70 to 80 children in the Spring.  Robert Laney will be rejoining us as a Coach for the spring season, after missing the Fall 2009 season.  Robert and I are the former and current Regional Commissioners for AYSO Region 335, are certified Advanced Coaches, and have lots of coaching experience.  His return to the Mini-Kickers will add a lot of coaching talent and fun, plus it will give us the opportunity to better supervise the learning process.  We plan on operating a little differently this Spring than in our previous seasons, enlisting leadership from the parents and keeping the children on fixed teams each week to better organize session start-up and the end-of-session game.  This will also enable Robert and I to spend more time on teaching.

The large number of children force us to have Mini-Kickers sessions on two nights.  Each child will attend one night per week.  The sessions will be

*   Mondays, starting March 22nd, from 6:00 until 7:00, on Barron Field 1 (on the end nearest the Barron Pavilion), and

*   Tuesdays, starting March 23rd, from 6:00 until 7:00 (same location).

There will be around eight weeks of Mini-kickers play.  In late May, we will have a party, giving Mini-Kickers t-shirts and medals to all the children, having group and individual photos taken, and sharing pizza and drinks - likely at Barron Field 1 and the neighboring Pavilion.  The shirts and medals are giving by the Region to the children.  We "pass-the-hat" for voluntary donations to help with pizza and drink costs.  You may purchase group or individual photos from the photographer.

  

Robert and I would like to have a brief (around 30 minutes in duration) meeting with all parents on Monday, March 15th, at the Barron Soccer Pavilion.  We will discuss AYSO's philosophies, the Mini-Kickers approach, answer any questions that you might have, recruit come parents who are willing to assist with the sessions, and distribute the children EVENLY in Monday and Tuesday groups (you will have a chance to select the day for your session, as long as we can keep the groups reasonably equal in size).  We will begin sessions the following week.  For each session, the children will need:

*   shinguards and socks that cover them (or one-piece guard-sock combos),

*   suitable clothes to play in and for the weather conditions (cleats are not required,    but it can get muddy in the Spring), and

*   a size 3 soccer ball (we will have some extras).

Each week, we will provide colored pull-over shirts to help differentiate groups.

I am e-mailing everyone for whom I have e-mail addresses.  I will call the remaining parents in the coming day(s).  Please call or write with any questions you have.  Please also check our website (www.morristownayso.com) for information on the Mini-Kickers program and if you ever need to know if practices are "on" when weather is iffy(Robert and I will not be able to call all families, but I will post notices on the website when appropriate).  I look forward to meeting you and getting to know your children if you are new to our program, or to seeing you again if you were with us in the fall.

Best wishes, and we'll see you at the fields.

Darren Rogers

AYSO Region 335 Commissioner and U5 Coordinator

423 312 4582

THE U5 MINI-KICKERS