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JAYS Registration Scheduled For March 11 At B&GC

Jamestown Area Youth Soccer (JAYS) Summer 2017 player and volunteer registration will be held at the Winifred Crawford Dibert Boys & Girls Club of Jamestown, located at 62 Allen St., on Saturday, March 11 from 9 a.m. to 4 p.m.

It is important to note that JAYS Soccer is not a Boys & Girls Club-run program and registrations will only be accepted at specified times and dates. A late registration date may be announced based on player and volunteer registrations received on March 11.

JAYS is a recreational soccer program designed to promote skill development, physical fitness and spirited team play without emphasizing team records or personal statistics. The JAYS slogan is “Our Philosophy, Our Purpose, Our Goal….FUN!!!”

JAYS summer rec soccer has no minimum skill or playing experience guidelines, tryouts or roster cuts. Every player regardless of experience, skill level or game situation is guaranteed a minimum of a half-game playing time and opportunities to play all field positions.

Teams are formed based strictly on player dates of birth, taking playing experience into consideration as much as possible within the age group. Requests for team placement with particular coaches, friends, etc. are strongly discouraged, as absolutely no guarantees can be given in advance as to team placement, other than siblings of the same sex within the same division and players whose parent or other relative is a volunteer coach in that same division.

The United States Youth Soccer Association (USYSA), of which JAYS is an affiliate program through the New York State West Youth Soccer Association (NYSWYSA), has mandated that player age groups in all recreational and competitive UYSYSA programs nationwide be formed based on full calendar year player dates of birth.

As a result of this new mandate, the summer rec soccer program will format age groups based on the following structure:

¯ U-6 Boys / U-6 Girls, all boys/girls with 2011 & 2012 dates of birth;

¯ U-8 Boys / U-8 Girls, all boys/girls with 2009 & 2010 dates of birth;

¯ U-10 Girls, all girls with 2007 & 2008 dates of birth;

¯ U-11 Boys, all boys with 2006, 2007 & 2008 dates of birth;

¯ U-12 Girls, all girls with 2005 & 2006 dates of birth;

¯ U-15 Coed all girls with 2002, 2003 & 2004 dates of birth; and

¯ Mixed Rosters, all Boys with 2002, 2003, 2004 & 2005 dates of birth.

Proof of date of birth is required for all players who did not participate in the JAYS program last summer. Registrations will not be accepted if the required proof of date of birth is not presented or on file from last summer.

The player registration fee for 2017 is $50 per player, which includes all local JAYS and national USYSA fees and required insurance. The family maximum is set at $125, which would apply to any families with three or more players. There will be no additional fund-raising required of the players or families in addition to the registration fee.

No registrations will be accepted unless accompanied by full payment, proof of date of birth, and a complete form with parent or legal guardian signature. Due to the previous difficulty in collecting the required information and fees, no forms will be accepted “on hold” or incomplete.

Families experiencing legitimate financial hardship are encouraged to apply for a partial registration fee scholarship by submitting a request by email to jaysrec1980@gmail.com or by mail to Jamestown Area Youth Soccer at P.O. Box 922, Jamestown, 14702-0922 by March 7.

Scholarship requests must include the number of family members, names and ages of the children to be registered in JAYS, parent employment status and a brief description of the financial circumstances. Telephone scholarship requests or in-person requests on March 11 will not be accepted. Scholarship funds are limited and requests will be considered based on need and in the order received. It should also be understood that it may not be possible to grant repeat scholarship requests from prior years. The deadline for requests is Tuesday, March 7.

Player uniforms are supplied through the team sponsorship program. Players in all divisions are required to wear shin guards and appropriate sneakers or soccer shoes.

A free used equipment exchange will be offered again this year. Tables will be available for anyone to drop off clean, usable soccer shoes, shin guards or soccer balls. Families needing equipment may stop at the tables and pick up what their player needs, free of charge. Families wishing to donate equipment may bring items to the Boys & Girls Club at 62 Allen St. at any time on or before March 11.

Practices begin in early June with games beginning in late June and running through mid-August, with a total combination of practices and games not to exceed three per week.

There is a critical need for additional volunteers to serve as coaches, assistants, team helpers, committee members and special project workers. All JAYS volunteers are required to sign a background check release, and will be issued a photo ID by the New York State West Youth Soccer Association.

League orientation sessions are mandatory for those interested in serving as coaches, assistants or other volunteers in the JAYS program. Those interested in volunteering should register on March 11 at the Boys & Girls Club, send an email to jaysrec1980@gmail.com or call 716-450-4299.

Sponsors are also needed for the program. Team and age-group sponsors receive their company or organization logo printed on the team uniforms. Sponsors are publicized with game results in the local media and receive a photo plaque at the end of the season.

The sponsorship fee is $300 with a $50 early-bird discount offered if a commitment is received by April 1 and full payment of $250 is received by May 15. Information will be available at registration.

JAYS players registering at the Boys & Girls Club on March 11 are guaranteed placement on a team. A late registration date will be scheduled if there are openings in various age groups, and also if there are enough volunteer coaches and age-group coordinators registered to accommodate the players registered on March 11. Early registration and mail-ins are not available under any circumstances.

For more information on the JAYS program, send an email to jaysrec1980@gmail.com or call 716-450-4299. It should be noted that JAYS has no office or paid staff, so all calls and emails will be processed by a JAYS volunteer within 24 hours whenever possible.

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