County Soccer (Recreational)

 

Commissioner e-mail - countycommissioner@a3soccer.com

Link to AAYSA County Rule Book

As defined by US Youth Soccer, recreational soccer is primarily devoted to the enjoyment and development of soccer players without travel or emphasis on high level competition. The purpose of recreational soccer is to provide an opportunity for the participants to have fun, learn the game, love the game, and develop life skills.

A3 Soccer's County program offers opportunities to players who would like to play recreational soccer and yet still enjoy the challenges offered by youth sports. Our program participates in the Anne Arundel Youth Soccer Association (AAYSA) and plays against teams throughout the county. Normally half of the AAYSA games are in Crofton and half are within a thirty minute drive. However, there are some age groups that are placed in "magnet fields" meaning all games for the entire age group are played on that field. County play features recreational soccer and equitable game participation for all players in a more formal competitive environment than intramural play. The county league is divided into one-year age groups (U9, U10, U11, etc.) with each age group having multiple divisions broken out by skill level. Every registered player will be placed on a team.

 

AAYSA AGE PERIODS PERIOD LENGTH FIELD SIZE BALL SIZE # REFS MAX ROSTER
7 v 7 U09 Two
Halves
25
minutes
55x35 to 60x40 Yards 4 1 12
U10
9 v 9 U11 75x50 Yards 2 15
U12
11 v 11 Middle School 30
minutes
110x60 Yards 5 18
Boys
High School
7 v 7 Girls
High School
25
minutes
75x50 Yards 12
 

 

Roster administration

  • Coaches should conduct (Coach-Athlete-Parent) meeting before start of season
  • Coach should collect player contract forms and turn in to Commissioner
  • County Commissioner will collect coach's pledge forms for all coaches
  • Ensure all coaches (head and assistant) have successfully completed background check per county volunteer database LINK
  • Prepare team roster using county-provided Excel form
  • Submit updated roster/forms for any roster additions
  • Carry copy of roster with you to all games

 

Divisional Placements

  • AAYSA holds pre-season placement meetings to ensure every commissioner has an opportunity to request the appropriate division for each team. Although each commissioner does their best to place their team in a competitive environment, it is not an exact science and each season there are teams that end up in divisions too high or too low. Since many teams don't have a chance to practice or evaluate players prior to the placement meetings, the results are anything but perfect.
  • If the team has a desired divisional placement, please make sure to advise County Commissioner. They usually take place in mid-February (Spring season) and early to mid-August (Fall season).

 

Practice fields

  • All coaches should request practice times/slots at Bell Branch through Google forms passed out at start of season.
  • All field locations are detailed on our website page - LINK

 

Equipment and uniforms

  • Equipment/uniforms are purchased through the club vendor
  • Uniforms include shirts, shorts, and socks
  • Uniforms usually last 2 years (4 seasons) due to wear/tear and player growth

 

Game schedules

  • Check schedules several times per week and more often during inclement weather.  Schedules are subject to change without notice. On gameday, coaches and parents should check the AAYSA league website. The league may conduct games even if fields at Bell Branch are closed.
  • Any schedule change requests must be made 14 days in advance
  • No guarantee that request will be granted
  • Conflicts with a religious holiday or with school-sponsored or scout-sponsored events are typically the only grounds for which rescheduling will be considered
  • Makeup weekend is part of the season schedule-all parents should realize that a game will probably be scheduled for that weekend
  • Forfeits must be avoided
  • Games
    • Games in the Fall are generally on Saturday
    • Games in the Spring are generally on Sunday
    • U12 teams generally play games on Friday nights during the Spring and Fall seasons

 

Field lining

  • Each team is responsible for lining fields a few times during the season
  • Paint is located in the shed nearest the dog park and in between full-sided fields
  • Great assignment for another parent on your team
  • A3 Soccer field lining coordinator typically sends lining responsibility matrix to all A3 Soccer coaches each week during the season
  • Even when games are canceled, field should be lined so lines are not washed away by rain

 

Age Groups

  • U09 through U12 teams are considered small-sided soccer.  U13 and older teams are considered full-sided soccer.  The major differences are the older kids will play on large fields, with multiple referees, and with a larger ball.  One of the distinctions between Premier and County is that the County league uses school groupings as the players get older while Premier keeps the one year breakdown throughout.  Accordingly, middle school players will play together on a team and high school players play together on a team.  While that may be challenging for a group of 6th graders and freshmen players, it's the same dynamic they face in making their school teams.  A bigger challenge is understanding that middle school kids don't want to play with elementary school kids and high school kids do not want to play with middle school kids.  As a result, we do our best to put all U13 and older kids on teams based on school groupings.  
  • U09 and U10 - play 7v7 with a size 4 ball
  • U11 and U12 - play 9v9 with a size 4 ball
  • Middle and High School teams - play 11v11 with a size 5 ball

 

Important Information

  • All County teams are created after the registration period closes and therefore it is unclear how many teams will exist in any specific age group in any given season.  In addition, due to the nature of the team-creation process, the teams are created in a very short time frame between the end of registration and start of season.  As a result, getting team information is many times disseminated to parents and coaches at the very last moment.
  • In the event there are not enough players registered in a particular age group at the county level, A3 may at its discretion combine two age groups in order to field a team or decline to field a team in the age group.  
  • All County teams are solely reliant on parent volunteers to coach and manage teams.  The club does not have a stable of coaches waiting in the wings to take over teams, therefore, it's important that parents volunteer their time to help coach or manage teams.

 

Our Proud Sponsor

Sila Heating, Air Conditioning & Plumbing

Our Sponsor

Sila


 

Director of Grassroots

Director Grassroots

Director Grassroots

Liz Tobe

Director of Grassroots

etobe@a3soccer.com

Spring 2024

Spring 2024

AA County POC

Point of Contact

Scheduling and Referee Issues

Anne Arundel County Department of Recreation and Parks Sports Supervisor Sue Hamilton

County Fees

Fees

County Soccer Fees:  $130 per season (Fall/Spring)

Forms & Waivers

Forms

To be filled out by Players

AAYSA Concussion Awareness Form

AAYSA Youth Player Contract

To be filled out by Coaches

AAYSA Coaches Pledge

AAYSA Youth Team Roster

Other

AA County Background check

Score and Incident Report

AAYSA Rules

AA County Coach's Portal

A3 County Uniforms

How to access rosters

AAYSA League Schedules

Fall Season 2023

Anne Arundel County Recreation & Parks controls schedule, dates, referees, etc.

Link to Rec & Parks site

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