Parents are a very important resource to Wayland AYSO. Without you, we wouldn't have players, coaches, referees or spectators. Below are answers to some common question as well as links to helpful resources.

What am I expected to do as an AYSO parent?

Support Your Child
Take your child to practices and games with the proper equipment. Support your child by giving encouragement and showing an interest in his or her team. Help your child learn soccer skills and good sportsmanship. Teach your child that hard work and an honest effort are often more important than victory.

Always Be Positive
You are not on the team, but you have strong influence on the team's environment. Applaud good plays by your child's team and by the opposing team. Support all efforts to remove verbal and physical abuse from youth sporting activities.

Be Enthusiastic And Supportive
Let children set their own goals and play the game for themselves. Don't put too heavy a burden on your child to win games.

Reinforce Positive Behavior
The best way to help a child to achieve goals and reduce the natural fear of failure is through positive reinforcement. No one likes to make a mistake. If your child does make one, remember that he or she is still learning. Encourage your child's efforts and point out the good things your child accomplished.

Let Coaches Coach And Referees Ref
Coaches and referees are usually parents. They volunteer their time to help make your child's youth soccer experience a positive one. They need your support, too. What coaches and referees don't need is your help in coaching from the sidelines. So please refrain from coaching during games and practices. Referees are not the "bad guys." Treat them and their calls fairly and respectfully.

How do I become an AYSO volunteer?

It's easy. Talk to your child's coach; call your Regional Commissioner or any of the Region board members. They will be most helpful - and happy - to find the right job for you.

What are basic soccer skills?

The sport involves several basic skills: passing/shooting, dribbling, and controlling (or trapping) the ball. These skills can be learned at any age, and a good soccer player works continually to improve them.

Passing/Shooting
Passing is kicking, pushing or heading the ball to a teammate or to a space where a teammate can run to the ball. A player may lightly tap the ball to a teammate several feet away or kick it strongly to move it down the field. The ball may scoot along the ground or may be kicked into the air.

Most players use two types of kicks to pass to a teammate or shoot towards the goal. One is the instep drive which is a powerful kick. The other kick is called a push pass. Performed using the inside of the foot, the push pass is much more accurate than the instep drive, but is less powerful.

Dribbling
Dribbling is transporting the ball under control from one area to another. Soccer players cannot use their hands. Players dribble the ball with their feet, using light taps on the ball to move it along the ground.

Controlling
Controlling (or trapping) is stopping the ball in flight or on the ground, and then controlling it by either dribbling or passing the ball to teammates. There are many ways to trap a ball: (1) allow it to hit the chest at an angle that deflects the ball to the ground where it can be controlled; (2) allow it to hit the thigh or bent knee to deflect the ball to the ground where it can be controlled; or (3) use the foot to stop the ball.

Heading
Heading is unique to the game of soccer. When a ball is too high to kick, players "head" the ball to pass to a teammate or score a goal.

What are the rules?

The object of the game is for the players to get the ball into their opponent's goal using any part of their body except their hands and arms. Only goalkeepers may use their hands while inside their own penalty area.

Generally, the Laws of the Game require that referees stop the game when something has happened which is unfair or unsafe.

Kickoff
To start the game or the second half, and after each goal, a kickoff is taken from the center circle.

Throw In
After the ball has completely crossed the side lines - commonly called touch lines in soccer - a throw in is awarded against the team that last touched the ball. The throw in is taken from where the ball left the field and must be thrown with two hands from behind and over the head, while both feet are on the ground on or behind the touch line.

Goal Kick
The goal kick is taken by the defending team each time the ball crosses the goal line without a goal being scored and was last touched by an attacking player. The ball may be placed anywhere in the goal area and is not considered back in play until it has been kicked out of the penalty area.

Corner Kick
This kick is taken by the attacking team each time the ball is kicked by the defense over its own goal line without a goal being scored. The ball is placed within the three-foot arc in the corner of the field (nearest to where the ball went out of play) and kicked into play by the attacking team.

Penalty Kick
A penalty kick is awarded when a defending player commits one of the 10 major fouls within his or her own penalty area while the ball is still in play. The penalty kick is taken by a player from the offended team from a spot 12 yards from the goal. All players must remain outside the penalty area, 10 yards from the ball, and behind the penalty kick mark until the kick is taken, except for the kicker and the goalkeeper. The goalkeeper must remain on the goal line until the ball is kicked. Once kicked, the goalkeeper may try to stop the ball from entering the goal. The kicker, after waiting for the referee's signal, may score by kicking the ball directly into the opponent's goal.

Misconduct
There are two kinds of misconduct:

1. when an action results in a caution (yellow card) from the referee
2. when an action results in a player being sent off or ejected from the field (red card).

A referee may also warn a player to improve his or her conduct (or unsporting behavior) before a caution is issued. The referee also has the authority to suspend or terminate play because of misconduct or interference on the part of coaches or spectators.

The Team
A team has a maximum of 11 players on the field at any one time, although a game can be played with as few as seven players on a team. Regions use small-sided teams in younger age divisions. Players get more "touches" on the ball, learn skills quicker and have more fun using this method.

What is offside?

A player is offside if he or she is ahead of the ball at the moment the ball touches or is played by a member of the same team, except if that player is in his/her own half of the field or has two opponents even with or between him/her and the opponent's goal line. The referee's "moment of judgment" is the instant the ball is played, not when it is received.

A player is not offside if he/she is the first to receive the ball from a throw-in, corner kick or goal kick, or is not involved in active play by interfering with play, interfering with an opponent, or gaining an advantage by being in that position.

AYSO.org
All this info and much more can be found here.

Parental Support
A letter to parents written by Jeff Pill