Mankato West Girls Soccer Handbook Our Philosophy To improve each player s understanding of, skills in and love for the game of soccer in a competitive and safe environment while expecting her to be successful in the classroom
Crissy Makela Cell: 507-380-7663 Home: 507-387-1305 cmakel1@isd77.org Head Coach Contact Information Representing West & Sportsmanship Remember that at all times you are representing West High School, our team and your family. This includes what you say, how you act and what you post. Remember there are little elementary school soccer players watching you and trying to emulate you. What do you want them to see? Hear? Here are some examples: On the field: 1) Play a clean game, physically and verbally. 2) Respect the officials at all times. 3) Provide constructive criticism to teammates on the field. 4) Help your teammates and your opponents get up if they have fallen down during play. 5) Kick the ball out of bounds if ANY player is hurt.
6) If the other team kicks the ball out of bounds due to our player being injured, politely return possession to the opponent. On the bus: 1) Clean up ALL of your messes. 2) Share your seat with another Scarlet. 3) No flashlights, taking pictures with flash or screaming at night out of courtesy for the driver. In the classroom: 1) Be responsible for makeup work due to an early dismissal. 2) Be honest. 3) Have integrity - Do not cheat or share answers with another student. Evenings/Weekends: 1) Do your homework. 2) Do not post ANY negative or hurtful comments about another team or player. Eligibility Information School Attendance Student-Athletes must be in attendance for THE ENTIRE SCHOOL DAY to be eligible to compete in that day s competition or practice. If a student-athlete is absent due to a doctor s appointments, she MUST bring a note to the Activities Office from the doctor s office. Unverified absences in any hour will result in disciplinary action by your coach Grades I will be checking on the athletes grades during the season. If I receive a report that the athlete is failing or has incomplete work, the athlete will be suspended from play until the course teacher reports to me that the athlete has shown acceptable improvement. Then the athlete will be reinstated. Remember we are called student-athletes for a reason. The student part is first and should be acted upon as such. Consult the Mankato West student handbook for a listing of the number of credits that are needed at the end of each semester for an athlete to be eligible to participate in activities. Other Training
Once the season begins, you can ONLY receive coaching from members of our coaching staff. You will NOT participate in tryouts or training sessions organized by other coaches, including your summer club teams, until the end of your season or you will be suspended from play according to MSHSL guidelines. Team Formation Varsity: 15-18 players JV: 15-21 players 9A: 15-21 players 9B: 15-21 players *If enough players register Teams are formed based on the skill levels of the players. Some skill areas coaches will be looking for are offensive, defensive, speed, ball control, movement off the ball, communication and work rate. Players will be chosen based on how well they demonstrated these skills during the first week, which may include scrimmages on the first Saturday. Placement on a team is not based a player s grade level. If we must make cuts, here are the players who would be cut: Seniors that don t make Varsity Juniors that don t make JV Playing Time 9A & B: Playing time is generally equal with a focus on developing their skills and being able to play more than one position. JV: Everyone plays, although not equally. Players are preparing to move to Varsity. Varsity: Not everyone will play in each match. The focus is on being competitive and winning the match. Lettering Criteria Each player will be awarded a letter based on which team she was primarily rostered with during the regular season. However, a JV player may be awarded a Varsity letter if she plays in half or more (8+) of the Varsity matches. The same method can be applied to a 9A or B player who frequently plays JV.
A coach may also use his/her own discretion. Process for Addressing Concerns If you or your daughter has a concern, we have developed a process to address those concerns. 1) Athlete & Coach Learning to advocate for oneself is an important life skill. Therefore the first step is to encourage your daughter to approach her coach first. 2) Athlete, Coach & Parent If you or your daughter does not feel that the concern was addressed above, then please schedule a meeting with you, your daughter and her coach. 3) Athlete, Coach, Parent & Mr. Fell If you or your daughter does not feel that the concern was addressed above, then we will schedule a meeting with you, your daughter, her coach and AD Mr. Fell. 4) Athlete, Coach, Parent, Mr. Fell & Mr. Lutz
If you or your daughter does not feel that the concern was addressed at this time, then we will schedule a meeting which would now include Principal Mr. Lutz. Practice Information Practice Attendance All players are required to attend practice on time. If a player needs to miss practice in order to make up school work or to receive help from a teacher, the player needs to notify her coach ahead of time and may be asked to provide a signed note from the teacher stating when the athlete was there. The requirement is the same for missed practices due to a work schedule. Penalty for unexcused absence from practice: The player will serve a 1/2 game suspension. Busing Information Practices: There will be a practice bus from West to DMMS that leaves immediately after school from the parking lot. Players are not required to ride the bus. The players are responsible for getting their own ride home from DMMS. Games: For home or in town games (DMMS, East, Loyola, Caswell North), there will not be a bus provided. For away games, athletes are required to ride the chartered bus to and from the game unless otherwise discussed with the coach. The chartered bus will stop at DMMS and West to pick up athletes. Upon returning to Mankato, the bus will drop all players at West High School.
If players are riding home with parents from an away game, parents must fill out a TRAVEL RELEASE FORM. The form is available online www.whs.isd77.org under Athletics, Athletics Home, Online Registration and Other Forms. Away Game Information Box-lunch/Pizza games: Box lunches or pizza will be provided to the players at no cost to them. The purpose is to help us arrive home earlier than if we had stopped for food. Other nights, your daughter will have to bring her own snack/dinner or money to buy food before we return home. Your daughter will have the opportunity to choose her type of sandwich or pizza in advance. Please consult the calendar for the dates meals are provided. MAPS: Please use the MSHSL website (www.mshsl.org), the Big 9 website (www.big9.org), or other internet resources to print maps for our away games. If you don t have access to these resources, see Coach Makela. Changes to Game Schedule Sometimes game details change throughout the season. Please go to www.big9.org. Please sign up for Notify me. If any details change (location, time, cancellation), you will be automatically sent an email with the changed listed. Apparel Socks: All players need to have a pair of red socks and a pair of plain white socks. You will be provided one white and one red if needed. To indicate which color of sock
you need, check the appropriate box on the sign in sheet at the PAC meeting. If you desire additional pairs, they are available for purchase at the PAC meeting. Team Apparel: Each player is solely responsible for purchasing her own team apparel that is hers to keep. NO player is required to purchase anything. Captains and captains parents are in charge of all ordering and delivering of these additional items. For Seniors 1) Mike Warter Scholarship: This scholarship is sponsored by the MSHSSCA in honor of former Eagan head coach Mike Warter. Each year there are only a handful of applicants. Your odds are great! Go to the MSHSSCA website for more information: https://sites.google.com/site/mnhssoccer1/ Look under the Award & Recognition tab. Deadline has been in December in the past. 2) AAA Award: If you are involved in Varsity sports as well as activities like band, choir, plays, etc, please consider contacting Mr. Fell about the AAA Award in the spring. 3) John Basil Janaveras Scholarship: John was a former Mankato West student who played soccer and hockey. He passed away as a result of having Meningitis. His family offers one scholarship to one male and one female senior soccer player (as well as one male and one female hockey player) each year. Applications are due in the spring. Have you daughter log into their Naviance account for information.