Watertown Youth Soccer
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 PROGRAM DESCRIPTIONS

Little Kickers:  (For children in grades K, 1 and 2)

Coordinators:

program description: an eight week FUN program, mid-SEPT into NOV in the Fall and later APRIL into JUNE in the Spring. 

Little Kickers (Kindergartners, 1st and 2nd graders):

• Eight Saturdays, Septermber 13th through November 1st.

• NOT a drop-off program…parent/guardian must stay with child.

• Field Location – Casey Parker Field on Route 16.

• Kindergarten Teams play 8:30 to 10:00. 

• First Grade Teams play 10:15 to 11:45. 

• Second Grade Teams play 12:00 noon to 1:30.

• Each player should bring a size 3 or 4 soccer ball. They MUST wear shin guards, cleats are optional.  WYS provides T-shirts as uniforms.

• Instruction by Play Soccer coaches, assisted by volunteer coaches.

• Team party on last Saturday following each session at the field.

• Each player should bring a full water bottle.

    A great program that has become a community institution for hundreds of kids and their parents in Watertown. Some say this is the most fun you can have playing or watching soccer.

Skills League:  (For children in grades 3 and 4)

Coordinator:

program description: an eight week program, mid-SEPT into NOV in the Fall and later APRIL into JUNE in the Spring. 

Skills League (3rd and 4th graders):

• All sessions held at Casey Parker Field on Route 16.

• Saturdays, September 13th through Novermber 1st, 2:00 to 3:30 and Wednesdays, September 17th through October 29th, 5:30 to 7:00.

• Each player should bring a size 4 soccer ball and full water bottle.

• Players must wear shin guards, cleats are optional but recommended.

• WYS will provide T-shirts as uniforms.

• Instruction by Play Soccer coaches, assisted by volunteer coaches.

• Team party on Nov 1st at the soccer field following the session.

Boys and girls play separately. 

BAYS Travel Teams: (For children in grades 4 through 12)

Coordinators: 

program description: A ten (or seven for U16 and older teams) week program from early-mid SEPT into NOV in the Fall and early-mid APRIL into JUNE in the Spring.

Watertown soccer teams play teams from the 50+ towns in the Boston Area Youth Soccer League (BAYS), the largest and most respected inter-town league in New England. Usually opposing teams are nearby, sometimes they are further away (but carpools with coaches and parents are common). Only 1/2 the games are played away, the other 1/2 are played in Watertown.

U9, U10, U11 and U12 travel team players need a size 4 soccer ball, U13, U14, U16, and U18/19 need a size 5 ball.  Players MUST wear shin guards to all practices and games, cleats are optional but recommended.  Travel team players must have a WYS uniform shirt, black shorts and red socks.

Teams usually practice twice a week (days, times and field selected by each team’s coach.) 

Divisional and sectional placements, opposing team names and coach telephone numbers, the schedule, and BAYS game times are all on www.bays.org.

In general, BAYS places teams in each gender-agegroup (e.g., Boys U11) in a 5-7 team section (labeled section A, B, C, D, etc.) in one of 4 Divisions. Division 1 teams are the most select teams in BAYS usually from the large towns. Watertown occasionally has had a Division 1 team. Division 2 teams are select, competitive teams chosen by tryouts in most towns. Division 3 teams are competitive at the higher sections (usually sections A and B) and more recreational in the lower sections. Division 4 teams are strictly recreational. Watertown Youth Soccer tries to place players in sections that are appropriate to their skill and interest levels so everyone has a good learning experience and a fun time. The more kids signup for an agegroup the more able Watertown is to field both a Division 2 and a Division 3 team in the agegroup.

Usually game times are Saturday mornings for girls teams, Saturday afternoons for boys teams (boys and girls high school age teams are the exception, they play their games on Sunday afternoons.)  Five games are played in Watertown, five games are out of town at locations determined by BAYS.  

Under 10 players will complete in a 6v6 format; Under-11 and Under-12 players will compete in a 8v8 player format; Under-13 and above players will compete in a 11v11 player format.

U16 and above do not play in the Fall; only in the Spring (so as not to interfere with the Fall high school soccer season). Thus U14 is the oldest agegroup that plays in the Fall.

There are opportunities for Invitational or State Tournament ("MTOC") play.

Team coaches and managers are parent and community volunteers. Team practice sessions with PlaySoccer staff & goalkeeper training with Christian Benjamin are sometimes available.

Travel Team Coaches are required to have a MYSA sanctioned "F" license, an 8 hour course that continues some more advanced skills & practice concepts and drills for coaches to present to players. WYSL pays for course costs.