Spring 2023 Newsletter
Thank you for choosing SOCCER!
The GWFSA Executive Board meets on the first Wednesday of each month at 6:30 pm at the GWFSA Soccer Fields. Our business address is GWFSA, PO Box 4612, Wichita Falls, Texas 76308. Our complex address is 4749-4823 Gregg Rd, Wichita Falls, TX 76310.
The Spring 2023 youth season starts on Saturday, March 4th, 2023. Any weather cancellation notices or other bulletins will be posted on the red Alert page which appears when you log into www.finisw31.sg-host.com and will be posted by 7:00 am on Saturday and by 4:00 pm on week days.
The last day to register for the Spring 2023 season is Wednesday, February 1st, 2023. Every player must register on line using a credit card. We accept credit cards only. The season dates are posted. You may see them by clicking on the calendar or viewing the upcoming events on the home page. You may check your players age division by viewing the age chart. Go to www.gwfsa.org, click on Resources, select Forms and click on the Age Chart for Fall 2022/Spring 2023.
Our Parents are our Coaching base. For every team that we form, we must have a parent step up and volunteer to coach. We have a new coaches clinic scheduled this Spring. It will be held on Sunday, February 19, 2023 at 2:00 pm at the soccer complex office building, 4749-4823 Gregg Rd, Wichita Falls, TX 76310. Our commissioners and officers will be glad to answer any questions you have. Please consider becoming a coach and making it possible for the children to play soccer. WE NEED YOU!!! We also need Commissioners. If you are interested in volunteering, email Travis Bohannon, 2nd Vice President, travis.bohannon@sbcglobal.net or Claude Miller, President, crm2027@gmail.com.
GotSport is the program we use to register our players. New Players will need to sign up with an Email address/and User password to create a new account. All players must upload a current passport appropriate picture (Headshot of person registering ONLY) and birth certificate into the new program! Returning players use the email address and password which you used in the Spring or Fall 2022.
To start the registration process, just click on the Registration Box on our finisw31.sg-host.com home page. Select the New and Returning Player Registration Spring 2023 box for returning players to the same team or for new players. If a player played in the Fall 2022 and is wanting to transfer off the team they were registered on in the Fall to a new team this Spring 2023 , make sure you use the Transferring Players Registration Spring 2023 box. The $30 transfer fee will be charged automatically and in non refundable.
The 22/23 Rules and Bylaws regarding Transfers can be found here: 2022_2023_north_texas_soccer_bylaws_and_rules.pdf (ntxsoccer.org) We would specifically draw your attention to sections 3.10 through 3.10.9 and 4.1 through 4.7.3. In the past there has been confusion among coaches, parents and commissioners concerning the application of these rules and the use of transfer requests. To clarify, transfer requests are not intended to move a player to the team of their choosing. They are designed only for the purpose of moving from their current team to another team in their age division. Any requests by a parent or coach to add a currently rostered player within North Texas to a specific team will not be granted and could result in disciplinary action for recruitment. Exceptions may be made when extenuating circumstances justify the need for the exception. If a specific team is requested by a player's parent or guardian, they may request a formal hearing in front of a minimum three member panel made up of association officers to determine the ability to grant the request due a need outside the player's control. The decision must be justified by the parent/guardian in person and be unanimous among the committee.
You must be 3 years old on December 31st, 2022 to register for the Spring 2023. Every new player is required to upload a current passport qualifying photo during the registration process and a birth certificate even if it has been produced before. GotSport has initiated a new program and both are required. The fee is $70 for new and returning players UNTIL Wednesday, January 25th, 2023 when it increases to $85. NO PLAYERS WILL BE ALLOWED TO REGISTER AFTER Wednesday, February 1st, 2023 unless players are needed to fill a roster. The fee for players requesting a Transfer is $100 until Wednesday, January 25th, 2023 when it will increase to $115. NO PLAYERS WILL BE ALLOWED TO REGISTER for a Transfer AFTER Wednesday, February 1st, 2023. We accept credit cards only. There will be a section to tell us the last team your child played for. If they have not played in a soccer year, there is a place to tell us where they would like to play but there are no guarantees as to where they will be placed.
Coaches, stay in touch with the commissioner for your age division about the number of players returning to your team from the Fall and with any questions you may have. The GotSport program will create a new coaches account based on your email address for NEW Coaches. If you coached in the Fall 2022, You do NOT have to register this spring. It will also link your team and your child to the same email file. Please remember to register your own player. Each team is responsible for their own uniforms. Players names may be on the back of their uniform. Uniform guidelines are on pages 17/18 of our rules. Please check with Becky Turpin gwfsabecky@sbcglobal.net to make sure that the team name you are considering has not already been taken.
ALL NEW coaches, assistant coaches or managers must complete a background check this Spring. After completing the background check, coaches, ALL NEW assistant coaches and managers must complete the Safe Sport Certification this Spring If you completed a background check and safe sport certification in the fall of 2022, you do NOT have to do it again this spring. You must have completed both the Background Check and the Safe Sport Certification to be added to your team roster or participate with any registered players. If you are trying to start a new team, make sure that you contact Becky Turpin gwfsabecky@sbcglobal.net so that we know about your team. Every coach must upload a current passport qualifying photo during the registration process. Coaches are responsible for having access to a phone to manage your roster with passport qualifying photo of each player. Each player must upload a passport qualifying photo during their registration process. You must log on to gotsport and present your team roster on your phone or by printed roster with pictures of your players to the referee before the start of each match for comparison to the players present. If a player is late for the start of the game, they may not play until you present them to the referee for certification at the next available substitution stoppage. We will also give each coach a printed official roster to use for that purpose. There is not a Team Fee.
Player placement will be from Monday, February 6th, 2023 until Friday, February 10th, 2023. We start at 6:30 pm and continue until 11:00 pm or so each night. All players names will be released to coaches by Monday, February 13th, 2023 by midnight. Coaches, if you have not heard from your commissioner by Thursday, February 16th, 2023, contact the commissioner for your age division. Their contact information is under the Contact icon on the GWFSA home page. Parents if you have not heard from a coach by Saturday, February 18th, 2022, contact the commissioner for your age division. Their contact information is under Contacts on the GWFSA home page. Or you may contact Travis Bohannon at travis.bohannon@sbcglobal.net.
All teams play a ten week season in the Spring. All U4 through U8 players will receive a participation award. The U9 through U16 boys and girls teams will receive first and second place award based on their finish in their age divisions.
All youth league games will be scheduled on Saturdays. Monday and Tuesday evenings will be reserved for rescheduled games. The only scheduling conflicts that will be considered when making the schedule are for head coaches who coach more than one team. If you are the head coach of more than one team, make sure you contact Ashley Panik (ashleypanik@live.com) by the end of January or first week of February before the schedule is done. If you have a conflict after the schedule is made, each team is allowed two reschedules each season if the other team is willing to reschedule. All reschedules must go through Claude Miller (crm2027@gmail.com) by email 48 hours in advance of the regularly scheduled game.
We are in desperate need of referees. You must be 13 years old to take the referee clinic. The clinic is done all on line now with a field session to be scheduled after taking the on line clinic. The association will reimburse you the amount of the registration fee for the clinic after you have passed the course, attended the field session and started refereeing. Please consider becoming a referee. The pay is good and if you only did one game a day, it would help us out. For more information, please contact Michele Watson 940-704-3207. More information will be posted under Referee Information under the Resources icon on this web page when the clinic is scheduled.
The playing rules are found in our Rules and Regulations under Resources on our home page. They start on page 16. Remember that each recreational player MUST play one half (1/2) of every game. Disciplinary action will be taken against any coach who violates this rule and the game will be forfeited by the team if the violation is documented.
Please do not berate the referees or assistant referees. In most cases, they are children. Think about how you would feel if it were your child being confronted by adults. Coaches, remember that you are responsible for your spectators conduct as well as your own. We have adopted a zero tolerance policy. It is posted under the Policies icon. If we get called to a field to handle a problem, and the situation does not improve, the parties involved will be dismissed from the complex. The officers and commissioners cannot overrule a referee. We may only ask him at a stoppage in play if he understands the rule which is being complained about. If he says he does, then your only recourse is for the COACH of record to come in the office and fill out a referee complaint detailing what the referee was not doing correctly so that the referee staff may council them.
GWFSA does not allow any practices or scrimmage games on the soccer fields. Please limit your warm up period for your team to ten minutes prior to your scheduled game. Also, please keep your children off of the empty fields during league games. Please take note that there are no pets allowed on the GWFSA premises. You will be asked to leave if you bring one. Also, glass containers are not allowed and smoking is prohibited. Please pick up your trash after each game. It is rude to leave your spectator area a mess for the following team. Please be considerate of others. Players may not wear jewelry of any kind, have a hard cast or hard barrettes during games. The City of Wichita Falls enforces no parking on the north end of the complex between the fence and Southwest Parkway. You may be ticketed if you park there.