Youth Development Program
Fall Program
Ages: 4 to 6
Participation: Boys and Girls Combined
Parents are required to be at all sessions to assist and participate with your child
Times: Begins in early September. Sessions are every Saturday for one hour. Program runs for 7 weeks.
Approach: The Fall program is designed to introduce soccer to young children in a fun, low-key atmosphere. Kids learn the fundamentals of the game through various skill games and small-sided play.
Equipment Needs: Shirts are provided. Parents need to purchase soccer ball, shin pads, and soccer shoes.
Spring Program
Ages: K through 1st Grade
Participation: Boys and Girls Combined – broken by grade level
Parents are required to be at all sessions to assist and participate with your child
Times: Begins in Late April/early May. One day per week for 8 weeks.
Approach: The Spring program features fun games and soccer related activities as well as small-sided games. Sessions are one day per week for eight weeks.
Equipment: Parents need to purchase a #3 soccer ball and shin pads.
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In House Rec Program
(FALL ONLY)
Ages: 7 to 14 with teams formed by age level
Participation: Co-ed teams for 7 & 8 year olds with 9 through 14 year old teams separated into boys and girls teams
Times: Begins in early September. Practices are usually one or two evenings per week with one or two games on the week-end. The house program runs for ten weeks during the Fall.
Approach: The focus is on having fun, participation, developing fundamental skills and learning team play. Games are played against other Windsor teams as well as teams from adjacent towns for older age groups. House players participate in a town wide soccer Jamboree. As players develop, they may be recommended for and are encouraged to try out for the Travel Program.
Equipment: Shirt, shorts and socks are provided. Players must have their own shin pads.
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Travel Program (Fall & Spring)
Ages: 8 – 14 (Fall), 8-Highschool (Spring)
Teams are formed by gender and placed on teams based on the players ability subject to an age limit. U12 means all players must be 12 or younger on August 1 of a given year.
Participation: Travel soccer is a higher level of play (than In-house) for which there are competitive tryouts. Tryouts for the fall season are held the previous June and for the spring season there are generally tryouts in November and February. Players may play during either season (spring or fall) and are not required to play both.
Times: Practices are generally twice per week with one or two games each weekend against neighboring towns. (Up to 45minute drives to games).
Approach: The emphasis is placed on higher level skill development and game tactics. Teams are placed in flights based on record by CJSA (the Connecticut Junior Soccer Association) and league games are established and reported on.
In addition, teams may elect to play in a state-wide Cup Tournament which is a single elimination tournament of travel programs from all over Connecticut. Volunteer coaches get supplemental support from professional, nationally licensed, soccer coaches that attend practices and games. Most Windsor High School soccer players are alumni of the Travel Program.
Rules of play are generally FIFA statndards with some modifications.
For "Rules for Travel Level Play" see www.cjsa.org and look for the current year handbook.
Columbus Day Tournament: Windsor travel teams participate in the club’s Columbus Day Tournament that draws over 100 teams from around the Northeast.
All parents of travel players contribute at least 4-6 hours of time to the tournament which is the club’s only fund raiser during the year.
Equipment & Costs: Additional cost per season (in addition to the registration fee) can vary between $70 and $100 depending on number of games, tournament, uniforms and team equipment. Players purchase uniforms and a soccer ball