State of CYS - June 2025
Hello and happy summer to all soccer families,
Purpose of this email:
1. Annual CYS update and reminder of some key summer needs.
2. Reminder to please register for fall soccer
3. Encourage you to consider coaching a team in the fall - our numbers keep growing, and we need coaches! Our plan is to have two coaches per team -we were closer to that goal than ever before this year!
Update on CYS:
Our spring 2025 numbers provide continued support for fun, competitive, and local programming in a world where this is increasingly rare.* Some highlights from the season:
· 2100 total registered players - compared to 1200 in 2019, 1000 in 2016.
· 1300 3rd-8th grade players played a total of 109 games at our June 14-15th World Cup.
· 10 weeks of rainy Satrurdays didn't stop us!
· Approximately $100,000 of financial aid for Cambridge families to play - compared to approximately $20,000 in 2019.
· Eleven teams of Cambridge City Football Club competed, with considerable success, against local clubs in the New England Club Soccer League - at 1/10 the cost and less than 1/10th the logistical burden to families.
· The city has approved plans for a high quality turf field in east Cambridge, with expected completion in time for fall ‘26 (I am hopeful!). Thank you to the city and to all those CYS families for your help there!
If you are at the fields on the weekends, you see what these numbers mean. Our kids are having a great time and playing a very good game of soccer. Some are also learning leadership skills as referees, and many stick around in the fresh air, away from their phones, and watch their friends play or scout their opponents for next week.
A few things we learned from the survey - thanks to all who filled it out: We will do our best to get schedules out earlier AND we will continue to work on team parity! We can do a better job here, and both of these efforts are easier when people register and fill out their placement information early (nothing kills parity like having to re-place kids because they can’t practice with the team they are assigned to). So…
Register for fall soccer:
Please register for fall soccer. We are going to get fall teams formed by August 31. In order to do this, we need people to register and fill in their forms early. Please register now! And please pencil in September 13 for first day of games (pending permitting from city).
Consider coaching:
I cannot say enough about the support we provide our coaches** and how much our coaches enjoy their time on the field. We need coaches at all levels (you really can do it!)! And with our professional coaching support, we will help you learn how to be a very effective soccer coach. Please let us know if you have any interest in coaching here.
Wishing you a terrific summer,
Best wishes,
Jason
* https://www.slowboring.com/p/high-pressure-youth-sports-is-bad
** Prior to every season, we have been running coach training sessions where coaches participate in a “play-practice-play” session run by our Director of Coaching Alvaro Amaral and Technical Director Mario Prata (play-practice-play is a format of practice recommended by US Youth Soccer and Mass Youth Soccer so players are challenged to develop their skills in game-like environments as opposed to drills. The idea is that development and fun work best together, not in opposition to each other). We can see the effect during weekday practices and weekend games, our coaches are doing a great job. Details to be finalized, but we will be running sessions for every age group before the season starts.