Frequently Asked Questions

What we know:

• Playing soccer and sport in general offers children more than just physical benefits. Sports typically help kids academically and socially as well.
• A girl who plays sports has higher self-confidence, feels greater ownership of her body, and is more likely to make healthy decisions.
• The #1 reason kids play soccer is “To have fun.”
• Recent studies show a drop in youth sports across the country. A few of the reasons kids give:
  • • Too much pressure
    • Too much yelling
    • No fun

Our Coaching Goal:

When it comes to soccer at NGS, the goal is to create a FUN, positive learning environment which helps maximizes player development. We aim to develop skilled, confident and creative soccer players teaching them all aspects of the game which center around the four pillars of players development (Technical, Tactical, Physical & Psychological skills). If we do this, our players will return year after year.

The Coach’s Role:

• Create POSITIVE Learning Environment.
• Focus on FUN and DEVELOPMENT over wins.

NGS strives to give our players a solid foundation that they can build upon as they advance. This means teaching them ALL aspects of the game. We recommended that players rotate positions game by game rather than play multiple positions per game.

NGS Position Guidelines

• Kindergarten – Grade 1: No specialization. No Goalkeepers. Let ‘em Play!
• Grades 2 – 4: No specialization. Players equally experience every position including GK.
• Grades 5 – 6: Players may play preferred position 50% of the time. All players should be encouraged to play GK but are not required to.
• Grades 7 – 8: Players may play preferred position 75% of the time. Teams may have dedicated GK’s but those players should also be given the opportunity to play in the field over the course of the season.

Sometimes one team is clearly dominating a game. This can be especially true in the Juniors or City programs which don’t use skill level as a factor for team formation. This is no fun for either side, and FUN is why kids want to play sports.

NGS has asked Coaches to proactively prevent their teams from running up the score against weaker opponents. We would like to see goal differentials of no more than +5. Beyond that, we believe it shows poor sportsmanship and lack of respect for your opponent. Our players are all young, and teaching sportsmanship is much, much more important than racking up goals.

You may notice that if your daughter’s team is quickly up 3 or 4 goals, her coach will start to manage the game using strategies such as

• playing with few players
• reassigning player positions
• requiring more passing
• allowing only shots made with the less dominant foot
• halting the game to reassign players from both teams to create new, more balanced teams

Please support our Coaches’ efforts to keep the game fun for all of our kids!

What does “Small-Sided Games” mean? These are soccer games with fewer players competing on a smaller sized field. These are fun games that involve the players more because fewer players are sharing one ball. All ages can play “Small Sided Games”, but it has a definite developmental impact on our younger soccer players. (See player development pathway below.)

NGS has adopted US Soccer recommendations for number of players at the various age groups as follows:

• Kindergarten – Grade 1: 4 against 4, no goalkeepers
• Grade 2: 5 against 5, including goalkeepers
• Grades 3 – 4: 7 against 7, including goalkeepers
• Grades 5 – 6: 9 against 9, including goalkeepers
• Grades 7 – 9: 11 against 11 including goalkeepers (BAYS HS and City 7 – 9 play 7 against 7, including goalkeepers on 9v9 Field.)

In 2017, small-sided game standards were implemented by all U.S. Soccer youth member organizations, including NGS. Small-sided standards are youth games played with less than 11 players on each team. Playing with less players on the field means that players are constantly involved in play and provided with more opportunities for touches on the ball and overall player development. Not only are there fewer players, but small-sided games also use smaller fields, goals and balls, shorter game times and some different rules to optimize the game for younger players. With fewer players on the field, players have a greater opportunity to play more meaningful minutes. They will be involved in the game, with or without the ball, much more than in a full-sided game, creating more chances for learning and improvement.

Soccer is the most popular sport in the world, but many US parents know almost nothing about the sport until their child joins a team.  Learning some of the fundamentals will help you enjoy your new role as a soccer parent.  Click here for an introduction to the basic rules of soccer.

We are proud of our referees who work hard to improve their performance. Most of them are current and former NGS players. Our referee training program is the envy of our neighbors who would like to duplicate our success. Do our referees make mistakes? Of course. So do our players, coaches, and parents. Our primary goal is to create a safe and encouraging environment for our referees so that they want to STAY. The number one reason for youth referees dropping out is from a bad experience with a player’s parent or coach. The NGS referee training program begins with referees for our second grade teams. From there they move up to higher grades in the City Program and finally are eligible to referee BAYS games when they are fourteen. We are proud of the commitment and effort they are demonstrating. Remember when they make a mistake, they may be the daughter or son of a parent on your team or even your daughter’s coach! Please be patient as they learn along with your daughters.

NGS is always looking for referees of the appropriate age and skill for NGS City and BAYS League soccer games. We have positions for Youth Intramural Referees, as well as Youth and Adult Adult USSF Certified Referees. Most referees start as a Youth Intramural Referee for recreational teams with players in grades 2 – 9. NGS offers the NGS Referee Academy to introduce students in 6th grade or older to refereeing via a rigorous training, assigning and mentoring program. NO previous referee experience is required. Trainees are be assigned referee games appropriate to their age and experience. The program improves understanding of the game, is fun, and provides compensation. Interested applicants for NGS Referee Academy will need to contact the NGS Referee Committee for training and date information. After Intramural referee training, referees 14 and older may become USSF Grade 8 Certified to be eligible to referee BAYS home games for Newton teams. Certification classes are held through the year. There is no relationship between a student’s grade in school and their USSF referee grade. For more information go to www.massref.net.

We try! Our philosophy is that coaching takes place at practice. Games are the time for players to use their creativity and to learn by doing. We encourage coaches to sit during the games and speak only to the players on the bench, never yelling at the players on the field. Parents can help with this. Please limit coaching your daughters or their teammates during the games. Positive cheering is encouraged but trying to instruct your daughter during the game is not. While it may feel tempting to provide instruction from the sideline, we’ve done a lot of work researching this and it’s proven that “joystick coaching” does not benefit players. More often than not, it creates confusion and has a negative impact.

Recognition should be positive and verb-free. Your child will do better if it’s their game. Provide encouragement without direction. Here are some examples of No-Directions Cheering: “Great effort!” “Good hustle!” “Way to play defense!” “Nice kick!” “Terrific play!” “Way to go!”

Hostile behavior – yelling or showing aggressive behavior toward referees, players, coaches, and other spectators – is unacceptable. It is important to NGS and our leagues that both parents and coaches maintain appropriate sideline behavior, and there are processes in place to review violations and impose sanctions.

If you witness any instances of bullying, hostility or poor sportsmanship from an opposing team’s parents or coaches, we encourage you to report the incident using this form: Feedback Form. We do not recommend engaging with the aggressor at the field.

This may be a surprise, but we do not cancel games for rain. On rare occasions, when the temperature is near freezing, or lightning is in the area, we will cancel games for weather. The most likely reason to cancel is unplayable field conditions. Safety of the players is our main concern, but we also want to protect the fields, particularly in the early spring when the grass is very fragile.

The decision to close the fields is made by Newton Parks and Recreation officials in consultation with NGS and NYS field coordinators. We try to have this done by 3:00 pm on weekdays, 7 am on Saturdays and 11 am on Sundays although this is not always possible. More information can be found here. Keep in mind that it’s often impossible to know EXACTLY when storms will come or go, so we do our best and just like calling a snow day, we don’t always get it right.

NGS strives to give our players a solid foundation that they can build upon as they advance. This means teaching them ALL aspects of the game. Rarely if ever do players stay in the same position as they move through their soccer experience. For example, if a player only plays defense, they will not learn the dynamics of the attack and shooting skills. Players that only focus on forward don’t learn the skills required to defend as a unit. Look no further than Hope Solo who is regarded as one of the best goalies in the history of soccer. You may be surprised to learn that she was a forward until college.

NGS Position Guidelines

We recommended that players rotate positions game by game rather than play multiple positions per game.

• Kindergarten – Grade 1: No specialization. No Goalkeepers. Let ‘em Play!
• Grades 2 – 4: No specialization. Players equally experience every position including GK.
• Grades 5 – 6: Players may play preferred position 50% of the time. All players should be encouraged to play GK but are not required to.
• Grades 7 – 8: Players may play preferred position 75% of the time. Teams may have dedicated GK’s but those players should also be given the opportunity to play in the field over the course of the season.

If a coach is concerned about playing in the heat, talk to the referee and opposing coach before the game begins. The referee may decide to play quarters or shorten the game. For juniors and city teams, a team with a full roster could also lend player(s) to the shorthanded team.

Practice location is determined by both the coaches and also our field availability. We are allocated a limited number of fields each season by the City and we do our best to accommodate every team, but ultimately there are only so many slots available in each location. Many other sports use the same fields including football, lacrosse and baseball to name a few. Most every team (with some exceptions) have players from all over the city so coaches do their best to accommodate their entire team.

We have a limited number of fields, even fewer with lights. Lighted fields are in high demand, especially in the fall, and have limited practice slots (usually 5:00 – 6:15, 6:15 – 7:30, and 7:30 – 8:45 pm). Other commitments prevent many volunteer coaches from making the early practice. We encourage Sunday practices but that is also not an option for many players or coaches. Most teams only take one late practice a week. As an all-volunteer organization, we look to our coaches to determine the best time for both their personal schedule and their team’s schedule.

NGS follows the Play – Practice – Play philosophy as recommended by US Soccer. Practice sessions are designed to improve fundamentals for all players in a fun, positive learning environment that puts players into game-like situations, encourages decision-making, and helps players develop ownership of the game. This approach differs from traditional practices that may have children standing in lines, running laps, listening to coach lectures, and participating in drills that don’t resemble the game of soccer. Each practice is organized around a learning goal. A session includes targeted activities that reinforce the goal within game-like scenarios, as well as scrimmages. Activities are adapted to the age of the players. Our younger players are at the best age to develop technical skills such as ball control, foot skills, passing, defending and attacking. As the girls progress, coaches refine technical skills while introducing more tactical lessons such as set plays and position-specific roles. At any age practice is meant to be enjoyable; the #1 reason young athletes quit a sport is that they lose interest and stop having fun.

We all know New England weather is unpredictable. Our coaches put in a lot of time planning practice sessions and if they have a chance to get the practice in safely, we encourage them to do so. Our mandate is to leave the fields in the event of lightning, not the possibility. If the fields are open, the decision to cancel rests with the coaches. Newton Parks and Recreation also has the authority to close athletic fields if they do not think they are playable. When this happens, we do our best to get the word out to our coaches and parents.

Practice time and location is up to the volunteer coaches based on field availability. We encourage all coaches to poll their teams to come up with the best time and location. However, it can be impossible to meet everyone’s requests. If your child is unable to attend at least one of her team’s practices, please contact her age group coordinator or the registrar as soon as possible. We will do our best to move her to another team. If that doesn’t work, we will provide a refund.

We provide field maps on our website for all practice and game locations. Additionally, we mark the goals with the field names. However, our parks are used by many other organizations and sometimes the goals are not returned to the proper location. We encourage everyone to check the location on the website before heading to the fields.

We wonder that too and honestly do not have a specific sense of why this is the case. Our club was founded by a woman and is almost entirely volunteer run. Each season we ask for coaches to sign up and STRONGLY encourage everyone with any interest to consider being a coach. NGS provides training for all our coaches, sessions with our Director of Coaching and numerous written materials such as session and game plans. We are currently working on developing strategies to attract and retain more female volunteers, such as co-coaching models and mentorship programs. Please consider taking the next step to sign up as a volunteer!

Newton Girls Academy is committed to long-term player development. While we strive to retain our players for many years, we understand that sometimes it may be in a player’s best interests to explore other opportunities. Our Director of Coaching has some advice for those families shopping around private soccer clubs. Having worked for a private soccer club before joining Newton Girls Soccer in 2012 he has a unique insight into how their business operates.

If you are considering a private soccer club treat it like you are shopping for a car, i.e. shop around, get all the information, test drive a few if possible, and weigh up all your options. Club Soccer is a for-profit business. If your daughter is not on the top team, you are a check number to most of these clubs. Coaches at these clubs will use the car salesman tactic – if you don’t join the club now and give me an answer inside 24 hours the roster spot will be gone and given to someone else. Watch out for the buzz words used to describe teams such as “Elite,” “State,” “Pre-National,” or “Premier.” Typically, clubs have multiple teams at each of these age groups. Ask for the following information:

• practice, game, and tournament schedules
• coach’s bio and background
• number of teams the coach is coaching (they often coach 3 or 4 which means they miss a fair number of games and practices due to conflicts)
• club policy on playing time
• club’s player development philosophy

Finally, do what’s right for your daughter, taking into account her schedule for school, other sports / activities, family time, and just general life as a kid!

We have tried to form HS Academy Teams before but simply cannot get the commitment from players. We have found that once girls get to high school – whether it be at Newton North, South or private school – they tend to be even busier with sports and school activities.

Our partnership with NEFC and NEFC Chestnut Hill Soccer Club allows Newton Academy players to transition smoothly into one of these programs after 8th grade. We hold information nights with directors from both clubs, and players are invited to an ID night to showcase their soccer skills. Over the past 5 years, close to 100% of our U15 Academy Teams have moved as one group and continue to play together at NEFC Chestnut Hill, which can offer DPL or NECSL level of play.

We do not accept teammate requests in the Travel program. If this is important to your child, we recommend registering for the City program. The Travel program provides a more competitive alternative to the City program (for teams playing at higher levels), and placement on these teams is determined by each player’s skill level. A significant amount of time and consideration goes into making sure that each player is placed on a team appropriate to their skill level where they can be challenged, while still being competitive. Please help your child have a positive soccer experience by supporting their assigned team. One of the wonderful benefits of playing a team sport is the opportunity to develop social skills and make new friends.

NGS does not own the travel schedule. We submit team rosters and recommendations for placement but the final decision is made by our travel league (BAYS). Placement of teams is a long process that involves over fifty other town programs. Teams are submitted, placed, replaced, and replaced again. This process takes time and only then can schedules be compiled. It is all done as quickly as possible and we disseminate the information as soon as possible.

That shouldn’t happen. Players in the travel program are expected to prioritize soccer over other activities. All players should play at least half of each game they attend. Coaches may bypass this rule for players who fail to attend practice. If your coach is not following this guideline please, talk to him or her. Our goal is for every player to get equal playing time during the course of a season.

Our third and fourth grade travel teams practice weekly with our Director of Coaching and other professional NGS coaches. All other teams have at least two opportunities per season to sign up with our DOC or other professional coaches for training sessions.

Travel team rosters are formed based on players’ ability and commitment. Some girls improve more quickly than others and those players are moved up to higher teams. Others may need to move down if they are not advancing at the same rate as their teammates. We recognize this is difficult for some of the girls but feel it is necessary to provide the greatest overall experience for everyone. While we focus on development, our league (BAYS) assigns teams to different divisions based on their skill level. In addition, as players age, the team size increases. Teams playing 11v11 need more players than teams playing 9v9 and 7v7. So every two years, team size changes require players to be moved around for rosters to be sized appropriately to the game format.

Our coaches are volunteers and we already require a great time commitment from them. We do not feel we can require them to give each player an end of year evaluation. We encourage you to speak directly with your coach if you have questions about how your daughter is developing.

Placements are based on two factors: the assessment and coach evaluations. The final decision is made by age group coordinators in consultation with the travel committee and director of coaching. In most cases, the coach evaluation is the starting point while the assessments might make the difference in comparing players from different teams. We feel that using two different “data sources” helps create a check and balance so that a poor showing at an assessment does not overly influence a placement decision. Conversely, if a coach provides feedback that does not align with the assessment, we’ll try to do further research to understand why.

Every girl can score. Just like all the teams we play, placements are based on ability with the better players taking on better opponents. If teams aren’t scoring, they may have been poorly placed within BAYS and Age Group Coordinators will work with both the coach and the BAYS league to remedy this.

NGS is a community program, not a school-based program. Therefore, we purposely create teams with girls from multiple neighboring schools. Soccer is a great place to make new friends! Players in the city program may make a single “friend request” that, if mutual, will be taken into consideration for placement.

We simply don’t have enough players in some individual age groups to create a competitive league with single grade teams. While we would love for all of our players to continue with soccer for life, many choose to focus on other activities as they get older. Others make a stronger commitment to soccer by joining the travel program. The challenge is further exacerbated in 5th and 7th grade when players move to larger fields and roster sizes, resulting in fewer teams.

Players cannot select a preferred game time in the city program. There are fewer teams in the city program, larger rosters, and larger field sizes. These factors impact scheduling. All teams will rotate game times from week to week. City games are played on Saturday afternoons with kick-offs between 12:30 and 4:30 pm. Match schedules are announced a few weeks before the season starts.

Teams are put together by volunteer grade coordinators. NGS is grateful for their time and effort, as a lot of work goes into putting these teams together. Depending on the grade and registration process, the primary drivers for forming teams in the juniors program are around friend requests and time slots. For some age groups, like in kindergarten, time of the session is the first divider. But with other grade levels, like in 2nd grade, time inputs are suggested preferences that are weighed into the selection process. Other factors in the juniors program are school groupings, although NGS is a great and proven place for kids to make additional friendships around Newton. Given this is an all-volunteer run program, having enough coaches is important as well.

We follow the recommendations of US Soccer for field, goal, and ball size as well as number of players, roster size, game duration, and use of goalkeepers at all levels. Some of our second graders are more advanced than others and might be ready to move to a larger field but for the benefit of most of our players, we have chosen to follow these guidelines. Depending on where our fields are each season, we have to work within the constraints of the field space. Some seasons, we are required to make the fields smaller while other seasons, we have more room. Remember at this age, players are still learning how to dribble and pass so a larger field is not always the solution to every problem.

We try to limit roster sizes for 4v4 teams to eight and 5v5 teams to 10. While it would be easier for us if everyone signed up the day registration opens, we know that kids’ minds change frequently, particularly in the Juniors program. Some girls may discover late in the process that all their friends are playing soccer this year and they want to play too. We certainly don’t want to say no to anyone so despite the logistical difficulties, we try to keep registration open as long as possible. We do our best to find a team for every player and this can in some cases result in a larger than desired roster. We also expect all players to get equal experience from their weekly practices. If limited playing time was a disappointment for your daughter in one session, rest assured we will try to correct it in the following session.

NGS is a community program, not a school-based program. Therefore, we purposely create teams with girls from multiple neighboring schools and honor only one mutual friend request per player. To the extent possible, we place players (who register on time) on teams with at least one schoolmate. Unfortunately, some schools only have two or three players while others have 13 or 14. Sometimes we need to split up a school to fill out rosters. To avoid this situation, we encourage registering on time and coordinating with a friend to request placement together. We will do everything possible to honor the request.

Grade Eligibility for Travel Teams

A player must be in grade 3 or higher to participate in BAYS – our Travel League – and must be born in the birth years stated in Match Rule 3. Players in grade 2 cannot play in BAYS.

For those interested in a more competitive environment, private clubs may be a better fit until players can join the NGS travel program in 3rd grade.

Playing Up in City Program

Currently, NGS does not allow 2nd graders to play up in our City program. The City program is recreational and geared toward players who want to have fun, socialize, and get some exercise. Introducing highly competitive 2nd graders into these teams would go against the goals of this program.

Our Juniors program is designed to foster friendships, teach soccer techniques and sportsmanship, build confidence, and, most importantly, help players develop a love for the game. It is NOT a results-oriented program. Since the program does not form teams based on skill level or require assessments, it can create an imbalance. One team may end up with more players that are new to soccer, while another may have more players with prior experience through private clubs or playing alongside siblings.

Newton Girls Soccer actively works to curb lopsided games.  We monitor games and have instructed all coaches to limit goal differentials to no more than +5. Beyond that, we believe it shows poor sportsmanship and lack of respect for the opponent. Our coaches have been provided with tools to manage the scoring and take the necessary steps to keep within the suggested goal differential. Options may include:

• Suggesting to the opposing coaches to halt the game, mix teams, and use pinnies to create two new teams
• Playing with fewer players on the field
• Putting less skilled players in attack
• Changing the formation to be more defensive
• Limiting the number of players that can cross the halfway line
• Giving players challenges to complete before taking a shot on goal, such as shooting from outside the penalty box or completing a certain number of passes

Please keep in mind that the Juniors program is structured with teams for organizational purposes only—there are no playoffs, winners, or losers at the end of the season. The matches are simply Newton kids playing against other Newton kids, with nothing on the line. Our players are all young, and teaching sportsmanship is much, much more important than racking up goals.

All NGS session plans follow the Play-Practice-Play framework.  Players will start and finish by playing a small-sided game. In between games, they engage in fun soccer-related activities designed to help players become familiar with the game of soccer, experience game-like situations, and practice key soccer skills such as defending, attacking, changing direction with the ball, passing and striking technique, dribbling, and shooting. These exercises are interactive, with the coaches asking guiding questions and providing positive encouragement.

Children do not learn in the same way as adults, especially when the learning process involves both intellectual and physical activity. Playing fun games, such as Messy Backyard, Banana Tag, or Steal the Bacon, is an engaging and developmentally appropriate way to develop soccer technique and a love of the game.

For players seeking additional skills development, we offer a 1st grade (U8) and 2nd grade (U9) academy development program that runs alongside our regular programs.  We also offer a professionally coached skills development program each season for players in grades K – 8.

We have a complete store with a wide range of items for adults and youths. If there is a specific item you are looking for, please let us know!

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