Requesting Friends (Kincardine & District Minor Soccer)

Due to the growth in our player base (700+) in recent years and the various work streams that go into putting together teams (50+) and making sure we can run a soccer season for the Kincardine Minor Soccer Club,  we are implementing a new policy around "Friend" by parents or players to be on the same team.

Kincardine Minor Soccer attempts to balance our Kincardine House League and our Lake Shore League Tier 2 teams in order to establish parity across the teams as they will play each other during the season. 

• A steady flow of emails after teams are made is not sustainable and unravels the ability to keep teams equal and fair.  
• The additional cycles to try and accommodate burns out our already limited number of executive volunteers.
• Soccer season is generally viewed by KMS as an opportunity for additional/new friends to be made through practices and playing games. 
• Kincardine is a growing, but still small & close community where all teams end up having multiple existing friends with the existing regular team creation process.
• Kincardine House Leage teams play on the same nights and time, so all players are usually on the fields at the same time.
• KMS usually has less Lake Shore League teams in general, so the chances of the players being on the same team are higher without naming a "Friend"

• Plan ahead, talk to the other parent about putting your child's name in the registration field
• If car pooling is an issue for travel teams, work it out with the other parent ahead of time, not after rosters are released.
• Volunteer to coach or be on the board and have more say in the process.
• Once rosters are frozen by the Club, we make them viewable to parents and guardians as a convenience prior to the season start, not as an opportunity to start asking for changes.
• Rosters are final the day before the season begins, so there still is the possibility your player moves to another team
  • in order to skill level teams in the same group, even player counts across teams, move a player to fill a coaching spot or any other extenuating circumstance that is solely defined by the KMS Executive Board.
• We will not make changes after rosters are final unless parents with players on different teams work together and agree to switch players and then inform the Club via email with both parents included in the email.

During that season Registration, a parent or player may include a single name of a player they would like on their team aka "Friend". 

• Both players must input each other's name in each Registration in order to be eligible. 
  • Player A names Player B and then Player B names Player A
• If multiple friend names are entered in the registration field, only the first one listed will be valid.
• This does not guarantee each player will be on the same team, but KMS will do our best efforts to accommodate.
  • KMS will make the final decision in order to maintain team fairness in the division.
• Lake Shore League teams, with the piloting of Tier 1 and Tier 2 divisions starting in 2024 will have a modified process.  A "Friend"  may not be able to be honoured if one player goes through the Tier 1 tryout, makes the team, and the other player doesn't and is placed on a Tier 2 team.