House League KMS Coaching Manual (Kincardine & District Minor Soccer)

PrintHouse League KMS Coaching Manual

WELCOME TO KINCARDINE & DISTRICT MINOR SOCCER

In this Coaches Manual you will find:

  • Roles and Responsibilities of the Coach
  • Policies and Procedures
  • Rules for your league
  • Things to consider for your team
  • Where to find more information
  • Contact information for the Club

Thank you!

Welcome to the Club season, we thank you for dedicating your time to provide lasting soccer memories for all our participants.

Roles and Responsibilities of the Coach

Please take the time to review all the content in this coaches manual before the season begins. If you have any questions please reach out to the KDMSC Coach Coordinator or a member of the Executive. The list of Members and their contact information can be found near the end of this manual.

As a coach for Kincardine & District Minor Soccer, we expect you to:

  • Provide a fun and safe learning experience for all players, regardless of ability.
  • Set a positive example by showing respect for the game, players, referees, other coaches, parents and Lakeshore reps.
  • Organize and schedule training sessions
  • Communicate the game schedule, league rules and
  • policies, with your players/parents
  • Ensure enough players and bench staff attend each game, or provide adequate notice if a game needs re-scheduled
  • Submit complaints and issues to a member of the Executive in a timely manner
  • Educate yourself in all KDMSC Policies, Procedures and Expectations and the rules for your league

League Schedule

  • The Under 8 and Under 10 leagues begin the week after Victoria Day
  • League play will end with a Fun Festival Cup
  • The Under 8 and 10 Festival Cup takes place in early August

Season Schedules

The schedule is available online, on the SportsEngine App.  Please encourage your players families to download the SportsEngine app or to review the website frequently as they will have the most up to date information. 

There will be NO changes to the schedule. If a game is cancelled it will not be made up.

Game Cancellations:

If you cancel a game because you don’t have enough players, it is your responsibility to contact the Coach of the other team and to let the Referee Coordinator know.  All coaches for your league will be added to a SportEngine chat group as an easy way to communicate with each other. You will also be given email addresses for the other coaches in your league. You can find the contact information for the Referee Coordinator in this manual.

Weather Related:

  • Field Conditions: Monitor the Municipality of Kincardine website and FaceBook page to see if they have Closed the fields (usually by 3pm).
  • Thunderstorms & Lightning: The Club follows the Canada Soccer Lightning Safety / Severe Weather Policy
  • Air Quality: the Club will follow the recommendations of the Air Quality Health Index (AQHI) of Ontario/
  • Heat:  Mandatory water breaks will be required for all games.  Club wide cancellation of games or practices follow Weather Canada recommendations for Outdoor activities.  
  • All other weather related cancellations will be done by the referee at game time – we play rain or shine

Number of Players

  • Under 8 and Under 10 teams play with a maximum of 6 players + a goalie (7 v 7) on the field.

  • Teams require at least 5 players on the pitch to start the game. If you don’t have at least 5 players the game will be forfeited. If a team forfeits, the Coaches can come to an agreement to play for fun by either sharing players or playing with fewer players on the field.

  • If you know in advance that you will be short players, you can ask players from the league below to play up with your team (ie. Under 8 players can be called up to Under 10 and Under 6 players can be called up to Under 8). Please ensure that players you call up have the necessary skills to play in a higher league. You will have access to the contact information for the coaches in the league below you for this reason.

Fields

  • Poor field conditions should be to a member of the Kincardine & District Minor Soccer Executive immediately following the game.

  • You can find a map of the fields on our website www.kincardinesoccer.com/Fields Under 8 and Under 10 fields are located beside the Public Works Shed on Bruce Ave.

Canada Soccer Grassroots Standards

  • The Club and Ontario Soccer follow what is referred to as Grassroots standards for these ages.    They outline different criteria by Group such as:  match duration, ball size, restarts from the sidelines, retreat line, etc.
  • Kincardine differences to Grassroots:
    • Our U8 and U10 play on the same field due to the configuration of our available fields.  The retreat line for both groups is the same and is what is painted on the field.
    • Due to the larger field for the U8, they can play with 5 players vs. 5 players (4 field and 1 goalie), but 7 players vs. 7 (6 field and 1 goalie)  is more suited to the field size.

Players

  • All teams and players must be registered with the Ontario Soccer Association through their Club and local district and all applicable registration fees paid before participating KDMSC practices or games.
  • Players must wear the appropriate equipment: their orange or grey jersey, shin pads, running shoes or soccer cleats, shorts, and soccer socks.
  • Players cannot wear jewelry including bracelets, necklaces and earrings.

Call-Ups

  • Players can be called up to field a team within the following guidelines:
    • The player must be registered to a recreational team in the same club
    • The player must be registered in the age division directly below the age group for which they are called up to play for.
    • Players may not be called across in the same age division

Substitutions

  • During game play, an unlimited number of player substitutions may be made, whenever required.
  • In U8 especially, it's a good idea to start teaching the players when substitutions are permitted, including:
    • Goal is scored (by either team)
    • Goal kick (by either team)
    • Throw/pass/dribble in (the team awarded the ball or by the opposing team only after substitution has been requested by the team award the ball), or 
    • Player injury (substitution for injured player only)

All substitutions must enter the field at the half line after the substituted players have left the field.

Fair Playing Time

As coaches, we should do our best to give every player on our team the same amount of playing time.  This is a recreational soccer league and all players should have equal opportunity to learn, play and participate.

For games, ask a parent to help keep time for you and try to substitute every 4-5 minutes (depending on the number of players you have).  Your assistant coach can also help organize substitutes during game play.

Players should try all positions in this league, including goalie.

Start and Restart of Play

At the beginning of a game, choice of halves and the kickoff shall be decided by the toss of a coin. The team, which wins the toss, shall have a choice of which end to start the game, the other team shall take the kick-off.

The ball is out of play when it has wholly crossed the goal line or the touch line, on the ground or in the air and play has been stopped by the referee.

The ball is in play at all other times including rebounds from the game officials (when they are on the field of play), goalposts, crossbars, or corner posts, and the ball remains on the field of play.

Retreat Line Rule

All U8 and U10 games will use a retreat Line. The retreat line will come into play when the ball has gone out for a goal kick or when the goalkeeper has the ball in his/her arms. The retreat line shall be marked at the 1/3 mark of the field. The use of field markers outside the field of play to indicate the retreat line is recommended. All opponents must be behind the retreat line.

The ball is in play when it leaves the penalty area and is touched by a defending player or, the ball leaves the defending half of the field. If the ball is touched by the attacking team player prior to leaving the defending half or prior to a defending team player touching the ball the goal kick shall be retaken.

Rules of the Game

The rules for 7v7 or Small Sided Soccer are slightly different than the regular FIFA rules of the game.

Small Sided Rules

We have included the basic rules in this manual

Soccer Practice Information

Length of Practice: 30 minutes - 1 hour, depending on if you schedule your practice for the same night as game night

Practice Set-Up: Start with a fun/team building activity (5-10 minutes), drills (20-30 minutes), scrimmage or game type drill (15-20 minutes)

Where to find practice ideas:

 Ontario Soccer: Learn to Train

Snacks

As the Coach of the team, you already have a lot on your plate. Encourage your players families to get involved and ask someone to make a snack schedule, or ask each parent to bring their player a snack for after the game instead of trying to manage a schedule at all.

If you are doing snacks, ask parents to be aware of allergies and to avoid snacks that may contain peanuts. Healthy choices are also great!

Coach Absences

What do you do if you can’t attend a game or practice?

  1. Email your players families and ask if someone can cover for you.

  2. Email [email protected], we might be able to find coverage for you.

  3. If all else fails, cancel the game, but make sure you let the other Coach know.

We are doing everything we can to put a few parent volunteers on every team so we hope this won’t be an issue!