U.S. Soccer Initiatives and Mandates - What are they?

Pella Soccer Club and all players and coaches within, are members of Iowa Soccer.  Iowa Soccer is a member of the United States Soccer Federation, more commonly referred to as U.S. Soccer.  U.S. Soccer is the governing body of the sport of soccer in the United States. Iowa Soccer is also a member of the United States Youth Soccer Association (U.S. Youth Soccer), which is the youth affiliate and member of U.S. Soccer and then on the adult side, the United States Adult Soccer Association (USASA).  I know, that's deep, but what it means is that soccer clubs within Iowa are members of Iowa Soccer at the state level, and U.S. Soccer at the national level, and U.S. Soccer is making some coaching and player development initiatives that are mandates, meaning required, not just recommended, in order to improve and standardize youth soccer across all clubs, across all states, and from a calendar birth year registration stand-point, also standardizes the United States with the rest of the world. 

Click here to read on our website, a summary and visuals of the initiatives and what changes you will see by age group.  The important thing here is to realize that these changes are positive in the long-run, to help young players have more touches on the ball and better develop their soccer skills and strategy as they move up through the age groups. 

Premier Tryouts for Birth Years 1998 - 2006 - Boys and Girls  (2007 may try out to play up)

Fall Registration and Details for Age Groups

You can find more information about each of the age group soccer programs on the PROGRAMS menu.  Links to the age group webpages are also found on the REGISTER page.  Each of these age group webpages has an explanation of that age group, including call outs to the changes coming with those U.S. Soccer Initiatives, highlighted in red just to stand out more.  Each age group also then has a sub-menu webpage that has the details for the specific soccer season, so you will see Spring Info for each, and as we get closer, you will see a Fall Info for each one.  These webpages with deepening levels of information are there to keep you connected to this information so it's available at your convenience, from any device with internet, whether it be your computer at midnight, or your smart phone from the soccer field.  You can register online for any of our soccer programs, whether they be Fall Soccer or Premier Tryouts for select teams, simply by clicking on any of the blue Register Now! images that you will see on the age group webpages, and on the Register/Login webpage.

Recreational U11-U19 - Joining the ISL Level 3 Central League

All Recreational U11-U19, which are players with Birth Years of 1998-2006, should read about the league changes coming this Fall.  As a club, we are moving from GDMJSL to the new ISL Level 3 Central League.  ISL (Iowa Soccer League), is operated by Iowa Soccer, who already operate the ISL Level 1 league that our Pella Premier teams compete in.  We looked at the pros and cons of staying with GDMJSL vs. joining ISL Level 3 Central League for our U11-U19 Rec players and found ISL to be the better path in the long run, as did a majority of the soccer clubs.  There are currently 31 soccer clubs committed to ISL Level 3 Central and in terms of size, meaning rec teams, we are 19 of the 31, small to large, with the largest club registering on average, 22 teams for U11-U19 Rec, and smallest registering 1. We average 8 teams.  There is a panel consisting of eight members from the committed clubs who are working with Iowa Soccer to further define and guide this new league, and Pella Soccer Club is represented on this through Linda Kirkland.

The biggest change in terms of registration for this age group is to know that U13-U14 teams will have their games scheduled primarily to Saturday afternoons, with games starting at 1:00, 3:00, or 5:00pm, with overflow to Sunday, and overflow just means if all fields were full on Saturday for those times at the home fields.  There are several reasons for this change, including a referee shortage as soccer continues to grow, and soccer field and parking contention when so many games are scheduled to the same time frames.  This change was agreed upon by a majority of the clubs who will be part of this new league.  This will also allow our own referees who are U13-U14 to officiate games on Sunday afternoons instead of just Saturday mornings as they have in the past.  If you have a player interested in becoming a referee - click here.

Read more about Recreational U11-U19, along with the league changes.

Uniforms will be Ordered through Sports Page Team Gear online store for Pella Soccer Club

Beginning with the Fall 2016 registration, the PSC Rec uniform will now be ordered through an online Sports Page Team Gear online store and ordering will be available during the same time frame as the Fall 2016 registration.  The combined price of the custom jersey and shorts will increase from $70 to $74, but please keep in mind that this price has not increased since 2011 when these uniforms were introduced, We have a custom uniform with the colors sublimated into the material so that you only have to have one uniform, instead of two, one for home and away, and so that we can keep offering the same uniform year after year instead of being affected by a stock uniform being discontinued every two years.  You have the choice of purchasing new, or trying to find a used one through friends or Facebook's Pella For Sale group.  The PSC soccer socks will be sold in the online store, but will also continue to be sold in the Pella Sports Page retail store in case you need replacements during the season.  The online store also has great team gear that is optional, like warm-ups, as well as fan wear of every kind from t-shirts to hoodies to jackets and pull-overs in several colors. 

Go to Uniforms on the PROGRAMS menu for more information. 

Register for Fall Season of Recreational Soccer

Lots of changes, lots of information!

Click here to jump to the Register/Login webpage.

   Fall 2016 Registration Flyer

Questions?  Email [email protected]

Pella Soccer Club