2012 Area Fest June 3rd

U10, U12 and U14 Coaches: Area Fest is only for U10, U12 and U14 Age Divisions.     AYSO Region 183 is invited to participate in the AYSO Section 6D "Area Fest" which is not at Peterson Park and not "Soccer Fest". I will need your response by Wed May 9th.    Your response will need to state if you would like to take your team to participate in a Area Fest hosted by multiple AYSO regions in our area. Fun at Area FestWe have a great opportunity for your team to play other AYSO teams in the area on Sunday June 3rd 2012.   Your players will have fun time playing the game of soccer with other teams for an entire day!     This is as great experience.    Many Region 183 teams over the years participated in Area Fest.  All of the players, coaches and families had a good time playing the game of soccer. Our Area comprised of other AYSO regions, are combining to put together a region wide "Soccer Fest".     The Area Fest will be comprised of teams from Chicago, Skokie, Morton Grove, Deerfield, Highland Park, Glenview, etc.  AYSO Region 183 is holding a "Soccer Fest' on Saturday June 9th 2012 for our own region at Peterson Park for only Region 183 teams.    For clarification there is a difference between "Soccer Fest" at Peterson Park and "Area Fest" played outside of Peterson Park.    We will need responses soon, since our Region is coordinating with the Area Fest organizers so that we can provide a final list of teams representing our Region. The following divisions are invited to Area Fest U10 Boys U10 Girls U12 Boys U12 Girls U14 Boys U14 Girls are participating in Area Fest.    U08 B and U08 G and lower divisions are not participating of Area Fest. Call your team Ask your team to see if there is interest with regards to participating in Area Fest.  What is Area Fest? Area Fest is a day soccer festival where our youth players play soccer with other teams in the AYSO Area.   This is where your team gets to play multiple games against teams from other AYSO Regions.    Historically, each team has played 3 games Area Fest.      So for example, your team might play 1 game vs. Skokie AYSO, 1 game vs. Highland Park AYSO, and 1 game vs. Deerfield AYSO. Wait isn't this Soccer Fest? No.  Our region hosts Soccer Fest for our own youth teams on Saturday.    This year we are planning for June 9th 2012.   Area Fest is another event. When is Area Fest? Area Fest is on  June 3rd 2012 Sunday. Where will Area Fest be held? Each Region takes on a division.  For example, Skokie AYSO might host U14 Boys and U12 Girls.    While Highland Park AYSO hosts U12 Girls, and so on.   Field Locations: Skokie Deerfield Highland Park Glenview   Therefore your team will be driving to another location to play Area Fest.    Its important that your team knows how to get to the soccer fields location.    You as the coach, assistant coach and / or team parent must coordinate with your team the location, game times and volunteer assistance with other regions. What times are the games?  What's the schedule? Games are scheduled thru the day.   Games are usually spaced in 30-60 min increments.   So if you team plays at 9:30am, your next 2 games might be 10:30am and 12:00 noon.    This all depends on the number of teams that are participating.     I recommend that your team plan on spending most of the day participating which is usually about 4-6 hours.    Some teams might start at 12pm noon, and finish by 4pm. Does Peterson Park host a division for Area Fest? We'd like host an Area Fest division, however we have challenges regarding our field space and we also need more volunteer support our organization.   In order for us to participate in any Area Fest, the other Regions ask Peterson Park to participate in terms of volunteering at a field location for other support such as field setup, take down and field monitoring.    Your team is required to bring parents to help out with setup, clean up or helping out at the fields.     Our Region will be designated to one or more locations to help setup, monitor and take down goal.     Other Regions will be doing the same.    All AYSO Regions are sharing the efforts to ensure that AYSO Section 6D Area Fest is a success. We will play a full - hour game and be a total of 2-3 hours?  No.   Your team will not be playing 3 hours of games.   That is a lot of soccer for our youth in one day.    Games are played 20-25 minutes and in addition, the games are smaller in size.    For example a U10 Area Fest game may be 5 v 5 instead of 7 v 7.      If you recall our Soccer Fest, the format is very similar in terms of size of the game, number of players on the field, and the length of game.    These type of games are called "short-sided games". My team doesn't know if they can play based on their families' schedules? Yes.   This is a tough decision.   I would recommend that if you have half to three-quarters of your team to commit, then your team should participate.    If your team wants participate, we need to know so that our Area Fest organizers plan out the the game schedule.     Please let me know if you have at least 50% representation.      Coaches? Yes.   Since you are the coach of your team, you must attend the Area Fest representing your team.   All coaches must be Safe Haven Certified and Age Division Certified at this level.   If you have an assistant coach or team parent, please bring them as well. Why do we participate? This is a great opportunity for you as a coach and player families to experience AYSO outside of our region.    You'll see a greater community of youth soccer participating with many volunteers.    Also, its fun playing soccer ! More information? We have an AYSO Region 183 Area Fest Representation Team including myself as your coach administrator.    We'll keep you updated with regards to rules, locations, and schedules.

Thanks Tad Lin AYSO Region 183 Regional Coach Administrator / Advanced Coach/ Instructor ayso183coaches@yahoo.com