Winter sessions are set and we're moving back to WEDNESDAY night sessions.  We've gotten a 7pm-8pm slot and will add the second session on a weekly basis depending upon the weather.  Just check the website here to find out how many sessions we're running for the next week.

A laundry-list of reminders regarding our sessions:

• SoccerFours sessions exist to give people a place to play soccer for fun.  Competitiveness is "baked-in" to some people and that's fine, but make sure you turn your intensity switch down for the sessions.  We don't keep score so there aren't any losers in any games.  We haven't had any major problems with this yet, but it is our intention to make sure it never does.
• If you're an experienced player, this is the place to try new things.  Work on your weak foot.  Work on your first touch.  Concentrate on getting better at picking out the right pass.  While there's nothing wrong with just playing how you normally play, there are few places where trying (and initially failing at) something has no repercussions.  Go for that step-over!
• If you're an inexperienced player, no one is going to get mad at your for messing up.  You won't "cost" your team a win because you're playing with them.  No scorekeeping means no pressure.  You'll never get better unless you play, play, play!  It's a guarantee that if you make a habit of coming to these sessions, your game will improve quickly.
• Sessions officially start on the hour.  If you're not here by 10 minutes after session start time, your reserved spot (if you signed up online) will be opened up for any drop-ins that have shown up.  Your $5 registration fee will also be forfeited.  If you know you're going to be late or not going to be able to make the session, please email by 6pm the night of the session and we can refund or re-use your fee for a later date.
• If a ball goes over the fence, please go get the ball IMMEDIATELY.  Though we're all careful, sometimes the ball makes a break for freedom by flying over the fence.  If the ball has gone over the fence on the side with the Safeway, there's a really good chance it'll make the street (which is sloped).  If it makes the street, we're probably not seeing it again.  SoccerFours has no official policy on reimbursements for lost balls, but if you can chip in a little bit for a new one (they cost us $25) it would be appreciated.
• Franklin Square field has no water fountain.  :(
• Franklin Square field has no bathroom.  :(  :(
• Franklin Square usually has pretty good parking.  :)
• It's a good idea to place bags on the side of the fence that everyone else uses.  There is safety in numbers and normally there's a person or two on that side to deter opportunists the chance to take something.
• We're here to have fun, and it's safe to say our first 9 months have been a GREAT success.  Let's get out there and keep it going.  :)

If you haven't already, please take a moment to vote in our poll regarding a potential second night per week.  Your input is very useful!

Cheers!

-Chris

It's hard to believe the Fall Sessions are almost over already!   Time has flown by and we'd like to thank everyone who has come out this season to get some touches and have fun playing soccer.

Our Fall sessions end November 19th.  After consulting with SF Rec & Park it appears we will be able to continue using Franklin Square for our sessions, but we will be moving back to Wednesday nights @7pm starting December 2nd.   A change from the normal routine is that we're only applying for a 1-hour block of time in the winter.  So instead of having a 7-8pm & an 8-9pm session guaranteed every week, we'll be adding second sessions each week if the weather's looking rain-free.  The idea behind this is that when the rains come, we'll likely get enough people to run a session, but don't believe we'll get enough to run back-to-back sessions.  Since the winter is the rainy season and we can't afford to pay for field time not used, we're giving ourselves the ability to scale up when the weather appears to be cooperating.

In bigger picture news, our membership continually grows and that's encouraging.  We weren't exactly sure what to expect when we started sending out Evites to all of our friends and friends of friends last January.  We were lucky to get 16 people to run two games at a time!  Now we seem all but certain to fill our first session of the evening and usually have solid numbers for our second session as well.  This augurs well for 2010.  Maybe we have a large enough membership to expand to a second night next spring?  What do you think?  Feel free to drop suggestions/opinions to Chris.

Thanks again to all of you who have been a part of the SoccerFours experience!

The SF Rec & Park deadline for applying to reserve fields in the Winter (January through March) has already come and gone.  We here at SoccerFours haven't applied for the permit yet because we weren't sure how to proceed.

Permits are pretty expensive and the rains will come at some point.  If it rains we're pretty sure we won't get enough people to fill two sessions, but if it doesn't rain we're pretty confident there's enough interest to go two sessions.  What to do?  Jung and I have decided that we'll go for hedging our bets.  We'll apply for a 1-hour block of time for the winter (rather than the 2-hour blocks we've gotten for the summer and fall).  If the forecast looks dry, we'll try to manually (via Tuesday morning phone call) get a second hour.  This way we'll have some flexibility with our schedule and minimize paying for field space when no one's going to be out there.

With that in mind, we've made a simple poll.  If you only had 1 hour's worth of SoccerFours time to play, what would be your preference?  This assumes that Rec & Park will be accommodate any time/day of the week we request (which may not be possible as the deadline to apply for the Winter permits passed awhile back).  After a week or two, the results will be taken and we'll go to Rec & Park with our request.

So let us know what you think!

Fall Sessions start this Thursday at Franklin Square!

For fall, SoccerFours will be staying at the same location (Franklin Square) but moving nights.  Instead of playing on Wednesdays, we will now be playing on Thursdays.  

To those new to SoccerFours, it's a GREAT way to:

1. Get great exercise while having fun.
2. Get tons of touches on the ball, naturally getting more comfortable on the ball.
3. Try new tricks and skills in a game environment without worrying about letting your team down if it doesn't work.
4. Play with teammates from your other team who come out here for a little 'unofficial' practice.
5. Meet new friends!

We usually play six 8-minute games back-to-back with randomly-created teams from the people who show up for the session.  Once you're on a team, it's your team for the rest of the evening.  Your team will play games against the other teams playing that night.  We don't keep score of the games and there aren't any referees.  We have no league and no team standings.  It's just a great place to drop in, play some soccer, and have some fun.  Give it a try (even if you haven't played in years and years), we think you'll like it.  :)