or

Contact Ann Noce for more information

Click here to search if your company participates   

Click here for a partial list 

If you have any questions, please do not hesitate to contact
Kathryn Teel, Ways and Means Committee member 

Concussion Awareness

The Legislature of the State of New Jersey passed a bill to raise the awareness of concussions amongst youth athletes. Starting this Fall 2011/Spring 2012 soccer year all Recreation, Inter County and Travel coaches are required to have head injury safety training to help in the recognition of concussions. The required course is available for free at:

The Center for Disease Control (CDC) Heads Up: Concussion in Youth Sports  a free, online course available to coaches, parents, and others helping to keep athletes safe from concussion

The National Federation of State High School Associations Concussion in Sports - What You Need To Know.

More information is available on the NJYS website.

Kid Safe Program

New Jersey Youth Soccer Kid Safe Program requires that every coach (including assistant coaches, trainers, managers) both volunteer and non-volunteer and every volunteer complete an Employment/Volunteer Disclosure Form and have that form on file with their club.  In addition, NJYS issues passes to non-volunteer individuals who are paid to coach or train players.  Each individual who applies for a non-volunteer pass must complete and submit to NJYS a Disclosure/Background Check Authorization form.  NJYS will do a background check on every non-volunteer applicant before the pass is issued.  NJYS will keep the Disclosure/Background Check Authorization form on file.

The Cranford Soccer Club is required to implement the program at club level and create a Risk Management Coordinator. The coordinator will be responsible to verify that all forms have been returned to the Club and report back to NJYS.  Currently all parent volunteers can complete the form during the on-line registration process. Additional program details can be found on the NJYS website.

Peanut and Instructional Uniforms: 

For the Peanut and Instructional Soccer programs, you have the option to purchase an equipment package as listed below.

Optional Equipment Package: $39 (includes #3 premium soccer ball, royal blue knee high soccer socks, ankle/shin guards, royal blue shorts) can be used for several seasons of soccer.

Equipment required to play: CSC T-shirt (included with registration), size #3 ball, knee-high soccer socks, shin guards (covered by socks).  Any loose fitting athletic shorts can be used. Soccer grass cleats (rubber) are recommended (no baseball sneakers with front cleat or metal spikes).

Intercounty Soccer Uniforms: 

For the Intercounty Soccer program, you have the option to purchase an equipment package as listed below.

Optional Equipment Package: $30 (Includes jersey, shorts, socks) are $30.  Individual prices are:  Jersey - $15, Shorts - $8, Socks - $7.  If you need a complete uniform, you can buy it at the time of registration.  If you need to buy individual items, we will handle that as the season nears.

Volunteers Needed

The success of the Cranford Soccer Club is directly tied to the people who volunteer.  Whether it’s helping to maintain and line fields or coaching a team, your assistance is greatly needed, perhaps now more so than ever.  So we are strongly encouraging you to volunteer your time to coach your child’s team next spring.  We do understand that not everyone is comfortable being a coach perhaps because you didn’t play the sport.  We will do everything we can to help make this an enjoyable experience by providing you with the basic skills necessary to be a youth soccer coach. Volunteering your time as a coach is a rewarding experience that you will not soon forget. 

Program Descriptions

For more detailed information about each program, go to our website and click on the program links on the left side of the page.  Our website also has a very detailed list of contacts under the “Board of Directors” link.  The Program Coordinators will have answers to specific questions, but you can visit the website for general updates throughout the season.

Cranford Soccer Club

1. Coach’s Name

Number of Respondents 238

Number of respondents who skipped this question 56

2. Please choose your child’s group.

% of Respondents Number of Respondents

Travel U9 10.54% 31

Travel U10 13.95% 41

Travel U11 9.18% 27

Travel U12 7.82% 23

Travel U13 5.10% 15

Travel U14 2.04% 6

Travel U15 1.70% 5

Travel U17 1.02% 3

InterCounty U10 9.86% 29

InterCounty U12 0.68% 2

InterCounty U14 2.72% 8

InterCounty U17 1.36% 4

Recreation: 1st grade 9.18% 27

Recreation 2nd grade 7.48% 22

Instructional (K) > For these two groups only, consider the trainers when filling out this survey 6.46% 19

Recreation: Peanut (Pre-K) 10.88% 32

Number of respondents 294

Number of respondents who skipped this question 0

3. The number of years your child has played Cranford Soccer Club (including this year).

% of Respondents Number of Respondents

1 23.63% 69

2 14.04% 41

3 13.01% 38

4 14.38% 42

5 16.10% 47

6 6.85% 20

7 4.45% 13

8 3.08% 9

9 3.08% 9

10+ 1.37% 4

Number of respondents 292

Number of respondents who skipped this question 2

How would you rate your child’s coach / trainer on each of the following:

4. Knowledge of soccer % of Respondents Number of Respondents

Excellent 50.39% 128

Very Good 27.56% 70

Good 16.93% 43

Fair 3.54% 9

Poor 1.57% 4

Number of respondents 254

Number of respondents who skipped this question 40

5. Ability to work with and teach players of this age

% of Respondents Number of Respondents

Excellent 52.76% 134

Very Good 22.44% 57

Good 14.57% 37

Fair 8.27% 21

Poor 1.97% 5

Number of respondents 254

Number of respondents who skipped this question 40

6. Ability to communicate with his/her players

% of Respondents Number of Respondents

Excellent 50.79% 128

Very Good 24.21% 61

Good 13.49% 34

Fair 9.52% 24

Poor 1.98% 5

Number of respondents 252

Number of respondents who skipped this question 42

7. Ability to communicate with the parents

% of Respondents Number of Respondents

Excellent 49.80% 124

Very Good 24.50% 61

Good 12.05% 30

Fair 8.43% 21

Poor 5.22% 13

Number of respondents 249

Number of respondents who skipped this question 45

8. Dealings with/treatment of your child

% of Respondents Number of Respondents

Excellent 60.40% 151

Very Good 21.60% 54

Good 12.00% 30

Fair 4.80% 12

Poor 1.20% 3

Number of respondents 250

Number of respondents who skipped this question 44

9. Demeanor/behavior at games

% of Respondents Number of Respondents

Excellent 61.45% 153

Very Good 22.49% 56

Good 10.84% 27

Fair 4.02% 10

Poor 1.20% 3

Number of respondents 249

Number of respondents who skipped this question 45

10. Overall ability as a youth soccer coach

% of Respondents Number of Respondents

Excellent 52.00% 130

Very Good 24.80% 62

Good 14.00% 35

Fair 7.20% 18

Poor 2.00% 5

Number of respondents 250

Number of respondents who skipped this question 44

How satisfied are you with each of the following:

11. Your child’s playing time

% of Respondents Number of Respondents

Very Satisfied 66.94% 164

Satisfied 22.45% 55

Neither Satisfied nor Dissatisfied 5.71% 14

Dissatisfied 2.86% 7

Very Dissatisfied 2.04% 5

Number of respondents 245

Number of respondents who skipped this question 49

12. The position(s) your child played

% of Respondents Number of Respondents

Very Satisfied 59.18% 145

Satisfied 28.57% 70

Neither Satisfied nor Dissatisfied 9.80% 24

Dissatisfied 1.63% 4

Very Dissatisfied 0.82% 2

Number of respondents 245

Number of respondents who skipped this question 49

13. Your child’s opportunity to play/learn other positions

% of Respondents Number of Respondents

Very Satisfied 51.44% 125

Satisfied 28.81% 70

Neither Satisfied nor Dissatisfied 13.58% 33

Dissatisfied 4.12% 10

Very Dissatisfied 2.06% 5

Number of respondents 243

Number of respondents who skipped this question 51

14. Your child’s improvement over the year

% of Respondents Number of Respondents

Very Satisfied 48.35% 117

Satisfied 31.40% 76

Neither Satisfied nor Dissatisfied 14.05% 34

Dissatisfied 4.96% 12

Very Dissatisfied 1.24% 3

Number of respondents 242

Number of respondents who skipped this question 52

15. Overall, how satisfied was your child with this past soccer year

% of Respondents Number of Respondents

Very Satisfied 51.45% 124

Satisfied 34.85% 84

Neither Satisfied nor Dissatisfied 6.64% 16

Dissatisfied 4.98% 12

Very Dissatisfied 2.07% 5

Number of respondents 241

Number of respondents who skipped this question 53

16. Overall, how satisfied were you with the past soccer year in general

% of Respondents Number of Respondents

Very Satisfied 49.79% 118

Satisfied 35.44% 84

Neither Satisfied nor Dissatisfied 8.02% 19

Dissatisfied 5.06% 12

Very Dissatisfied 1.69% 4

Number of respondents 237

Number of respondents who skipped this question 57

17. Overall, how satisfied were you with the communication from your coach

% of Respondents Number of Respondents

Very Satisfied 59.17% 142

Satisfied 25.00% 60

Neither Satisfied nor Dissatisfied 9.58% 23

Dissatisfied 3.33% 8

Very Dissatisfied 2.92% 7

Number of respondents 240

Number of respondents who skipped this question 54

18. Overall, how satisfied were you with the communication from the Cranford

Soccer Club

% of Respondents Number of Respondents

Very Satisfied 34.02% 83

Satisfied 45.08% 110

Neither Satisfied nor Dissatisfied 17.62% 43

Dissatisfied 1.64% 4

Very Dissatisfied 1.64% 4

Number of respondents 244

Number of respondents who skipped this question 50

Cranford Soccer Club General Questions & Comments

19. Has this year been better than, worse than or about the same as previous

soccer years

% of Respondents Number of Respondents

Definitely Better 27.65% 60

A Little Better 15.21% 33

About the Same 46.08% 100

A Little Worse 7.37% 16

Definitely Worse 3.69% 8

Number of respondents 217

Number of respondents who skipped this question 77

20. Would you consider having your child play next season?

% of Respondents Number of Respondents

Definitely Yes 63.64% 154

Yes 26.45% 64

Maybe 7.02% 17

No 1.65% 4

Definitely No 1.24% 3

Number of respondents 242

21. Would you be happy if you had the same coach again?

% of Respondents Number of Respondents

Definitely Yes 62.61% 149

Yes 18.49% 44

Maybe 9.66% 23

No 7.56% 18

Definitely No 1.68% 4

Number of respondents 238

Number of respondents who skipped this question 56

22. Do you feel our fees are

% of Respondents Number of Respondents

too high 7.66% 18

too low 0.43% 1

just right 80.43% 189

Other (Specify) 11.49% 27

Number of respondents 235

Number of respondents who skipped this question 59

23. Compared to other Cranford Rec programs, are you pleased with the offerings that the CSC provides?

% of Respondents Number of Respondents

Yes 86.21% 200

No 5.17% 12

Other (Specify) 8.62% 20

Number of respondents 232

Number of respondents who skipped this question 62

24. Compared to other Cranford Rec programs, are you pleased with the general registration process?

% of Respondents Number of Respondents

Yes 92.74% 217

No 1.28% 3

Other (Specify) 5.98% 14

Number of respondents 234

Number of respondents who skipped this question 60

25. Would you be in favor of a Cranford Soccer Outdoor Complex in town?

% of Respondents Number of Respondents

Yes 81.55% 190

No 6.87% 16

Other (Specify) 11.59% 27

Number of respondents 233

Number of respondents who skipped this question 61

26. Would you be willing to pay a few extra dollars in registrations fees in order to have access to better fields in town?

% of Respondents Number of Respondents

Yes 71.49% 168

No 16.17% 38

Other (Specify) 12.34% 29

Number of respondents 235

Number of respondents who skipped this question 59

27. Would you like to volunteer with the Club, either as coach, coordinator or

something else?

% of Respondents Number of Respondents

Definitely Yes 7.30% 17

Yes 9.87% 23

Maybe 36.05% 84

No 34.76% 81

Definitely No 1.29% 3

Other (Specify) 10.73% 25

Number of respondents 233

Number of respondents who skipped this question 61

Questions & Answers

Why don’t we educate parents on sideline behavior?

The Cranford has a Code of Conduct which is found on the club’s website.  http://www.cranfordsoccer.net/SAGE/index_E.html It is strongly recommended that parents educate and familiarize themselves with this code.

Why aren’t more parents attending soccer board meetings? Why not more members input?

 The Board of Directors meets on the first Wednesday of each month.  The meetings are publicized by the Board in a manner reasonably designed to give sufficient notice to the members of the Club.

Why don’t we have different/fresh volunteers?
The Cranford Soccer Club Board of Directors is made up of both elected and appointed officials, and all are on a volunteer basis.  Club members are encouraged to volunteer to help support the activities of the club.

Why can’t the coaches/volunteers’ kids play for free?

The club is a non-profit organization that relies on volunteers’ time and the fees we collect. Therefore whether you line a field once or are a Board member or coach we need every parent to volunteer. Our club is as strong as we make its volunteers.

Why are the bathroom facilities and fields in such poor shape?

The fields are owned and maintained by the Board of Education or The Town as it relates to Sherman Park only. Their budget is limited towards renovation.  We hope to finalize a deal that the Soccer Club will control 2 full side fields that we will renovate and maintain like the CBL, so we can offer better facilities.  The Porta Johns are paid by our club and are located were we play.  It is cost prohibitive to provide anything else.

Why isn’t there a discount for multiple children per family?
We have developed our pricing at or just above break even for each division.  Therefore any special pricing would cause us to lose money for family discounts.  We do offer financial assistance if requested and approved.

Can we have more transparency regarding spending?

We plan on finalizing our budgets and placing them on line, so each division is accountable to its costs and pricing. This will be done when we open Spring Registration.

Travel

Why can’t all A Travel Teams have paid coaches vs. parent volunteers?

It is something that is being discussed and considered by the club.

Why is there a fee for travel tryouts?

To help offset the cost of running the tryout.

Why do we recruit from other towns if we have an abundance of Cranford players?

The club does not recruit from out of town. As per our by laws, a certain number of out of town players are allowed on travel rosters.

Why does spring travel start so early? Before the fields are ready from the winter?

We do not set the starting dates for our season. The leagues we play in set them.

Are we allowed to pull our players off a team (travel) after 1 season?
Yes

Why isn’t there consistency with trainers for Travel? Some have trainers some do not?

Some of our coaches and members do not agree with the value of a paid coach over a volunteer coach. This is being discussed and set criteria could be seen soon.

Why aren’t practice and games times coordinated with the Cranford Baseball and Softball?

Practices have to be scheduled at the availability of the coach. The leagues we play in mandate that Sundays are the official game day. Obviously Saturdays are the logical day for make-ups. Coaches do poll their families for availability for makeup.

Can we sign up for 1 season only?

NJ Youth Soccer mandates that a travel year consists of a fall and spring season therefore players need to sign up for both.

Why can’t our teams go beyond JAGS?

 Our teams can move beyond JAGS or MAPS. We do not dictate to our teams what league they can play in.

Recreational Programs

Why isn’t the fee reduced for the 2nd season of Peanuts?

Our previously offered two-season discount for Peanuts (and other recreational programs) was problematic in regard to scheduling and was barely utilized with a small percent of players taking advantage. Going forward for Peanuts and Instructional for Fall 2012, uniform cost will be separated from Registration fees thus allowing amortizing a uniform over a few seasons, at cost savings to parents/guardians.

Why aren’t rec games times announced before registration? Consistent schedule?

Unfortunately Board of Ed permits and field assignments are granted long after registration starts and quite often very close to the season start. Peanuts and Instructional times will be posted when registering as well as approximate Rec1 & Rec2 times.

Why do we give trophies after Rec 1?

Trophies were not distributed Fall 2011 season, as they were not budgeted in the Fall 2011 Registration fee. With skyrocketing costs (fields, Board of Ed, etc.) this cost savings measure was necessary to allow each Rec division to “break even” and not cost more to run than the club actually collected. Participation Awards are seen by some as a motivator or positive reinforcement to players. To others they are seen as a waste of money that could better go into “on-the field” soccer, to freeze registration fees or a combination of the both. Going forward, each division coordinator, along with Rec VP and the CSC Board will vote and determine if awards will be given to each division (boys and girls alike). If used, the registration cost will be adjusted upward accordingly.

Why can’t we have better communication from our coaches?

Please see the above link

http://cscrecreational.wordpress.com/faq/

Coaches are dedicated parent volunteers. Unfortunately communication gaps are inevitable and as such Division coordinators are there to step in and help. Communication from coaches is urgent so they should establish a “team manager” to handle team business if a Head Coach cannot communicate in a timely manner. If you have trouble with communication with a coach, please contact your Division Coordinator and CC the Recreational VP. Poor communication by a coach jeopardizes their future coaching opportunities, which ultimately hurts the coach, club and players. In an effort to help improve communication the club has setup Facebook page, Twitter Feeds, online calendar and more mass-mailing capabilities for each Rec division in case a coach is less accessible. In addition, Registration will be closed earlier so that teams can be formed and coaches notified to communicate and run practices pre-season as needed.

Why isn’t more time and money spent allocated to developing fundamentals for the younger players?

We have started the Academy program for Rec 2 in the Fall and plan to expand that to Rec 1 players in the Spring.
Most travel teams hire professional trainers who focus on the fundamentals during the first year or two of travel.  We are developing deeper relationships with our training partners and expect to further define our training expectations/goals during the formative years.

Why can’t there be more competitive soccer for U8 and under?

We are moving slightly in that direction.  The Academy program introduces more rigorous training at the u7/u8 level; the next logical step would be to field an u8 team.  We have also trialed the EFSL with some limited success.

Who approves the trainers that work with our club?

Historically the Club has not approved trainers, however we are moving in that direction and are taking a far more active role in addressing training/trainers and how they train our kids.  We are also exploring a more expansive and comprehensive approach to training, details of which could be available as early as the fall of 2012.

Why don’t our coaches practice pre-game and pre-practice warm-ups such as stretching exercises to prevent injuries?

We encourage proper warm up routines for all practices and games.  We even brought in a Physical Therapist to give our coaches greater insight into specific routines and approaches to this. 

Why don’t we have more training for coaches of our younger players?

We currently offer the Y clinic for Rec coaches and host an F license course for our travel coaches.  We asked for volunteer coaches to learn with our trainers during the Academy program, but had limited participation.  That said, we are exploring a more comprehensive training program for all our coaches with professional trainers. 

Inter-County

Why doesn’t IC get wintertime slots?
Wintertime slots for practice are limited by the number of hours we are allotted from the BoE.  Also, winter training slots were originally created for HS travel teams who don’t play in the fall as a club teams and with the travel season beginning usually around March 15th, the idea was to give them an hour a week for 8 weeks to help get them together as a team. When the number of HS teams diminished, the open slots were filled with travel teams as most of them tended to practice over the winter. The travel teams also stay together for a full year and are accustomed to paying extra for training, etc. Inter-county teams, on the other hand, tend to change between fall and spring and it is not known who is on what team until sometime in February, when there are usually 2 or 3 indoor sessions remaining.  

Who supervises coaches and behavior?
The VP of Inter-County make it a point to try and attend one or two games each season to observe the coaches as well as the parents, especially for first time coaches (usually at the u12 level).  In addition, we rely on ref to notify us of any issues occurring during games.

Why are out of town players picked over Cranford players?
All players who register for the club by the registration cut off date (not the late registration cutoff) are placed on a team. No one is ‘picked’ for inter-county teams.  This season, we had 25 girls register for U17, too many for 1 team and not enough for 2.  We sorted the players by registration date, and all players (19 in all) who registered by Aug 1st were assigned to the team.  

How are coaches selected?
Almost all of the coaches in the U14 and U17 divisions have been coaching since rec 2 or U10, and have followed their child through the years.  Invariably, we are always looking for one or two coaches at the U10 and U12 levels. We rely on parents to volunteer to continue the success of our club and our programs.

Why can’t we have better communication from our coaches?
The first line of communication is to reach out to your coach. If after multiple attempts to reach out to your coach fail, you can contact the VP of Inter-County so that the situation can be addressed.

Fields

Why are out fields is such bad shape?

Due to space constraints fields are used year round by not only the Cranford Soccer Club but other youth clubs and school teams as well. 

Why do parents have to line the fields? The club depends on parent volunteers to help maintain facilities. That included, the painting of the field lines.

Cranford Soccer Complex

The Cranford Soccer Club has a 30 year ongoing relationship with the Cranford Board of Education.  The Cranford Soccer Club and the Board of Education will continue to nurture that relationship.  We have had conversations with the Board of Education on how to improve the fields and invest it’s resources for the children of Cranford.
 
The discussions are in a preliminary phase but both parties have indicated that the field conditions could be improved for both the Cranford Schools and the soccer club programs. The Cranford Soccer Club looks forward to further discussion with the Board of Education.
 

TIME SLOT            UPPER GYM                  LOWER GYM

8 - 9 am                U9G - Momentum         U9b Fury/U9B HotSpurs

9 - 10 am              U11G - Storm               U14G Strykers / U14G Rovers

10 - 11 am            U11B - Bulldogs            U12G Crush / U12G Hawks

11 am - 12 pm      U12B _ Rush                 U13G Lightning / U13G Wildcats

12 - 1 pm              U16G Strikers              U19B - Jeff

1 - 2 pm               U14B - Barracudas        U16B - Tony

2 - 3 pm               U19G Cosmos               U10B Titans / U10B Revolution

3 - 4 pm               U16G United                 U10G Xtreme / U10G Spax

The following volunteer positions are open:

• Field Manager
• Operations Committee members
• Kids Safe Program Coordinator
• Concussion Course Coordinator
• Finance Committee members