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About
Step Up To Soccer
Register for Classes
Frequently
Asked Questions
Parent's Corner
Center Staff Corner
Coach's Corner
Print Registration Form
About
Children's Learning
Contact Us
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Where do they play?
When will my child's class be? How can I find out?
What is the cost?
What is the Center Code and where can I find it?
How old does my child need to be to participate?
When and how will I receive the products I ordered with my registration?
Can I come and watch the soccer class? Can I take pictures?
My child hasn't played sports before. Is this a good way to get started?
Is there much risk of injury? Does my child need shin guards?
What type of evaluation do you do?
Where do they play?
Your chilcare center will select a playground or park within walking distance of the center. Your center director can tell you where they chose to play.
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When will my child's class be? How can I find out?
If you have Internet access, you can click on the 'Child's Class Schedule' link on the same 'Parent's Corner' page you used to get to these FAQ.
You can also check the Step Up To Soccer Fact Sheet that was sent home or the flyer posted on the parent bulletin board at your center. The Fact Sheet and flyer will show the day of the week and the start time of the first class. Check with your center about when your child's class plays.
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What is the cost?
The cost is printed on the Soccer Fact Sheet and on the flyer posted at school. You also check online: Just click on the Parent's Corner link and enter the Center Code to see the cost at your center.
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What is the Center Code and where can I find it?
The Center Code is the way you identify which childcare center your child attends when you register online for the first time, or if you change to a new center.
The Center Code can be found on the Step Up To Soccer Fact Sheet that was sent home at the start of the registration period.
It is also printed on the flyer that should be posted at your childcare center.
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How old does my child need to be to participate?
As a general rule of thumb, we find that children who have passed their 3rd birthday prior to the start of soccer classes do better than those that have not. This is in part due to physical maturity, but cognitive readiness is just or even more significant.
This rule is not set in stone. If your child is slightly under three at the time classes are scheduled to start, and you want them to give it a try, contact your center Director. If the Director believes that your child is developmentally ready, we may waive the rule and allow them to try. If after two weeks the coach concludes that they really are not ready, we will let you know.
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When and how will I receive the products I ordered with my registration?
The coach will deliver your products to your child's center on the first day of class.
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Can I come and watch the soccer class? Can I take pictures?
Parents are always welcome to come, watch class and take pictures. Be aware that some children become distracted when their parents are present. If this happens with your child, you may want to consider waiting until the end of the season. On the last class we do a simple graduation ceremony and congratulate the children with small, token gifts. That might be a nice event to witness and take photos of.
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My child hasn't played sports before. Is this a good way to get started?
This is an excellent first athletic experience for children because it is not built on a competitive model. Although curriculums vary by age, activities generally combine skill development in a fun, game context. The focus is on every child improving - regardless where their starting point is. Even when older children scrimmage, the sides change from week to week, and there are no standings.
Researchers have found that by age 8, children make up to 70% of their decisions about what activities to participate in based on self-perceived competence. We try to set conditions for every child to experience small successes and have fun. In this way they continue to play, and over time, become more and more competent. In a competitive context, the less coordinated and aggressive children will tend to drop out, and then fall further and further behind the 'naturally' athletic children.
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Is there much risk of injury? Does my child need shin guards?
Because Step Up To Soccer is not built on a competitive model, there is minimal risk of injury. Children are still running, and sometimes they do fall down. But the most serious injury we have ever seen in one of our classes is a scraped knee. Again, this is because we don't encourage the type of physical contact that competitive soccer involves at the older ages.
In case of scraped knees and other minor mishaps, our coaches all carry First Aid kits along with their soccer materials. If your school age child already has shin guards, they are welcome to wear them. But most do not, they aren't really necessary, and there is no need to go out and buy shin guards to participate.
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What type of evaluation do you do?
At the end of the summer session, your child's coach will fill out a Developmental Evaluation about each child in their class. We use a bar chart approach that visually shows how far the child has progressed in several specific physical, cognitive and social skills. The coach will also write a note about some feature of your child's participation that stood out to them.
The developmental evaluations are a nice way for parents, who often can't observe the classes, to see the overall 'shape' of their child's strengths and weaknesses in different areas of development.
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