Playground is a unique program designed to develop children by focusing on improving a child’s Fundamental Motor Skills (FMS) in a fun, parent participatory atmosphere utilizing age appropriate activities. It is a ten week soccer based skills development program for players who would like to have fun in a soccer environment.
For the Fall 2024 Season
Who is it for?
Anyone born in 2021 or 2022 can join. You can register by clicking the "Log in" or "Create Account" buttons in the upper right hand corner. Once you indicate your child's birthday, the appropriate program will appear. (Andwe have soccer programs for older children too!)
Who runs the sessions?
ProTouch is a coaching soccer organization who runs the sessions. They are trained for this age group.
Do I need to participate too?
Parents will be asked to play with their child during portions of the session. It is a great opportunity to spend time with your child and learn soccer too!
When will it begin?
Playground starts September 14. The last session will be November 16 so there are 10 Saturday sessions.
Where is it located?
All Playground sessions are at Peterson Elementary. This is a large field with other soccer fields. The Playground sessions will be in the part of the field closest to the parking lot entrance.
What are the times?
Sessions go from 9am - 10am. If enrollment is large, we will add additional sessions starting at 10am and 11am
What do I need?
Children must wear shin guards. Soccer socks are helpful since it makes it easier to wear shin guards. These can be purchased ay any sports store or on-line. Cleats are optional and either cleats or sneakers are fine. No need to bring a soccer ball or other training equipment - we bring all of that. If you want to purchase a soccer ball, a size 3 ball is recommended for this age.
You will be provided with a uniform. We will contact you as we get closer to the beginning of the start date for details on how to pick them up.
Additional Perks!
In the fall, you are invited to Soccerfest (September 7) where there are games and a photographer. At the end of the season, each child receives a photo and a trophy. We will contact you closer to Soccerfest with a time for your photographs.
More About the Playground Program
As mentioned above, Playground is a unique program designed to develop children by focusing on improving a child’s Fundamental Motor Skills (FMS) in a fun, parent participatory atmosphere utilizing age appropriate activities.
There are no teams in the Playground soccer program. There are no practices or official games. There are group activities one daya week on Saturday.
The program will be run by Pro Touch soccer coaching staff. The coaches at Pro Touch soccer are professional coaches and will provide your child with age appropriate, soccer-related drills and games to help your child develop their coordination, group participation, and listening to directions.
Parents are required to stay close by the playing field for these sessions and may be asked to participate if the coach determines a child would do better with parent participation. If your child is too shy to participate immediately, we recommend you allow them to watch the proceedings from the sideline while the coach encourages them to participate. Do not force a child to participate in any activity if they are having a tough time. Use patience and allow them to enter participation when they are ready.
The coaching staff will do their best to make the activities fun and engaging for the kids. Children will generally participate when they become familiar with the program and feel more comfortable.
Not all activities will include a soccer ball. The goal of the program is to give your child a great first experience with the group and have FUN!
Each coach will assess their group and introduce ball related activities based on their observations with each group.
At the playground level, the group may or may not scrimmage at the end of their session. That will be determined by the coach. Some groups will not be ready for a scrimmage if they do not yet understand concepts such as, which goal to score in, which direction their team is going, out of bounds, or not using hands. This program will help the kids to begin understanding these concepts.