Team Park City,

Here are some notes on how I'd like the team to operate.

0. Uniform - we'll use the NewPark jerseys. Players should wear black shorts and white socks. Shinguards are required for all players.

1. Act your age - it's safe to assume that Over 30 players have been playing long enough to not have to be told how to play, where to stand, and so on.  Leaders on the field can and should help keep our shape and encourage players, but let's try to keep screaming at each other to a reasonable minimum.  Be supportive of your teammates.  Everyone has good and bad days, and good and bad plays. 

2. Act professionally -  avoid lengthy or repeated complaining to and about the refs. They are what they are and poor calls are never reversed.  I don't know every player yet, but I am convinced we have the skills and the fitness to challenge any team.  I expect the team to win (and lose) gracefully. The league is serious, but I assume people are playing because they want to enjoy it.

3. Show your quality - by far, the biggest reason a team loses is the dozens (or hundreds) of technical errors that are made: poor first touches, errant passes, wild shots, over-dribbling.  Be aware of your technique, think about playing error-free and good things will happen.

4. Attack and defend as a team - one or both of the central defenders should keep the defense organized.  Organzing the attack is harder without team practices, but the center mids should try to direct the attack, to use the full width of the field and to combine with the forwards.  Forwards, don't always race out in front, sometimes you'll need to hold up play to get more attackers involved.  I'd like to see good spells of posession in the attacking third so that attackers can...

5. ...Put your shots on frame - it's tempting in Over 30 to shoot from distance since you are often given a little more space.  That's fine, but only take that shot if you are confident of challenging the keeper; otherwise be patient and see #4 above.  More often than not, a 30-40 yard shot is a loss of possession.  This goes for free kicks as well.  If you step up to take a free kick, make it count.  Too many wild misses and you lose your chance.

6. Everyone plays, everyone subs - pretty simple, if you pay your money and show up, you play.  Also, on days when we have a lot of players, everybody subs (preferably by position).  Also, let's try to stagger our subbing to avoid hockey-style "line changes".  This is too disruptive and can cause big mistakes on the field.

Finally, keep your temper in check. Play calmly.  This isn't a forum for your inner rage.  This is where you get to play beautiful soccer and enjoy yourself. 

That's it for now.  See you on the field,

gfd

Greetings players and fans,

MyTeamCaptain.com is the tool we will be using to manage the Over 30 team.  It has a lot of cool features like game reminders via email or text message, automatic creation of this team website, and a bunch of other good stuff.  Feel free to join (or not).

This page has our team calendar that you can always refer to and that I will always keep as up to date as possible.  It offers some other fun stuff such as player pages, media (video and images), surveys, etc.  Some of which I will use, some not.

To make the team logistics easier, please make sure that you check your email at least a couple of times a week and respond as quickly as possible.  This helps me a lot (I do have a day job that is pretty intense at times).

Over 30 games will be on Monday nights (dates and times to be provided soon). 

I hope you're all looking forward to the season as much as I am.

all the best,

gfd       (George Demarest - 435-487-9096)