The Travel program starts at the U-9 level which would be children born between 8/1/00 and 7/31/01 for the coming Fall 2009 Season. The club has historically fielded two teams for boys and two teams for girls at the U-9 level. The main difference between travel and intramural is the level of commitment and competition.
Typically Travel Teams play in the Inter County Soccer League (ICSL), which covers an area from the Delaware River on the East to King of Prussia on the West, South into Northeast Philadelphia and North to Buckingham, Quakertown, Towamencin. The longest trip is usually not more than an hour.
The Fall Season runs from right after Labor Day until early December (weather permitting). Most coaches will also play in several tournaments each season starting with our own Warrington Classic the first weekend in August. Other big tournament weekends are Labor Day and Columbus Day. Travel teams stay together through the fall and winter and will play any number of indoor leagues or tournaments and then typically play in a spring league as well. The costs for these activities are borne entirely by the team. Teams will begin practicing once or twice a week over the summer in preparation for their tournament schedule and the fall season. At the U-9 & 10 level, our club has a policy requiring all players get at least 50% playing time unless there is a specific issue that has been discussed with the parents i.e. injury, discipline, etc.
All of our coaches are selected after an interview process and approval by the board of directors. Most have either significant playing or coaching experience with many holding advanced state and national soccer coaching licenses. All new coaches commit to the club to pursue licenses if they do not already hold them. The club provides to each team 7.5 hours (5 sessions) with an outside training company to give the kids some additional high-level training. Currently UK Elite is that outside trainer.
Tryouts are generally held in April/May. They are advertised in the paper and also on the web site. Additionally, the club will send an email notification to all registered players in a specific age group advising of their age groups tryout times.
The travel program has additional costs ($175 for 2009), which is paid to the club. This offsets the costs of uniforms, league registrations, referee costs, outside trainers, etc. Coaches also collect some additional funds to cover costs of tournaments and other team operations. This varies by team & coach but is usually between $50 & $100. Teams conduct varying fund raisers on their own such as car washes to raise money to offset these coasts and also to help defray costs of things like bags, warm ups etc.
It is an individual decision as to whether your child wants to play at the travel level. Both of our programs are well run and provide good skill and personal development opportunities. If your child has played intramural before and done well, or is just an all around good athlete he will probably do well in the travel tryouts. The coaches will work with the team to develop individual soccer skills and the teamwork necessary to be successful on the field. I hope this helpful. I look forward to seeing you and your children on the field this fall.
