Please realize that everyone wants you to enjoy the games. This page is provided in an effort to assist you and your child in gaining the maximum benefit possible from the soccer match.
Below are some simple rules you should observe. Please consider them carefully. Our coaches have been advised to ask parents to follow this code of conduct at games and practices.
▪ Support your child. Please do your best to attend practices, clinics, and games. Your child’s skills will improve only with practice. Remember to pick up your child on time. Make sure your child arrives to activities with proper equipment, water, and dressed for the weather.
▪ Do not shout instructions to your child. This will cause confusion and may result in erroneous play on your child’s part. The coach has instructed your child on how to play. If you shout instructions, your child will probably try to please you and the coach at the same time. In trying to do two things at once, the child may fail at both.
▪ Cheer for him or her when your child successfully plays the ball. However, remember your child is a member of a team. Let the other players know you support them. Refrain from disparaging or degrading remarks.
▪ “Suffer in silence” whenever something occurs that goes against your child’s team. A display of anger may inflame a delicate situation resulting in embarrassment for you or your child. Some parents embarrass their own children by making a spectacle of themselves.
▪ Always be a gracious competitor. Remember that the parents from the other team are equally enthusiastic about their team’s success.
▪ Do not run up and down the sidelines. Find a comfortable place to sit down or stand and enjoy the match.
▪ Do not shout insults at the referee. The referee has the power to stop the match if the crowd becomes discourteous. To have been the cause of such drastic action would be a humiliation to you, your child, and the team.
▪ If your team loses, adopt a positive attitude. Compliment your child for good plays and effort. Ignore the mistakes. A child will be happy you noticed the good qualities over a loss.
▪ Remember — your child will forget about today’s game. Next week he or she will probably have forgotten the score. However, both of you will remember that you had a good time playing the most popular sport in the world.
▪ No pets are allowed at the soccer fields at any time.
▪ All non-playing children must be supervised at all times.
▪ Absolutely no alcoholic beverages are permitted at any soccer game – home or away.
▪ Don’t be a sideline coach of referee. MSC coaches and referees are usually parents just like you. They volunteer their time to help make your child’s soccer experience a positive one. They need your support, too. That means refrain from coaching or refereeing from the sidelines. In a volunteer organization like MSC there’s always an opportunity to take your interest in coaching or refereeing to the next level and become one yourself!
Coaches must ensure that the parents of the players are thoroughly familiar with the code of conduct that is expressed in these rules. Remember, the referee has the authority and responsibility to eject a coach from a game if he or she does not keep proper spectator control.