RYSA
Youth Soccer in Rochester Minnesota and Surrounding Communities

2006 RYSA Leadership Retreat: Update from RYSA President Max Trenerry

RYSA is thriving and hiring! The RYSA Board of Directors and Executive Committee held a retreat on November 10th and 11th. We discussed what was going well, what our pain points are, and where we wanted to head in the future. The attached slides share our vision for the future, which includes hiring 2 more employees of RYSA: a Director to lead our organization and an Assistant Coaching Director.

Please read these slides and accompanying notes and feel free to contact Max Trenerry or any Board member to discuss ideas you may have or find out more about the changes.

If you or anyone you know is interested in this job description and has

Please submit your resume to RYSA Director Resumes, PO Box 6402, Rochester, MN 55903 or email to crlchat@charter.net. Application deadline is December 30th, 2006.

Note: Be sure to read the notes describing each slide in the presentation too. If you don’t have Microsoft Powerpoint software, you can also view the slides and the notes by downloading a free version of Open Office from http://www.openoffice.org.

Max Trennery, RYSA President

Fall 2005 Message from outgoing RYSA President, Carol Lucas

Thank you for the opportunity to lead Rochester Youth Soccer Association for almost 3 years. Volunteering as President of a large non-profit has been a challenging, but rewarding experience. I’ve met many great people, learned more about youth sports and expanded my knowledge of running a non-profit business. As we transition to our new President, Max Trenerry, I ask for your continued support of RYSA. We have a great organization that provides opportunities for many youth to learn and enjoy soccer, provides opportunities for many adults to get involved in supporting the youth of our community, and develops the soccer fields and goals for all youth and adults in our community to use.

If you have ideas, get involved. We are continually assessing our programs and leading changes that make us more efficient and that fit with national and state youth soccer directions. Some of the highlights include:

• hiring our coaching director, Neil Cassidy, and seeing him lead coaching classes in Rochester
• hiring our Director of Operations, Diane Tlougan, to facilitate all of our soccer activities
• moving our tournament to coincide with Rochester Fest and seeing it double in size
• building onsite storage at Fuad Mansour and Watson soccer fields and seeing equipment pickup/return happen efficiently
• adding Fall Recreational Soccer
• adding Select Academy for winter indoor training
• beginning the move to online registration
• completing our first financial audit
• seeing current info on our wiki website
• seeing new and our returning volunteers do whatever it takes - coach, coordinate, move goals,...

But, most of all, continuing to see youth learning, playing and enjoying soccer is rewarding! To the many volunteers and our employees who make RYSA successful, THANK YOU!

Carol Lucas, Past President of RYSA.

2005 Spring Message from RYSA President

Carol Lucas

Preparations are in full gear for another exciting, fun year of soccer! Coach training, referee training, equipment pickup, practices and games are being scheduled. Our coaches have been especially busy this winter attending classes locally and nationally.

On a national level, our own Director of Coaching, Neil Cassidy, recently was awarded his USSF A license! This is the highest level of coaching license and required him to attend 7 days of instruction and 2 days of extensive oral, written, and practical examinations. Neil also has numerous other certifications and diplomas and has demonstrated an extraordinary ability to share his knowledge and his skills with both our coaches and players. Dave Bahr, our VP of Coaching, VP of Volunteers and Coach recently received his NSCAA National Diploma, which requires 50 hours of class and oral, written and practical evaluations. Dave also has many other coaching certifications and diplomas. Dave is a great example of our many volunteer coaches who commit to growing their own, their team's, and their fellow coach's skills. Please join me in congratulating Neil, Dave and our many other coaches who have received certifications and diplomas this winter.

In our Recreational Soccer program, players from 1st-12th grade learn soccer, score goals, make friends and have fun. They practice twice a week and have games on Saturdays from April 9-June 4. Parents, grandparents, high school students, and former players are all volunteering to coach and are an important part of our program. Coaches will be contacting players the week before April 1 with team assignments and schedules.

In our Competitive Traveling Soccer program, players from U10-U19 focus on growing their skills and competing against other club teams from MYSA, primarily in the South District league. Practices start in April and the season runs from May 9 - Aug 5. Our club strives to provide a positive experience for developing players and coaches who have the desire and commitment to excel in the sport of soccer.

As our season starts, I encourage you to take the time to ask our players after their practices and games whether they had fun and if they learned anything. Be supportive and help everyone to have an enjoyable experience. Again, THANK YOU to our hundreds of volunteers! Whether you're coaching, coordinating, or cheering, we thank you for helping make soccer a fun experience for our youth.

Carol Lucas
president@rysa.org