Here are the 2024 U6-U9 Schedules. Click on the links below to open in a new window.
BU6 All Games at Syre Elementary School
GU6 All Games at Syre Elementary School
BU7 All Games at Highland Terrace
GU7 Home Games At Highland Terrace, Away at Cedarbrook Playfield
BU8 All Games at Hillwood Park
GU8 Home Games at Hillwood Park, Away Games at Cedarbrook Playfield
BU9 Home Games at Echo Lake, Away Games at Ridgecrest
GU9 Home Games at Echo Lake, Away Games at Ridgecrest
Hillwood Soccer August Newsletter
Dear Hillwood Soccer Community,
Well, the fall season is nearly upon us. Rosters will be out soon, coaches will be getting assigned fields, and the parks of Shoreline will be full of soccer balls flying through the air. This is my favorite time of the year! I wanted to give you some updates on what is happening, pass on some important info, and let you know how you can help us here at Hillwood.
Important Upcoming Dates:
BIG THANKS TO SPONSORS
Thanks to a sponsorship from Darigold, we are able to provide free jerseys for all our U10+ teams for the Fall 2024 season.
Thanks to our partnership with Dick’s Sporting Goods, you can get 20% off your in-store shopping from August 16-18. Watch your email for the link to the coupon.
SOCCER FUN FACTS
SUCCESSFUL HILLWOOD NIGHT AT THE SOUNDERS
A big thanks to everyone who came out to Hillwood Sounders Night for our victory over Minnesota. It was great seeing so many familiar faces. I hope we can have many more nights like that in the future.
INTERESTED IN COACHING?
Have you thought about coaching but are a bit nervous about the idea? Here’s a little video I made to talk to potential new coaches for Hillwood: Coaching Video
Even if your team has a coach, most need or want an assistant coach.
COACHES
Remember to sign up for a mini-group training session. These sessions help ensure we are all following the player-centric coaching model that Hillwood and US Soccer promote.
To be put on a roster as a coach, you must have a valid SafeSport certification and pass a background check.
PARENTS
Pictures! We need pictures of your little ones (and not-so-little ones) playing soccer to use on our website and potentially our social media accounts. This helps us secure sponsorships like the one from Darigold. If you have some pictures you’d like to share, please send them to HillwoodSoccerPresident@gmail.com. And feel free to snap some as the year starts.
If you haven’t yet, please follow the Hillwood Soccer Club on Instagram – @hillwoodsoccerclub. Tag the account whenever you post soccer photos.
REFEREE PROGRAM
We are proudly partnering with Shorelake Soccer to utilize their Junior Referee Program. Through this program, Hillwood and Shorelake players ages 10-13 can referee our younger kids’ games, allowing coaches to focus on coaching and parents to focus on parenting.
We will also introduce a new program with the Seattle Referee Association where each team has a parent designated as a backup referee for whenever there is a missing referee. Through this program, the parent referee can actually get paid when they step in to referee for the day. More details to come.
FIELD SUPERVISORS
We are seeking volunteers to help out during the Fall season as Field Supervisors. We expect to have multiple volunteers each Saturday, taking turns throughout the day. We need supervisors for our U6, U7, U8, and U9 fields. Field Supervisors will serve as the onsite point of contact for junior referees and coaches, providing guidance on field locations and answering questions with the help of a comprehensive binder. They will also be available for reporting issues and relaying them to the board. If you are interested, please email Silas at HillwoodSoccerPresident@gmail.com.
FALL LATE REGISTRATION
Fall registration is still possible. Some teams have openings (especially high school age), while others are full. If you’d like to see if there are any openings for your child to play, you can email the registrar, Melissa, at Registration@hillwoodsoccer.com.
OPEN POSITIONS
To help the club continue to grow and prosper, we are actively seeking community help for the following positions:
THE END
That’s all from me for this month. Thank you so much for being a part of the Hillwood Community and for helping to keep Hillwood Soccer a fun place for the development of the next generation of soccer players and fans.
Silas Lindenstein
President, Hillwood Soccer
HillwoodSoccerPresident@gmail.com
If you are considering coaching a team at Hillwood Soccer, this video is for you! Please watch and consider taking the leap!
We have a new SYSA rulesheet for 2023.
The highlight of this that you must be aware of is that there is no longer ANY intentional heading U12 and under and a change to where the offisdes line is when there is a build out line.
Coaches shall not practice heading and deliberate heading in a game now becomes a foul.
Download here for your reference.
As mentioned at the Coach’s meeting last week, Hillwood instituted a best practices policy for games to guide coaches and parents and designed to optimize positive play experiences for players.
Seating for games
Here is a map where everyone should sit:
We realize that you may play other teams from other clubs that don’t follow this rule. Let’s have Hillwood set the example.
Coaches Location
Coaches are to stay with the team on touchline/sideline and not be on the field with the team, unless they need to ref. Let the kids play. We do not remote control teams from on field. Let them play and experience soccer. Yes, even U6. The kids will figure it out with the ref’s guidance. Let Ref show them what should happen during kickoff, goal kick, etc. if they aren’t sure.
Referees
Starting Games
Please start the games on time. If games start late, you’ll still need to end at the scheduled time so as not to cause a domino effect for the next games.
What To Wear
August Hillwood Newsletter
THANKS FOR THE FUN DAY!
Big thanks to everyone who attended the Hillwood Day at the OL Reign this past weekend. Let’s do more things like that! It’s terrific to see Hillwood come together as a community. I thought about how nice it is to see how we progress through the club. Players start playing as early as U6 on separate teams, but then each year, teams will add players, merge, reshuffle to balance teams, eventually end up in a gold uniform, and finally on a single u17 team. But even from the micro league teams, we are one club, one community…Hillwood Soccer Club.
PRACTICES
Players should be starting to get contacted by coaches shortly. Coaches are just getting their finalized practice field assignments this week. Hillwood teams are officially open for practice starting as early as August 14th, but some may be starting later, depending on the coach’s plans. Some of our teams might be finalizing who is coaching or some other reason, so that could be a delay as well. Just watch your emails!
NEW UNIFORMS
I’m excited to announce that all Hillwood Players will be getting new jerseys at no additional cost this year. That’s right, everyone. Thanks to SYSA and a partnership with a sponsor, all U10 and up players will be getting new jerseys, shorts, and socks. Yep, a full kit! We are getting enough uniforms that we anticipate to be able to supply kits to enough players for this season and next.
EQUIPMENT
Hillwood Soccer Club is pleased to continue our partnership with DICKS SPORTING GOODS again this season. Below you will find a link to our coupon for 20% off during the weekend of aug 25-28. This can be used for anything in store, including back to school items.
CLICK HERE FOR YOUR DISCOUNT COUPON
All players must have shin guards, and U10+ players need GOLD socks to match their jerseys.
BALL SIZES by age group: U6-U8- SIZE 3, U9-U12- SIZE 4, U13+ SIZE 5
GAMES
Remember that games will be starting the weekend after Labor Day, the weekend of September 9th. We are endeavoring to get the micro team scheduled by the coaches meeting on August 30th. Coaches, check your spam inbox if you have not seen that email. Below is a link to the standard rules that Hillwood uses, as well as SYSA league game days.
PARENTS/COACHES
Big reminder as we come up to games. Aside from medical bracelets, NO JEWELRY is to be worn by players during a game. They shouldn’t be worn in practices, either. It’s good to be in the habit. Every year we have issues between players/parents and Referees enforcing this rule which, aside from safety, is an insurance compliance issue. Even if the player “just got their earrings in,” they cannot be worn during games. My goal is to make sure it is never a Hillwood player/parent/coach that gives the Referee the difficult experience.
Even if there is no official referee for the game, as in many of the micro-games, I ask you to internally enforce this rule the same with each other.
Please leave your pets at home! Dogs are not allowed on any school field in Shoreline or Seattle. This includes Shoreline A/B. We need to be good guests and stewards of the fields we use for games and practices, or it can result in our loss of access to those fields. If you have family or friends coming to watch your child play, please be sure they know this rule as well, and leave their pets at home.
WORLD CUP
When I started coaching, one of the biggest surprises to me was discovering how many players had never even seen a professional soccer match on television. Watching soccer live or on TV is a great way for a young player to start understanding the strategy and how all the little tips we give them lead to grand pictures. So, I just wanted to remind everyone that The Women’s World Cup is happening in Australia. If your player hasn’t had a chance to watch, please get them to watch these upcoming games over the next ten days. Truly wonderful soccer.
REFEREE NEEDS
Refereeing is a great way for kids and adults who enjoy soccer to make a little extra money. Official referees for U10 and above can be some of the best pay kids can get before they hit 16 years old. It’s even a great way to learn more about the game. Refereeing is how I started getting involved in youth soccer locally. I loved it because I could pick my schedule, work close by, and develop a better understanding of the game. And yes, we all hear stories of bad treatment of referees. I will say from experience as a ref over the last five years that it doesn’t happen nearly as much as discussed.
If you want to learn more about how to become a licensed referee, check out this link: https://www.wareferees.org/
FOR FUN
Q: Did you hear about the soccer player who lived past 100 years old?
A: He’s still alive and kicking.
Q: Why are the dirty kids so good at soccer?
A: Because they are Messi.
Q: What football club do sheep like?
A: Baaaaaaaaa-rcelona.
Okay, I’ll stop now.
Silas Lindenstein
Hillwood Soccer Club President
Hillwood Soccer Club is committed to fostering a welcoming environment through a diverse, equitable and inclusive game. We celebrate every race, gender and background to unite as one community. We believe meaningful action can positively affect important change in our sport and carry over into our everyday lives.
Inclusion in sport means that everyone in our diverse community, regardless of their gender, age, race, culture, religion, or sexual orientation is afforded opportunities to participate.
July 2023 Hillwood Soccer Newsletter
Hello Hillwood Soccer family,
With summer in full swing, I hope you have many fun plans with family and friends! Hopefully, those get-togethers include some backyard kicking around of a soccer ball! I know some players take advantage of this time to develop soccer skills in one of the many soccer camps happening all around the area. My U8 daughter is going to a weeklong camp at UW which she really enjoys.
School may be on break, but Hillwood Soccer is already preparing to ramp up for fall soccer.
REGISTRATION
A reminder that early Registration ends on July 15th, then a late fee of $15 will apply.
The earlier we get everyone registered, the sooner we can form teams. It is especially important for the U12 – U18 players to get registered soon, as we have to inform SYSA (the league for the U10 and over players ) how many teams we will have in each age group as they plan the schedules and balance the divisions. We want to encourage the older players to register quickly.
Mid-July, we start finalizing teams and figuring out exactly how many coaches are needed. Speaking
Of….
COACHES
If you are interested in coaching your child’s team (or even another team), please reach out to our registrar, Melissa (registrar@hillwoodsoccer.com), so we can set you up. As of writing this, we do have a high demand for coaches. I know from personal experience that coaching for the first time can seem intimidating, but I want to assure you that Hillwood Soccer will give you lots of support and resources to which we can direct you. We will even hold a workshop before our late August ALL COACHES meeting (exact date TBD) to teach you how to run a coaching session to guide you through how to run a practice.
SYSA also wants to set up an in-person coaching clinic following US Soccer coaching guidelines. If you’d like to take an online version of this clinic and become a certified grassroots coach, you can go to https://learning.ussoccer.com/
And for those coaches that want to add to your summer reading list, I highly recommend this book, Making The Ball Roll. Excellent reading for a youth soccer coach. And you can find it on Amazon here – https://www.amazon.com/Making-Ball-Roll-Complete-Football/dp/1909125520 .
PRACTICES
Our official practice sessions should start around August 15th. Coaches will have rosters in early August and will contact parents to let them know when and where practices will be. While some families may take some vacations during August, it’s just good to get communications going between players and coaches and start practicing as soon as possible.
FREE TICKET TO THE REIGN
You should’ve received the email about the free ticket for Hillwood Soccer Players for the OL Reign vs. Portland Thorns on Sunday, August 6th. If you haven’t received or missed the email, please email me, and I’ll resend you the link and instructions to get your player their free ticket. HillwoodSoccerPresident@gmail.com. We want to see as many Hillwood players and families as possible, so please order soon while tickets last!
VOLUNTEERS
A big thanks to everyone who has offered to volunteer for soccer this fall, whether as a coach, manager, or one of our board and volunteer positions. While we’ve been able to fill several spots, we still need to get some crucial roles filled.
#1 – Secretary. We need a secretary on the board. Not only do they take the minutes of our monthly board meeting, but they get a vote on board decisions that help shape the future of Hillwood Soccer. We are in the midst of a transition of new board members, and we have a lot of exciting things we are working on. We’d love to have many of you be a part of this.
If that position interests you, or you would like to help in another position, please email Silas at President@HillwoodSoccer.com.
SOMETHING FUN
Why can’t you play soccer with pigs?
They hog the ball.
How do we know that soccer referees are happy?
Because they whistle while they work.
What kind of tea do soccer players drink?
Penal-Tea.
Okay, I’ll stop now.
Have a great summer. Watch for more exciting news in your inbox.
Silas Lindenstein
Hillwood Soccer President
President@HillwoodSoccer.com
