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:
- August 14th – Parent Orientation Night at Einstein Middle School Athletic Field Bleachers at 7pm.
- August 19th – Full Access to Fields for Practices
- August 21st – All Coaches Meeting followed by a Training Demo Session
- September 7th – Fall Season Starts
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
- The first soccer club formed outside of Britain was the Oneida Football Club in Boston, USA, in 1862.
- The first soccer film, “The Great Game,” was released in 1930.
- The first soccer player to be sent off for fouling a mascot was Lee Todd in 1993.
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:
- Game Photographer
- Web Content Manager
- Coaches’ Rep
- Managers’ Rep
- Field Supervisor
- Social Media Account Manager
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