After that, everything is fine.

If you are brand-new to CYSA soccer - if you have less than 2 complete seasons with SAYSO, and particularly if you playing on a U8, U9, or U10 team that has yet to achieve it's 'final' form - you may be or have become surprised by the way CYSA seems to operate. You came to SAYSO with a vision about what playing CYSA soccer was going to be. That vision included an environment that was a step up from AYSO. During the first season or two, that vision can be challenged. SAYSO won't disappoint you. But, CYSA might.

The following are the 10 most common complaints from new parents.

1. In General, Things Seem More Chaotic Than You Imagined - SAYSO is an administrative tight ship. But, even though SAYSO teams play in CYSA leagues, SAYSO is not CYSA. All things considered, it's amazing that the rest of CYSA soccer works at all. But, it does work, although it may not work in the way that you originally envisioned it. ( For example, unlike in AYSO, the entire season schedule of games isn't known when the season begins. The season schedule develops and is adjusted as the season unfolds. That's unsettling to some families.) Thanks to the energy and time that our coaches, team managers, board of directors, and staff contribute, the chaos that you experience as an adult is rarely seen by the children. We who have devoted our time and energy to SAYSO have learned to accept the chaos as normal-to-CYSA. We endure the chaos because the children are worth it.

2. Some Game Information Is Communicated At The Last Minute - SAYSO provides excellent administrative support to its coaches and teams. But, SAYSO is the exception to the rule in CYSA, and SAYSO is not CYSA. SAYSO only has control over 50% of your games (your home games). The rest of CYSA soccer is a volunteer organization. Since CYSA doesn't schedule game times and locations, SAYSO is at the mercy of the opponents to tell us when and where we're playing. The problem is, except for SAYSO, none (not a single one!) of the other teams we play has (a) an office, (b) 8-hour-a-day staff, (c) inventory, (d) live support, or (e) a phone number you or we can call and reach a live person, to say nothing of (f) buses, (g) coaching training, and (h) run-like-a-business structure. Most of the teams that we play are from soccer clubs and leagues that have a very low 'level of service'. They are slow to or don't ever return calls or emails. Many teams we play are not 'on the computer.'  Their volunteer coaches and managers are dependent on field schedulers and referees coordinators who are also volunteers. The schedulers and coordinators are dependent on club and league people who are similarly volunteers. If you are frustrated, pity your coach or team manager who is trying to obtain and provide you with the information you deserve. The information is just not to be had. 50% of your games are outside of SAYSO's control. That's just the way CYSA operates. Please remember: Any delays, indecisions, communication breakdowns, and chaos that you experience are probably not coming from SAYSO.

3. Other Players/Families Who Are Not As Committed As You - Don't blame the other parents. They just didn't know what they were getting themselves into when they signed up. Every parent wants their child to play at a higher level, but wanting it doesn't mean that it is going to work for a family. Getting onto a club team that plays in a CYSA league can turn out to be a curse on a family. Over the first few seasons with CYSA soccer, players and families who cannot get to practices reguarly (or, whose schedules are not flexible enough) self-select themselves back out of CYSA soccer. Since there is no youth soccer alternative that simultaneously combines high level playing and lack of participation, these players and families go back to AYSO or drop out of soccer entirely. The first 2 seasons for every new team (or, for every team that has a lot of new-to-CYSA-soccer) will include a weeding-out process. It's normal for families to find out that they, in reality, are not reliable or committed enough to play CYSA soccer. The mismatch in brand-new teams can be as much as a quarter of the families. But, after a season or two, we end up with teams of people that ARE as reliable and committed as you.

4. Some of the Your Team's Players Aren't As Good As Your Child - Most players making the transition from AYSO-to-CYSA need 1-2 seasons to learn the skills, develop the intensity, and get fit enough to play CYSA soccer. But, even then, we have to wait until puberty for consistency and coordination. Being on a SAYSO team means that we have confidence in you and that we're going to help you make the grade after puberty. It doesn't mean that we're there already.

5. All Your Coach Does At Games Is Sit In A Chair - A quiet coach is a good thing, not a bad thing. Yelling coaches are interested in winning today, not winning 2-3 years from now. SAYSO coaches are requested (instructed, etc.) in SAYSO's coaching instructional courses to primarily sit in their chairs during games. Coaches coach at practices, but they don't coach much during games. The only way for players to learn to think on their own is to let them make their own decisions. SAYSO coaches don't call every play; and they don't decide who takes the corner kicks, throw-ins, and penalty and free kicks. They don't walk up and down the line yelling instruction and guidance as coaches in AYSO do. Think of it these ways: A coach will sit quietly during a game if he/she (a) has confidence in the players, (b) has confidence in what has been conveyed at practices, (c) is unconcerned with the outcome of the particular game, and (d) has made a long-term commitment to the team. Eventually, our players will be in a noisy stadium or will be playing for a high school coach that just sits. And, if our players haven't learned to think for themselves, they won't be able to play. It's ironic that, if we want a good team 2-3 years from now, we have to let the players make mistakes on the field today. 

6. Your Team Isn't Stable. A Few Players Come and Go - It's normal for players to transfer between SAYSO's red, white, and blue teams. SAYSO has a growth path for advancing players and a safety net for players in slumps. It's also normal for families to drop out of SAYSO or CYSA soccer entirely. This is an adjustment process at its best. In order for SAYSO to create a stable team for the future, we know we have to endure one or two seasons of adjustment. Basically, we just don't know which families are going to be able to make the transition into CYSA soccer. We let them decide for themselves. It's normal for parents to think there is greener grass elsewhere, but it's not normal for parents to find it.

7. The Refereeing At Games Is Awful - SAYSO's assigned referees are excellent. But, SAYSO only has control over the referees assigned to 50% of your games - your home games. SAYSO's referee assignor, our extensive database of loyal-to-SAYSO referees, our training and mentoring processes, and our administrative, communication, and assignment procedures and systems are excellent. That cannot always be said about the referees you'll see in away games. Remember - referee assignments in other clubs come out of that same volunteer environment that causes you heartburn in other areas. (By the way, referees are not part of SAYSO or CYSA. They are independent subcontractors. If a club or league doesn't have a stable of good subcontractors, your experience at an away game won't be very satisfying.)

8. Players On Other Teams Seem To Be Able to Do Things Your Team Cannot (And, It Has To Be The Coach's Fault) - This is an unfair comparison, because the local soccer structures are very different. We CAN do it, but we have a ramp-up time that teams from farther away don't have. Teams between Burlingame and Palo Alto are greatly hindered by fractionalization, acrimonious internecine turf wars over players and fields, and the separation of AYSO and CYSA. Almost everywhere else (i.e., everywhere else except between Burlingame and Palo Alto), children enter CYSA at the age of 4, and by the time we see teams from those areas, they have been together for years longer than we have. Between Burlingame and Palo Alto, players usually start out in AYSO, and we have to wait for them to find SAYSO before we start forming them into polished teams. Players in other areas start out in CYSA. (Did you know that AYSO is primarily on the SF peninsula in northern California? Teams from Santa Clara, the East Bay, Sacramento, and Fresno are initially years ahead of peninsula teams because those players may have been playing together in CYSA since age 4. In addition, these areas form teams from within their leagues, not from within competing clubs. The Mustang league (often held up as an example of a good program) puts its teams together from a cohesive group of 3000-4000 players. Here, between Burlingame and Palo Alto, the other soccer clubs try to assemble teams from within their little cities. Everyone competes for the same players. All of this adds up to an environment where it takes SAYSO a few seasons to catch up with the Mustang league. But, we do catch up.

9. Your Child Practices On Small Fields, Without Lines, Without Full-Size Goals, And With Too Many Adjacent Teams Sharing the Field - It would be nice to have one soccer field per team, but nobody, anywhere on the peninsula, has that luxury. There just aren't any fields. It's a problem everywhere on the peninsula. Looking back several decades, the field shortage has gotten worse and worse. Providing fields for the children just isn't a priority any longer for cities concerned about maintaining and developing their tax bases. We do the best we can. Thank goodness a good soccer coach can run a practice on a postage stamp. (Just ask the Brazilians or Dutch.) If you coach complains about not having a big space to practice in, he's/she's probably not Brazilian or Dutch.

10. Some of Your Team's Parents Bicker, Whine, and Complain Behind the Scenes - Having happy parents is something that may take 1-2 seasons, after the unhappy people have left or have been asked to leave. Eventually, the team coalesces into a group of committed, happy, reliable, and compatible families that go on to spend years together. Getting there may take a 1-2 seasons, but it always happens.