Silent Sunday - Fall 2008
Sunday, September 28, 2008
Goals of Silent Sunday:
1. To develop fast independent thinking of our players, letting the game be the teacher
2. To improve the player’s communication and team work on the field, free of sideline distractions
3. To support our youth referees by eliminating sideline interference and dissension
4. Self-educate our parents and spectators about sporting behavior
5. Improve coaching skills and performance, eliminating conflicting and or negative commentary
This Year’s Format
1. Before the coin toss at the start of each game on Silent Sunday, the teams with coaches and sporting director will meet the referee at midfield. The teams will greet each other and shake hands.
2. The referee will briefly inform all participants of the goals and guidelines for Silent Sunday and distribute their “Just watch us play” stickers to players, coaches and parents, as needed.
Coaches:
Please limit your coaching instructions to a minimum, shouting out tactical instructions only when absolutely necessary. For this day, let your players make their own decisions. Speak privately to individual players on the sidelines. Where possible communicate to the field through substitutions.
We need you to insure that no comments can be heard on the field coming from your coaching staff, parents or spectators.
Players:
Have fun and enjoy the freedom. Show your best sporting behavior play fair and respect your opponents. Let your coach, parents and referee know what you liked and didn’t like about Silent Sunday. Write a note or e-mail to WYSL Sporting Director at: AOlcese@wyslsoccer.org we need to know how you feel about playing on Silent Sunday.
Parents:
Please participate. Speak only quietly, if at all, to others on the sidelines. Avoid comments that can be heard by the players, referees or opponents. We ask for your respect of our efforts. When a goal is score please subdue your reaction to a low-key applause. Please be very observant of what happens, think about the effects you see and offer us your conclusions. We need your help to make your child’s soccer playing the best experience it can be. Your comments will be appreciated also, e-mail: LDArgenio@wyslsoccer.org.
Referees:
We hope that this weekend affords you a more respected and congenial refereeing experience, without facing any critical commentary from coaches, players or spectators. You should be free to concentrate on executing a fair game. We have not set up rules and penalties you must enforce. We are not asking you to be an enforcer of our requested sideline silence. We hope that our teams and you will extract cooperation among their peers. We are not expecting complete silence, when a goal is scored we expect subdued applause. If things do get loud we would appreciate your reminder to the coaches of the “Spirit of Silent Sunday”. Encourage coaches to relay instructions onto the field through their player substitutions. Let the players do the talking.
Implementation:
This will be a voluntary program. There will be no yellow or red cards issued for non-compliance. This is strictly a sporting behavior issue. The only penalties will be loss of sporting points awarded to the team for lack of participation. We do expect everyone’s support, starting with club presidents, club travel team officials, travel team coaches, parents and referees. This is a chance to see things differently, reflect on our actions, self-educate and come back to contribute in a new positive way. It is all up to us.... let’s do it.
