Soccer Q&A

 Why are the registration cost going up?

 Several reasons actually. 

·         First and foremost, New Jersey has gone to a three ref system for all travel soccer games.  You may have already noticed this.  Simply put there will be an average of a $25 per game increase in fees for each team.  Multiply that by 10 games per season and 10 teams for Woodstown and your club costs have gone up $2500.  We need to distribute that cost to each player.  With approximately 150 players in travel soccer, that comes to about $17 per play.  As you can see, that is clearly the majority of the increase in our registration cost. 

 ·         Additionally, Woodstown has a lot of very old equipment.  Last year alone we had to purchase new goals and nets that cost about $3000

 ·         Registration in the past was not covering the true cost for each player.  Fees have not gone up for many years.  While we would love for soccer to be free and we are a non-profit organization, the fact remains that there are significant costs involved in playing travel soccer. 

 ·         Finally, our rec program does not fund our travel program.  We do not believe in charging $75 for rec and using the extra to pay for travel as is the practice in many towns.  Our rec fees fund rec, our travel fees fund travel.

But I thought the tournament had WSC rolling in cash! 

 While that would be great, that is simply not the case.  The tournament has been subsidizing travel and has allowed us to keep our costs so low for so long.  We are still able to offer the lowest registration fees of any neighboring town.  And tournament funds will continue to allow that as well as continuing to pay ALL of our training fees.  But as costs increase, fees must go up some too.  Also, WSC would like to have the tournament begin to fund some capital improvements such as lights or new fields….maybe even turf some day! 

So where does the $85 go? 

Roughly speaking:    

$6              Blue Sombrero for registration

$12            Park Fees

$18            Insurance

$35            Ref fees’

$10            Equipment (balls, flags, pumps, pinnies, goals and nets, etc)

$4              Admin and Field Maintenance  (signs, paint, etc.)

Why do we need new uniforms?

Companies discontinue uniforms.  Kids grow.  Uniforms wear out.  .  While some clubs get new uniforms every year, we feel every other is better for our club.  Our current uniform was discontinued last year and we managed to squeak by.  But we can not do that any longer.  We worked very hard to select a lower cost, quality uniform that will not be discontinued next year.  ‘

Why are try on sessions being held at Soccer Post?

Again several reasons. 

• Soccer Post was able to advise of which uniform was the best choice.  Most durable, won’t be discontinued, etc. 
• We have not been able to find a volunteer for uniform coordinator for 18 months or longer.  Soccer Post will manage the entire process and inventory items for new players, extra socks, etc.  All of this will be provided at no extra cost. 
• In fact, this could actually save our club money because we do not have to purchase a large inventory to make sure we have enough uniforms in the future.   Because we are going through Soccer Post, we can purchase additional uniforms or parts of uniforms from them each season with no real hassle on our part.

So is there anything I can do to lower the cost of playing travel soccer?

Absolutely!  We are a volunteer organization.  We respect and truly value the time each and every person puts into making this club a better place for our kids to play.  As such, we offer free registration for all F licensed coaches who help coach their child's team (and we will pay for the coaching class).  We offer free registration for the Girls rep and Boys rep.  Free registration for the uniform coordinator.  And free registration for any tournament coordinator.  (Clean up, parking, web site, fields, goals, hospitality, concessions, field marshal, first aid, advertising, games/scheduling, etc)  That is a lot of opportunities to reduce your cost.  Some require being on the field, several times a week.  But others require just a few meetings a year.  If you are interested in helping, please contact a board member.  We would be HAPPY to have you. 

Of course families with a true financial hardship should also speak to a board member for assistance. 

I have three kids playing, help!

WSC will introduce a family cap this Fall.  For families with 3 or more kids playing, at any level, registration will be capped $200 per family.

A standard practice in an organization be it private business, schools, community clubs or other organization, is to benchmark against what other similar organizations are doing.  You get some great ideas, you see what you like, you see what you don’t and you adapt what you can.  The WSC board has spent countless hours doing just that.  We like our cost to be well below other clubs.  We don’t want rec funding travel.  We need uniforms, but don’t think we need them every year and don’t want to pay $100+ for them. 

We welcome all WSC members to attend board meetings and assist us in making decisions.  I assure you we have done the best job we can, have spent 100s of hours and have come to so great decisions to balance the wants and needs of many, all so the kids can play and enjoy soccer.