The Lower Merion Soccer Club is now accepting registrations for their Fall Intramural Soccer Program. The program is open to boys and girls born in 1995 through 2004. The 2008 season will be our 41st season. LMSC is affiliated with the United States Soccer Federation.

The season will start on Saturday, September 6 and run through November 9. All games and practices will be held at fields within Lower Merion Township. In recent years, we have had as many as 1800 players participate in the Fall Intramural Program. An additional 600 players ages 8-18 play in the very prestigious LMSC Travel Team Program. Participants do not have to live in Lower Merion Township.

For all divisions, except our youngest divisions (Atoms, Neutrons and Pee-Wee Divisions) and the Special Needs Division, there will be a late fee for registrations received after August 10th. We also cannot guarantee that we will be able to place players on a team if his / her is was received after that date. This deadline is necessary so that we will have enough time to properly make team assignments and schedules for the 1800 plus players that we anticipate having.

To find out which divisions still have openings, please check our website (www.lmsc.net). We will constantly update the site to show which players have been accepted into the program as well as show how many openings remain in each division. If the requested division is full, the registrant will be put on a waiting list or have their registration check returned.

The Fall Intramural Program is divided into 14 different divisions based on age and gender. Each division uses one of three different formats, each designed to maximize skill development, obtain an optimal competitive level and, most important, maximize the amount of fun that each child has during the season.

The objective of all our programs is "to provide each and every child with a fun filled experience in a soccer environment." Our number one goal is fun, our number two goal is to develop each player's skills so that he/she may progress to higher levels of play in the future. We try to keep the winning and losing aspect in check for all players, and we expect this philosophy to be followed by the players' parents as well as other spectators at games.

Children do NOT have to follow the recommended guidelines for our age groups. They may play up in an older division or down in a younger division if the parents see fit.

One of the primary purposes of the LMSC Intramural Program is to develop the more talented and enthusiastic players for the LMSC Travel Team Program. We offer boys and girls travel teams starting at Under 9 and going up through Under 19. We have up to four travel teams in each age group. Since 1989, LMSC Travel Teams have won 21 State Championships. LMSC has had 72 teams reach the State Cup semifinals during that time period. Children with sufficient athletic ability and soccer interest should give serious consideration to trying out for the Travel Team Program when they are old enough. Travel team players, unlike intramural players, generally progress to high school varsity teams and beyond.

LMSC is a not-for-profit entity. It is the ONLY local area soccer program that is affiliated with the United States Soccer Federation, meaning that it is the ONLY local area program that can offer a Travel Team Program where the more talented and athletic youngsters can aspire to higher levels of play.

Six LMSC players have gone on to play professionally, including two currently playing in Major League Soccer. One former LMSC travel team player played for the USA in the 2006 World Cup and the 2000 Olympics. Three former LMSC players have represented our country on National Youth Teams. Another former LMSC player, who holds dual citizenship, was a member of Spain’s Under 18 Women’s National Team. Many of our players have gone on to play State Select and Division One college soccer.

OUR YOUNGEST AGE DIVISIONS

PEE-WEE DIVISION:	Children born in 2004		Boys: Sundays at 10:00, 12:30 and 3:00 Girls: Sundays at 11:15 and 1:45
ATOMS DIVISION:	Boys born in 2003		Saturdays at 9:15, 11:45, 2:15 and 3:30
NEUTRONS DIVISION:	Girls born in 2003		Saturdays at 10:30 and 1:00

The emphasis of our Youngest Age Divisions is on enjoyment of the game and basic skill development. Players meet once a week. The players will be led through a 25 minute skills clinic, followed by games of 4 vs. 4 on scaled down fields to maximize player participation. A size 3 ball is used. These age groups use a "pickup soccer" format where players are randomly placed on different teams each week. This is done in order to minimize the pressures of winning and losing, thereby allowing each child to enjoy the game in a stress-free environment.

Because of the small numbers of players on each team, we need to have a large number of coaches in each division. Over 90 percent of our coaches are parents of the players. Parents are asked to give consideration to volunteering to coach. You do not need to have playing experience to be a coach. At LMSC, we set aside a large percentage of our budget for coaching materials, coaching clinics, etc. We believe that the best way to have a successful program is to have coaches who are enthusiastic and understand their roles and responsibilities.

All morning sessions (Atoms 9:15 and 11:45, Neurons 10:30 and Pee-Wees 10:00 and 11:15) will close out on August 1st. We will NOT accept registrations for any of these divisions after that date.

OUR MIDDLE AGE DIVISIONS

BANTAMS DIVISION:	Boys born in 2002		120 players maximum
MICRONS DIVISION:	Girls born in 2002		120 players maximum
JUNIORS DIVISION:	Boys born in 2001		120 players maximum
QUASARS DIVISION:	Girls born in 2001		120 players maximum
INTERMEDIATES DIVISION:	Boys born in 2000		120 players maximum
PROTONS DIVISION:	Girls born in 2000		120 players maximum

The emphasis of our Middle Age Divisions is on enjoyment of the game, skill development and the introduction of being a part of a "team." Each youngster is assigned to a team of up to 14 players for the season. All teams play a nine game schedule, mostly on Saturdays with one or more Sunday afternoon games. Two simultaneous 5 vs. 5 games are played. The Intermediates and Protons use a size 4 soccer ball, the other divisions use a size 3 ball. Each team has one practice a week (held on a weeknight or Sunday afternoon, as determined by the coach).

Game times will vary each Saturday and can start as early as 8:30 AM or as late as 4:30 PM. Game times for all teams will be different each week. Be sure to note on the registration any night that you have conflicts with other fall activities. This will enable us to put each child on a team that will not practice on nights where there will be a conflict. Some divisions will close out early due to the limited number of parents who volunteer as head coaches.

OUR OLDEST AGE DIVISIONS

SENIORS DIVISION:	Boys born in 1998 and 1999		112 players maximum
MAJORS DIVISION:	Boys born in 1995, 1996 and 1997		108 players maximum
ELECTRONS DIVISION:	Girls born in 1998 and 1999		112 players maximum
COSMOS DIVISION:	Girls born in 1995, 1996 and 1997		108 players maximum

Our Oldest Age Divisions are for children who are old enough to play in the LMSC Travel Team Program but who either did not make a travel team or who chose to stay in the Intramural Program. All teams will play a nine game schedule. Most games will be played on Saturdays with one or more Sunday games possible Each team has one practice a week (held on a weeknight or Sunday afternoon, as determined by the coach).

Game times will vary each Saturday and can start as early as 8:30 AM or as late as 4:30 PM. Game times for all teams will be different each week. Be sure to note on your registration form any night that you have conflicts with other fall activities. This will enable us to put you on a team that does not practice on those nights.

Seniors and Electrons Divisions: Games are played 8 vs. 8, use a size 4 all and have a maximum of 14 players on a team. Standings are not kept, there are no end of season playoffs.

Majors and Cosmos Divisions: Games are played full sided 11 vs. 11 soccer, use a size 5 ball and have a maximum of 18 players on a team. Standings are kept during the season and playoffs are held at the end of the season to determine a champion. Children born in 1994 will NOT be accepted into either of these age groups.

SPECIAL NEEDS DIVISION
This program is geared toward children ages 6-15 with a wide variety of physical and mental limitations. To find out more about this program, or to determine whether a particular child would be suited for the Special Needs Division, please e-mail us at: soccer@lmsc.net.

EQUIPMENT
By rule of the United States Soccer Federation, ALL players MUST wear shin guards to both practices and games. For safety reasons, soccer shoes are strongly recommended instead of sneakers. Intramural players will receive their soccer jersey at their first practice of the season. Intramural players can purchase a pair of our logoed LMSC navy intramural soccer shorts and white soccer socks at Sneaky Pete's (5 West Lancaster Avenue in Ardmore). Sneaky Pete's also carries a full line of youth shin guards and soccer shoes, as well as soccer balls. As our official supplier of soccer items, they also accept orders for other LMSC items such as our LMSC logoed soccer balls, sweat shirts, sweat pants and club jackets.

FINANCIAL AID
Our program is not-for-profit. Its purpose is to provide all soccer loving youngsters with a chance to play. Players who are in need of financial assistance for the season may request this on their registration form. One of the goals of LMSC is to not have any child turn away from the program for financial reasons.

CAR POOL AND TEAMMATE REQUESTS
We will attempt to honor car pool and teammate requests written on the registration form. We cannot guarantee that car pool requests or teammate requests will be honored since our first priority is to make teams within each division as fair and balanced as possible. Car pool requests may only be made with players in the SAME division. A MAXIMUM of three players may be listed. We will NOT switch players at the start of the season to different teams for this purpose, requests MUST be stated on the registration form. If a player has a good friend who he or she would like to be placed with, please list him or her in this section of the registration form. Car pool requests received after August 10th will most likely not be honored since we must begin the difficult task of making team assignments at that time.

COACHING VOLUNTEERS
Our program is dependent on having parents of players volunteer as coaches. PLEASE give consideration to volunteering as a coach, thank you. We provide head coaches with ample coaching material in order to make the program a success. You do not need to have had played the game, you only need to have an interest in working with a small group of children and an ability to stay one or two steps ahead of them in learning the game.

We also need people to volunteer to be Division Commissioners. Their responsibilities are administrative, i.e., making team assignments for the older divisions, switching players from one team to another when necessary, making phone calls in the event of rainouts, distributing end of season trophies, etc.

If you are interested in serving as a Division Commissioner, head coach or assistant coach, PLEASE indicate this on your registration. Also, if you are planning on coaching, please send in your registration form AS SOON AS POSSIBLE. Your help in this matter will be greatly appreciated so we can mail coaching materials, make coaching assignments, etc.

FIELD SITES
Several school district and township fields will be closed this year for renovations. As a result, we do not know at the present time which divisions will play at which field locations. We anticipate that all divisions will be playing at fields inside of Lower Merion Township, but we do not know which divisions will play where. Our web page will provide this information as soon as we know what fields are available for the fall season.

TIME SLOTS CLOSING OUT
The 9:15 and 11:45 Atoms Division time slots, along with the 10:30 Neutrons Division time slot, will close out by August 1st. The 10:00 and 11:15 PeeWees Division time slots will also close out by August 1st. Players may not register for those time slots after August 1st. All other time slots will remain open, registrations will be accepted during the season for the other time slots. Please check our web page before registering to see which time slots still have openings for the Atoms, Neutrons and PeeWees divisions.

REGISTRATION FEES
Please refer to the registration fee schedule below. We can only guarantee placement in a division for registration forms postmarked by August 10. There is a late fee for registrations postmarked after that date. We also cannot guarantee acceptance into the program if the registration is postmarked after that date. We cannot honor car pool and teammate requests for registrations postmarked after August 10 since that is when we start the very difficult task of making team assignments.

AGE GROUP	IF POSTMARKED BY AUGUST 10	IF POSTMARKEDBETWEEN AUGUST 11 AND AUGUST 31 (cannot guarantee placement and cannot guarantee teammate requests)	IF POSTMARKED ON SEPTEMBER 1 OR LATER (cannot guarantee placement and cannot guarantee teammate requests)
Special Needs	$25	$25	$25
Atoms, Neutrons, PeeWees	$85	$85 if there are still openings	$85 if there are still openings
All Other Divisions	$85	$120 if there are still openings	$150 if there are still openings

Note: Late fees do not apply to families who moved into Lower Merion Township after May 1, 2008.

REFUND POLICY
Requests for refunds will only be honored if made before September 1st. We will NOT issue refunds for any reason after that date. There is a $25 service charge for all refund requests made before September 1st.

REGISTRATION NOTES

1. If you are planning to volunteer to coach, please register as soon as possible so that we can forward coaching materials to you. This will also help us to better organize teams assignments and plan our season better.
2. Players may choose a different division than the one we recommend if the parents feel it is in the child’s best interest to play up a year or down a year. This is subject to LMSC approval.
3. You MUST use a separate registration form for each child or the registration form will be returned.
4. Registration forms and checks are to be sent to: LMSC, Box 360, Bryn Mawr, PA 19010.
5. Car pool / teammate requests will most likely not be honored for registrations postmarked after August 10!!!!!
6. For older divisions, we CANNOT place a player on a team that has only early games or only late games. The game times for each team will vary each week.

WHAT TO DO AFTER YOU REGISTER
We will post the names of players who have had their registrations accepted on our web page. If you do not see your name on the web page ten days after submitting your registration form, please let us know. Names will not appear right away on our list of players who are registered. On August 31st, we will post team assignments along with schedules for the September 6 start of season practices.

Please remember that we need people to volunteer as head coaches (and also assistant coaches) in all age groups. Adults who volunteer to coach in a particular division will have their child assigned to their team, unless specifically requested not to.

REGISTRATIONS WILL BE REJECTED FOR ANY OF THE FOLLOWING REASONS

Requested Division is full	Release Statement not signed	Age Division not specified
Division does not have enough head coaches	Registration fee not enclosed	One form used for two players
Birthdate not written on registration	Child born in 1994 or before