The Fall 2019 season is now open and will run until Sunday, November 3rd.  There will be no games Columbus Day weekend. Game times and locations for home games in the fall will be the following:

Parents:

Below is a note that came out on Friday, September 6th from the President of the Nashoba Valley Youth Soccer League regarding the Eastern Equine Encephalitis concerns, how to stay informed about the areas of highest risk and the steps we should all be taking to reduce the risk of exposure to our players, coaches and spectators.  In order to comply with the suggested practice time guidelines so that our players, coaches and spectators remain safe, we are moving all practices that were currently scheduled from 6:30-7:30 to an earlier time slot at 5:30-6:30 for the rest of the season.  The coaches for all the affected teams will be notified today and they will be informing you of your new practice time and field starting this week.  Thanks for your support as we try to adjust to this concerning health problem.

From the NVYSL President:

Eastern Equine Encephalitis (EEE) has burst onto the scene as a major public health concern throughout Massachusetts this fall.  More infected mosquitoes are being detected every day, and the incidence of infected horses and humans is slowly climbing.  Relative incidence of EEE infections remains low this season, as it has over the past 100 years, but what makes EEE so terrifying is the poor outcome for any patient who does contract the virus.  In this way, EEE is somewhat like a lightning strike... the chances of being hit are extremely low, but anyone unlucky enough to be hit will almost surely face dire consequences.

So what’s our strategy to deliver youth soccer to our communities in the context of this significant threat from mosquito-borne illness?

Our volunteer youth soccer organizations aren’t public health agencies, so parents must continue to monitor communications from the CDC (https://www.cdc.gov/easternequineencephalitis/index.html) and Massachusetts Department of Public Health (https://www.mass.gov/guides/eee-in-massachusetts). At the moment, many towns in the southern half of NVYSL’s footprint are classified as “Moderate Risk”, while there are hotspots of “High Risk” and “Critical Risk” not too far away from us in all directions.

Reducing risk of exposure to and bites from infected mosquitoes must be our essential focus, so I encourage all Clubs to adopt the following 3-pronged approach :

(1) REPELLENT
Communicate to all players and families the critical importance of wearing insect repellent to every practice and every game.  Coaches cannot be in the habit of applying repellent to their players, rather this responsibility should be communicated to every family as a critical step in player readiness.  Throughout this fall, insect repellent may be the most important piece of equipment a player will carry in her/his bag, even more important than a water bottle and shinguards.

(2) LONG CLOTHING (+HOODS)
In addition to repellent, one of the most effective deterrents to mosquito bites is basic skin coverage.  While it may be uncomfortable, players should keep lightweight hooded sweatshirts and pants in their equipment bags and never hesitate to wear these items whenever it becomes clear that mosquitoes are active.

(3) TIMING
Mosquito behavior is well studied, so we know that the highest concentration of actively feeding mosquitoes is in the hours around dusk and dawn.  Teams can reduce their risk of mosquito contact by concluding evening practices before 7PM in mid September, and reducing that to 6:30PM by the beginning of October.  On Saturdays, our entire community should be diligent about insect repellent and long clothing, especially during our earliest morning games and our latest afternoon games.

Importantly, the current threat is NOT permanent - EEE risk will decrease precipitously when the first frosts begin killing off mosquito populations.  But until that time, we need to be proactive and aggressive about deterrence.

GDYSC Board

Mass Youth Soccer Adult Registration, CORI Processing, Concussion Training and Certification, Safe Sport Abuse Training and Certification

The State of Massachusetts, Mass Youth Soccer (MYSA), and the Groton Dunstable Youth Soccer Club now require Adult Registration, CORI security background checks, Concussion Training and Certification and SafeSport Abuse Training and Certification for all adults working with children in our program.

NEW REQUIREMENTS: Prior to the start of the fall 2019 season, all adults involved in the Groton Dunstable Youth Soccer Club must register with Mass Youth Soccer on a new website that has been dedicated for our members called US Soccer Connect, powered by Stack Sports.  It can be accessed by going to http://grotondunstable.mayouthsoccerconnect.org. To start the process, you will have to first register and create an account as a member of the Groton Dunstable Youth Soccer Club.  Once your account is created, you will be required to complete a CORI security background check, take the latest CDC Concussion Training and Certification Course (and upload the certification to your member page on the Groton Dunstable Youth Soccer Club section on the Mass Youth Soccer site), and take the Safe Sport Abuse Prevention Training course (and upload the certification to your member page on the Groton Dunstable Youth Soccer Club section on the Mass Youth Soccer site). The background check and both training and certification courses must be completed before you will be provided with coaching credentials from Mass Youth Soccer to participate in any volunteer activities related to the GDYSC this fall.  The total amount of time you should allot for completing all of this training is 4-5 hours, so please do it as soon as possible.

ADULT REGISTRATION:

Some tips about completing these items: 

• Be sure to use your legal first and legal last name

• Please note that the print function is not working so you will not be able to print out the CORI Agreement. Just contact Jim Gmeiner, the GDYSC  Risk Manager -  at once you are done so he can complete the verification process. He can also help if you have questions."   

• You will need to have a color headshot photo on the device you are using that can be uploaded.  Editing tools are available within the system for cropping and resizing. 

• The selected photo must be a CLEAR, HEAD Only picture of you with NO others in the picture, no sunglasses, no hats, and sufficiently well lit to clearly see your face.

• Our organization name is: Groton Dunstable Youth Soccer Club

• You will need your driver’s license number and expiration date

• Please use the same email address in all systems including our gdysc.org League Athletics website

Once you have completed the Adult Registration process and the Registrar confirms you are a GDYSC volunteer, you will receive an email from US Soccer Connect containing the link to access the CDC Concussion Training and Certification course and the Safe Sport Abuse Training and Certification course.  The links for both will also be available in your Adult Registration account. 

Specific Instructions:

Adult Registration Process

1. Register as a volunteer on the GDYSC website at www.gdysc.org.  Click on the green Register Now button on the home page and scroll down to the volunteer registration section.

2. Go to http://grotondunstable.mayouthsoccerconnect.org 

3. Click on the Register Now next to the green checkmark

4. Set up an account with email and password

5. Once you have created an account, you can then start the Adult Registration process

6. On the Registration Page – enter all the information – click Sign In button

7. Click on Register Now on My Member Account Page

8. On the Registration for Recreational Adult Volunteer/Coach Registration page, start filling out the information requested.  Make sure you fill out all required fields

9. Click Continue to Photos

10. Choose a photo file from your saved files on your device and upload – the system may prompt for a username and password.  If you get that, click cancel and try again. Choose a high resolution file and crop picture to get full headshot. Do not have any other people or animals in the photo.

11. Click Continue to Waivers

12. Read authorization for background check and then provide SS# and create an e-signature and click on Next Waiver

13.  Read request for Criminal History and click Next Waiver

14. Read Adult Participant Agreement, Part 1 – click Next Waiver

15. Read Adult Participant Registration, Background Check/Disclosure – click Continue to Review button at the bottom of the page

16. You will come to a Registration Summary Page – make sure information is correct and click Confirm Registration button – close advertisement for fundraising if you see that

17. Click on Return to Member Account on top of page

18. You should come to a page that shows that your CORI registration is complete

Concussion Training and Certification Process

1. Click on Concussion Training Certification “Learn More” button on your Mass Youth Soccer GDYSC Member Portal Page

2. Click on the “Start your Training” button - also below that is an “Upload Certificate Training” Button that you will need to click once your training is complete.  Do not forget this step because we will need to see your certificate that you completed this training preferably on the website

3. Click “ Login and Register” and create a new account in CDC Heads Up Training – click Login Register Button (whistle)

4. Get to User Account page and create an account

5. As part of this process, you will get an email from DUIPInquiries@cdc.gov.  If you don’t receive this email within 2-3 minutes, check your spam folder.  

6. Click on the long link in the body of the email

7. Click on “Launch Training”

8.  Play video – after that Click on Next to take the Training Pre-Test

9. Once you have played all the videos, completed your training and passed the test, please: a) fill out the Certificate by adding your name, b) save your certificate on your hard drive, and c) download and save the FULL Certificate (you can also do the wallet but you NEED the Full Certificate on your computer).  Once saved, you can then upload it to your Member Page to confirm completion. Make sure you are logged into your Member Page. This process is a little unclear, so if you have difficulty please reach out to Jim Gmeiner at or David Pitkin at dpitkin@gdysc.org.  If for some reason you don’t immediately upload your certification, you will need to re-log into your Member Account, and then click on “Learn More” next to the Concussion Training Certification. That brings you to the page that sent you to the CDC Concussion training…but this time click “UPLOAD CERTIFICATE” A new small window should open which says “Concussion Document”. Please upload the PDF,…click on the “UPLOAD” Blue Line and upload your FULL Certificate. It should appear in that new window. Once that happens, click on the X in upper right corner. Go back to your Member Account main page and refresh your browser. There should then be a Blue Check mark next to the Concussion Training Certificate.

Abuse Prevention Training

1. Start by clicking on “Begin Training” button on your Member Account Page on the Groton Dunstable Youth Soccer Club Portal 

2. Click on “Begin Safe Sport Training” button

3. Come to an Add Membership Page – Click Save

4. Begin Registration for a new account

5. Confirm your email address in the link that is sent to you from Safe Sports.  If you don’t get an email within 2-3 minutes, check your spam folder ( in some email clients you can’t click on links in spam, you will have to move it and mark the email as not spam )

6. Start the training by clicking on the video link button

7. When you have completed all of the training modules, complete your certificate, save it to your hard drive and upload it to your GDYSC Member page. A note about up loading… Once the Certificate appears in the new small box which opens when you go to upload, click the X in the upper right corner of the box and the Certificate will be saved to your account. Go back to the main Member page and refresh the page. A Blue check mark should appear indicating completion.

Other Items of Note

1. Your CORI background check should be completed in 7 days or less

2. If you get lost, the CORI Adult Registration Process can be found at http://grotondunstable.mayouthsoccerconnect.org 

3. Completion of all of these trainings and certifications takes 4-5 hours, so please give yourself ample time to complete them prior to August 26th because we are hoping to release rosters to coaches and allow practices to begin on Monday, September 2nd which is the Monday for the season’s first games.

4. If you have to stop you can re-start at any time by going back to http://grotondunstable.mayouthsoccerconnect.org and then logging into the incomplete training, by creating the accounts your progress is saved along the way.

5. No coaches will be allowed to interact with their teams until they have been CORI certified and completed both training certifications, and no Coaching Credentials will be released to coaches until these are complete

6. All coaches must wear their Coaching Credentials at all times during practices and games or they will be asked to leave the field of play.  This is not meant to be punitive but as a proper safeguard for all of our players

For more information, refer to:

Massachusetts Youth Soccer Association Adult Registration

Important and Essential Information - June 28th, 2019