Player Passes (Grade 3 and above only)

If a coach has a shortage of players for a game, they can request a player pass to bring a player from another team to their game. There are limitations:

The Host Team carries no more than THREE (3) Guest Players for any particular match.

Each Guest Player will play no more than TWO (2) NVYSL matches in one day.

Each Guest Player is currently rostered on another NVYSL Team within the same Club, at an age group and/or division level equivalent to or below the level of the Host Team. Divisions 3, 4, and 5 will be considered equivalent.

A Guest Player may participate in a Player Pass no more than THREE (3) times during a season.

A player pass is valid for one game only.

A player pass may not be used to bring on a player from a team that is playing at the same scheduled time.

A coach can request a player pass at the following link. Player passes take time to approve, so request them early (the same day will not work). Once approved, the requesting coach will bring a copy of both their own roster and the roster that the requested player is on. The registrar will provide this roster with the approval.

Players in grades 1 and 2 do not appear on an NVYSL-approved roster, so for them to play on a grade 3/4 team, they need to be temporarily added to that team's roster. The registrar will provide an updated roster once the player pass is approved. Please allow additional time for this case since a roster change requires a separate process.

The coach will need to coordinate with the player and their parents.

Game Schedules

To find the game schedule for team, you should look in one of two places.

If your team is playing Pre-K/K or Grade 1&2 (U8) this season

The schedule is posted on the GDYSC website on the Games/Practice Schedule tab. A map of the fields at Cow Pond for all Pre-K/K and G1/2 games is on the Fields tab on the left navigation bar of the GDYSC website. 

If your team is a 3/4 (U10) or above:

The schedule is available at the following link.

Details about fields are available at nvysl.org.

Registering as a Coach

Thank you for volunteering to help with Soccer this season! To get you fully registered and prior to practices or games, you will need to perform the following steps. Some of these steps can take time so the earlier you start the better

1. Register for the 2023-2024 season at Mass Youth Soccer (MYSA)
2. Complete a background check (CORI)
3. Complete concussion training
4. Complete SafeSport training (Harassment prevention, Abuse prevention, etc.)
5. Verification by GDYSC Risk Manager - only for first time coaches

Coaches will receive credentials that must be worn at practice and during games.

Step 1 - Register for the 2023-2024 season at Mass Youth Soccer (MYSA)

ALL COACHES MUST REGISTER WITH MYSA FOR THE 2023-2024 SEASON. EVEN IF YOU WERE REGISTERED LAST SEASON. START BY GOING TO THIS LINK AND SELECTING "REGISTER NOW!" DETAILS ARE AT THE MYSA ADULT REGISTRATION PAGE AT THIS LINK.

IF YOU HAVE AN EXISTING ACCOUNT, MAKE SURE TO REGISTER AS A RETURNING USER!

Before starting consider the following:

If you have ever registered with Mass Youth Soccer in the past DO NOT MAKE A NEW ACCOUNT! It will require human intervention to fix the double entry and that will delay things. Use the password recovery option to re-gain access or call the help line.

Do this on a computer; a tablet if you have to, but don’t try it with a phone!

Have a good, face forward head shot (not your whole body) uploaded to your computer. NO HAT, NO SUNGLASSES, NO KIDS OR SPOUSES OR THEIR CROPPED BODY PARTS.

USE THE NAME ON YOUR DRIVER’S LICENSE!

Use the same email address for everything!

Our organization’s name is: Groton Dunstable Youth Soccer Club

This whole process will take around 4 hours. Most of the time will be spent on the SafeSport training. You can stop and start again later, just make sure to remember your passwords.

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

If you run into trouble try the help line phone number on the page linked above.

You can email ncdowd@gmail.com if you are stuck.

To be fully registered, you will need to complete the CORI (Background check) process and meet the training requirements for Safesport and Concussion training. Please follow the instructions on the MYSA web page.

Step 2 - Verification by GDYSC Risk Manager (Nathan Dowd, David Pitkin or Sten Peeters)

If this is your first time registering with Mass Youth Soccer, the final step will be Verification. You will need to meet with Nathan Dowd ( ncdowd@gmail.com) David Pitkin ( dpitkin@gdysc.org) or Sten Peeters( sten@gdysc.org) in person with your drivers license and the CORI print out. This must be done in person, not virtually.

Coach Equipment

GDYSC supports its coaches with the equipment needed to be effective.

New head coaches should order a coaching bag with useful equipment (pinnies, cones, first aid kit, game ball). 

All new coaches should order a GDYSC shirt to wear for games. 

We Thank all the coaches in Groton and Dunstable for their support!

Example Letter to Parents

Hi Parents,

Welcome to the XYZ team.

Practices

We’ll have two weekly practices:

Day - Time - Location

Day - Time - Location

Soccer Games

All of our games are on Saturdays at 10:30am. Game schedules are posted at https://nvysl.org/. You can look up the game schedule by subdivision or by Club. Locations for games are shown here as well. Games dates are:

Game Day 1 - September 10

Game Day 2 - September 17

Game Day 3 - September 24

Game Day 4 - October 1

No Games Columbus Day Weekend

Game Day 5 - October 15

Game Day 6 - October 22

Game Day 7 - October 29

Game Day 8 - November 5

Please plan on arriving 30 minutes early for warm-ups and to check in with the referees. Arriving late may result in the player having to sit out for the first half. 

Please let me know if you won’t be able to make it to a given game so that we can plan accordingly.

Player Soccer Equipment

Everyone will need a GDYSC jersey. We have new jerseys which you can order on the GDYSC.org website or you can use a Jersey from prior years.  Your daughter will also need a size 4 ball, shin pads, cleats and a water bottle. This will be needed for games and practices.  As a note, kids cannot wear any jewelry or baseball caps/hoods during practices or games.

Concussions

All coaches are trained for concussion protocols. Here are some useful resources for parents:

Fact sheet: https://www.cdc.gov/headsup/pdfs/youthsports/parents_eng.pdf

Info sheet: https://www.cdc.gov/headsup/pdfs/youthsports/Parent_Athlete_Info_Sheet-a.pdf

Game Conduct

There are a couple of things to keep in mind as parents. First, please make sure that you sit on the opposite side of the field from the players and coaches. You should avoid coaching your kids from the sidelines, especially during the games as this can be very confusing. When cheering, you should always focus on the good plays - for both teams. The objective is to make this as much fun as possible for everyone, especially at this age group. 

Finally, and the league has asked us to emphasize this as they have a zero tolerance policy; there should be no communication with or at the referees. 

Last Updated: May, 4 2024 by David P.