Mill Valley Soccer Club

Recreational Program

Welcome to the MVSC Rec Program

Wander around the Mill Valley playing fields as the autumn air of September and October cools, and you’ll encounter bubbling caldrons of children dressed in bright red and blue. You’d think there must be hundreds, if not thousands, of smiling, yelling, and running athletes . . . and you wouldn’t be wrong.

Great cries and moans go up from parents gathered all around, and surely, you think, the circus or county fair must be in town. The children dash, scream, jump, kick and celebrate. They also get bumped, bruised, and knocked down, but their friends are nearby and a coach sprints out onto the field to help them back to their feet. And play resumes. Suddenly, someone scores and the smiles are that much wider.

If there’s one constant in the world, it’s that children grow up. If there’s a second constant, it’s that there’s no better way to grow than in the midst of a beautiful game. Here in Mill Valley a tradition in the process of our kids becoming more than children, has been fall soccer. Today roughly 1,500 young athletes grow a little right before our eyes and on the soccer pitch. They laugh and learn while their parents get to know each other. More than a few volunteer coaches grow slightly younger while imparting incalculable confidence to eager eyes and ears.

Our recreational soccer season starts with the school year. Teams are formed in advance and they practice for a couple of weeks before opening gameday. Around Labor Day, and Soccerfest, Saturdays transform into events. The fields are set and youthful enthusiasm collides with cheers and sometimes tears. The celebrating and the consoling continues for about two months until the season ending jamboree. Win, lose or draw the kids do their best, they learn the value of sportsmanship, and most importantly, they have fun. At the end, they’re not the child who was registered to play back in April . . . they are several wins, loses, goals, and saves closer to an independent, self-confident spirit. It’s alchemy of sweat, cheer, and magic!

Registration

To become a part, kids need to become players. Registration is done online at www.mvsc.org during the month of April. Players are asked for friendship requests and as the volunteer coaches sign up, teams are formed in May. Before school lets out and everyone heads off for summer, the club tries to get teams, practices, and schedules for the season out to everyone.

Coaching

The recreational program is entirely volunteer coached. Parents, essentially - in every meaning of that word, team up to be a head or assistant coach. Head coaches need to submit their information to the club before May and the Age Group Commissioners (AGCs) form teams.

Age Group Commissioners

Players are grouped in May into teams by grade and division (Coed or Girls-Only) by Age Group Commissioners (AGCs). During the fall the AGCs then ensure the smooth operation of each group’s season, including the season ending jamboree.

Kindergarten Program

A simple explanation of our kindergarten soccer program might be: The smaller the child, the smaller the game, the bigger the fun! MVSC has taken into account the characteristics of young children - how they learn and play - and we have adjusted the game to better suit the characteristics of our little kickers. To learn more click here

Jamboree

The end of every season is capped with a jamboree. The jamboree is a tournament designed to give the recreational players a more vibrant experience than just a single game every Saturday for a couple of months. Teams are randomly divided into four groups, Bay, Gate, Mill, and Tam, and they play a series of games within their groups. By point accumulation, a group winner is determined, all of which then play a single elimination championship round to determine the season’s top teams.

Partnership With the City of Mill Valley

The club has grown so much and become such an icon in the community, that it is often mistaken for a city program. We are not, but we play on the city fields and through a close relationship with the Parks and Recreation Department, we strive for exemplary stewardship so that our tradition of fall soccer will continue for many, many years.

After all, much as we might wish it otherwise, the years will pass and the kids will grow. Like soccer itself . . . this progression is just a beautiful game. Get in the game!


1st and 2nd Grade Mini-Matches MVSC is offering a professionally coached, small-sided games program exclusively to our first and second graders. Click here to learn more!


2010 Recreational Soccer Volunteer Coaches Interested in becoming a volunteer Rec Coach? Click here to send us your information...


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