Alamo Heights Fort Sam Houston Soccer Club

Safety of all of our players, parents and volunteers is always a concern.  In the event of lightning, AHFSH recommends adherence to the "30/30 Rule"; specifically, if thunder is heard within 30 seconds of seeing lightning, everyone should leave the fields and go to a safe location for at least 30 minutes following the last sighting of lightning.  This Rule is recommended by the NCAA and the Lightning Safety Group. 

Additional information regarding lightning safety is also available through the National Weather Service.

The rules of play for youth soccer are modified from soccer's general rules of play.  The modifications allow for a modified playing format, e.g., 3v3 as opposed to 11v11, use of a smaller ball, e.g., size 3 for U-5 as opposed to a size 5, and other modifications that encouarage player development.

Following is a pdf of the general rules of play applicable to all of the youth age groups.  You will note that the rules vary by age group, so you will need to identify your appropriate age group to determine which modifications apply.

As mentioned at the February Coaches' Meeting, coaches whose teams have one (1) or more military registrants are required to pass a background check by the Department of Defense in addition to the KidSafe background check.  The Memorandum Request for Personnel Background Reveiw  is below.  Please complete Section 3 of the memo, print and sign your name and date the form.  Completed forms may be forwarded to Ms. Rhonda DeVries, Outreach Serviced Director, who may be contacted at 210.221.4871, 210.295.4820 (FAX).

Our state association, STYSA, requires that all coaches obtain an age-appropriate license within one year of beginning their coaching "career."  Through the new online registration program, STYSA now has the ability to deny the required Kidsafe background check to any coach who has not obtained a license, thus preventing that individual from coaching until the license has been obtained.  If you have not already obtained your license, please do so ASAP. 

For a list of available clinics, you may contact our Director of Training, Steve Jennings, or you may check the list of coaching clinics listed on our parent association's Coaching Education Course Schedule page.

Pre Fall Season. Dates TBA . Stysa Modules, once the date is set follow the instructions below

Online registration must be done through stysa at stx.affinitysoccer.com/eventmanager/public/event.asp

stysa will required a credit card,  The card will not be charged if you are a  ahfsh coach as ahfsh will pay for their coaches,

Once the required minimum number of coaches is met, the clinic will take place.

 Thank you

Steve Jennings

AHFSH DOC

training@ahfsh.org

Our Director of Coaching, Steve Jennings, periodically conducts coaching clinics at Fort Sam Houston.  Satisfactory completion of one of these clinics will satisfy the coaching license requirement, and the fee associated with participation in the event will be paid by AHFSH for all AHFSH coaches.  Please contact Steve Jennings (whose contact information is available on the Board page or at the bottom of this page) to register and for additional information regarding the times and locations.

Our Director of Training, Steve Jennings, has prepared some documents with valuable and useful information for our coaches. The files linked below are in PDF format (note that these are large files which may take a while to download, especially over a dialup connection; if you have difficulty contact Steve):

General information and tips for coaches are also available on our parent association's website on the Coaching Education page.

All coaches, assistant coaches, managers or other volunteers working with players must register through the online registration system so that a background check can be performed.  You may apply by accessing  the online registration system 

https://www.gotsport.com/asp/application/reg/?ProgramID=15543&Type=COACH

Manager Registration Form
https://www.gotsport.com/asp/application/reg/?ProgramID=15543&Type=MANAGER

To help maintain the condition of game fields, especially during periods of drought, we ask that teams not practice on game fields.  If you have questions regarding the location of fields at Fort Sam Houston that are available for practice, please contact our Director of Training, Steve Jennings.

AHFSH Youth Soccer hired long-time local youth soccer coach and development expert Steve Jennings as its first Director of Training in 2007.  Steve has been involved in coaching for twenty years and has attained the highest licenses in coaching at both the senior and junior levels, currently holding both a USSF “A” license and a National Youth License.  Since coming to the United States from Liverpool, England, where he played soccer at the semi-pro level with Kirby Town Football Club, he has been actively involved with coaching and developing not only many of South Texas' players, but also many of the coaches who are currently training players in our state.

Steve has served as the Director of Coaching for the South Texas Youth Soccer League (which oversees youth soccer for all US Youth Soccer-affiliated leagues in the southern part of the state), he has coached both girls and boys' teams in Texas' Olympic Development Program, where most of our US National Team players begin their careers, and he has coached teams that have won State Championships at every level.  Although Steve will work as AHFSH's Director of Training, he will remain active in our parent organizations, serving as a Senior Clinician for the South Texas Youth Soccer Association and an ODP Scout.  Although Steve is charged with overseeing the coaches and professional trainers working with the league's Fire  and Academy League ("Fire Junior") teams, Steve also focuses on developing our league's coaches and players at all levels through the introduction of a training  curriculum, coaching education and coach/player training sessions.

Coaches are welcome to contact Steve for assistance.

AHFSH prohibits pets at the soccer fields.  Additionally, SMOKING IS NOT PERMITTED at the soccer fields.  Teams are responsible for picking up all trash at the fields. Ultimately, the coaches are responsible for collecting trash on the fields, but coaches should enlist the assistance of parents and players.  Finally, for those coaches playing on fields with corner flags, please make sure that the flags are in their proper position.

Contact our Director of Training if you have questions about the Coaches' manual or have suggestions for additional material for this page.