1. When is soccer registration?
Registration for the Fall 2010 and Spring 2011 soccer seasons is from June 1st to August 6th. Registration forms are available via this website or at either H. Mickel location or you can download a form here. Cost will be $90 for U8 and under and $110 for U9 and above. This includes both the fall and spring seasons. There will be a $10 discount for each additional child in your household. Fees increase to $100 and $120 for all players signed up after August 6th.
2. What do the registration fees cover?
The registration fees cover all of the costs of operating NELSA. We are a private, non-profit organization. This means that NELSA does not get any income or other financial support from any state or local government. For example, the Soccer Complex at Chennault is maintained by NELSA. This includes the purchase of the soccer goals, mowing the playing fields, lining the soccer fields and for all utilities. In addition, the fees also pay for the insurance on all of the players and for referees. NELSA does not operate at a profit and its fees are lower then most of the other clubs in the state.
3. How old does my child have to be in order to sign up for soccer?
Your child had to have been born on or before July 31, 2006. If you child was born after that date, then NELSA will not be able to secure insurance for your child through LSA. Thus, we are not allowed to accept applications for children born after July 31, 2006.
4. Who runs NELSA soccer?
NELSA is run by a volunteer board of directors who help organize matters in their spare time. The President is Jay Garrett, the past President is Sean Christian, the VP of Administration Shelley Seshagiri, the VP of Operations are Stuart Keyes and Matt Nolan, the Tournament Director is Tim Judd and the Treasurer is Michele Thaxton. The Board conducts monthly meetings on the second Monday of each month at noon at the Progressive Bank building on 19th Street.
5. If I have a complaint, who can I talk to?
Believe it or not, NELSA wants to hear your complaint. We can’t fix something if we do not know it is broken. You can bring your complaint to your coach, or to the league rep for your league (click here for a list of league reps). Or, you can contact any of the board members about your problem by sending an email to soccer@nelsa.org.
6. Are uniforms included with the registration fee?
No, uniforms are not included. Rather, uniforms are paid for with a team sponsor. The uniforms cost $25 per set.? If your team does not have a team sponsor, then the parents will have to purchase a uniform for their child.
7. When are the uniforms ordered?
The uniforms are ordered in April in pre-sized packages so that they can be ready to be handed out to the teams a few weeks before the season starts. In the past, NELSA has ordered uniforms a few weeks before the start of the season and tried to hand them out within 2 days of the first games. However, some of the coaches would not get their uniform order in on time and their players would show up for the first game without a uniform. In order to eliminate that problem, the past few years NELSA has been ordering sets of uniforms in June in order to have those uniforms for the teams by the coaches meeting in the middle of August.
8. When do the seasons start?
The Fall Season typically starts on the third Saturday and the Spring Season starts on the first Saturday after February 15th.
9. Is NELSA affiliated with any other soccer clubs?
Yes, NELSA is affiliated with the Louisiana Soccer Association (LSA). Through LSA, NELSA is affiliated with other clubs throughout the state, including soccer clubs in Shreveport, Alexandria and Lafayette. Our older teams regularly play in tournaments against these clubs at sites throughout the state. Our affiliation with LSA gives us insurance coverage for our players and allows us to play teams other than NELSA teams. This allows us to play teams from Alexandria, Shreveport, or other state clubs such as Vicksburg, MS or Tyler, TX. Without this affiliation, our matches would be limited to within our club
10. What is Division 1 soccer?
Basically, it is a more competitive level of soccer in Louisiana. Under LSA, soccer in Louisiana has been broken down into 3 levels: Recreation, Division 1 and Select. REC is to provide a fun, learning environment and is to promote exercise, team work and to learn the game. Division 1 begins at U11 and involves a higher level of competition. Division 1 teams typically travel to play in tournaments throughout the state. Select is the highest level of soccer and involves a substantial commitment of time and money. Select teams are formed with tryouts and involve only those players interested in playing soccer full time. For more information about Division 1 soccer, go to Division 1 soccer.
11. How are Division 1 teams formed?
Division 1 teams will be formed via an open tryout and selection process. Any player is eligible to tryout for any Division 1 team in his or her age group. The dates for the tryouts will be posted on this website.? You only have to attend one of the tryouts.
12. How are REC teams formed?
For U5 and U6, teams are formed via schools and neighborhoods. At the U7, U9 and U11 levels, REC teams are formed via a draft. All players who register on time will be placed in the draft. Evaluations of the U7, U9, U11 and U13 players will be held on August 12th and August 14th at the Soccer Complex. For U8 and U10, players will be placed back on existing teams.
13. How can I meet with the NELSA Board?
Is there an issue that you need to discuss with the NELSA Board? Do you have a problem or a complaint? Do you want to make a suggestion about improving NELSA? Do you want to offer to help with NELSA? Or, do you just want to hang out? The NELSA Board meets the second Monday of each month at noon at the Progressive Bank building on N. 19th Street to discuss whatever topics that need to be addressed. Any NELSA parent or coach is welcome to join us. If you have something that you want to address with the board, you are more then welcome to meet with us to talk about your concerns and come up with solutions. Please send us an email ahead of time so that the board will know you are coming and we will be ready to discuss your concern.
We only ask that you try to keep your discussion to 15 minutes or less. The NELSA board typically has a number of items to discuss each Thursday and tries to take care of all of those concerns during the lunch hour. As always, we are always trying to do what is best for NELSA, and we welcome anyone with concerns or issues to bring them to our attention. Thank you.