CYC Fall Sports Update
This weekend, we are very excited to begin our 2024 fall sports season. Hundreds of soccer and volleyball games will be played throughout the Archdiocese of St Louis. Before we start, we wanted to give our parents, coaches, volunteers, and officials some updates on the new season.
COMMUNICATION PROTOCOL – If you have questions or concerns about your soccer or volleyball team, please contact your parish coordinator for that sport. They are your first go to. If the answer cannot be found at the parish level, your parish sport coordinator may contact the region sport coordinator or the CYC office.
PRE-GAME PRAYER – All CYC games/matches begin with both teams and officials participating in prayer. This fall, we are including the spectators in the pre-game prayer also. Teams will come to the sideline, face the spectators, and pray. The CYC mission is Building Communities of Faith Through Sports. Everyone at the game is part of the CYC community, and our prayer should reflect that spirit.
The home team leads the prayer. Coaches, if you know you are the home team, have a player designated for the pre-game prayer. You can use the CYC prayer if you like.
Dear Jesus, we seek to honor you in all we do.
We pray that all our thoughts, words, and actions may reflect your love for us.
Help us to respect those around us—our coaches, our teammates, our opponents, our officials, and our families.
Help us to try our best, in everything we do, recognizing that our gifts and talents are blessings from God.
And help us to remember that it profits us nothing to gain the whole world, win every game, or succeed in every sport, if we do not seek first your Kingdom.
We ask this through Christ, our Lord, Amen.
HANDSHAKE LINE – One of the best ways to display good sportsmanship and show your true Christian character is at the handshake line after the game. Let’s be sure our athletes know the reason we shake hands after the game and the proper way to make it happen. Be sure the players take their time, look at their opponent, shake hands, high five, fist bump, whatever, and tell them “Good game”. Coaches should model good sportsmanship in the handshake line also.
TELL US SOMETHING GOOD – If you see a CYC athlete, coach, or official doing something positive and sportsmanlike, please let us know. We want to share the positive experiences in our program. You can use the Report an Incident tab on the banner of our website. https://playcyc.org/
BLOWOUT GAMES – No one likes a 9-0 soccer game or a 25-5 game in volleyball. It’s no fun for either team. If you find your team in a game where the skill level is uneven, especially at the younger grades, please take steps to address the issue. Player positioning, more passes before a shot, keeping the number of players on the field the same, can help with a lopsided game. There is no reason for a volleyball player to serve 15-20 points in a row, while everyone else watches helplessly. Sportsmanship is respecting your opponent and respecting the game.
SPORTSMANSHIP AT CYC GAMES – We expect all of our CYC games to be models of Christian sportsmanship. Everyone should respect their opponent and the officials on the field. Game are for the kids and should be fun. Yelling and screaming takes the fun out of the game.
Please let our officials work the game. Many times, they are learning, just like your kids. Mistakes are made. Complaining to the officials is not the example we want to show our athletes.
PLAY LIKE A CHAMPION – Starting this year, all coaches, 5th-8th grade are required to complete the Play Like A Champion course. CYC has trained almost 5000 coaches in this program. We believe the PLAC emphasis on our faith and how to make it a part of coaching our kids is important. To register for an upcoming class, go to: https://playcyc.org/upcoming-events/play-like-champion-training/
CYC NEWSLETTER – The CYC office publishes a weekly newsletter on Friday. We offer updates on our program, events, important information, and news about the positive happenings on our fields and in our gyms. Go to your Team Sideline page to sign up for the newsletter.
A big THANK YOU to our parish CYC volleyball and soccer coordinators, and those who prepare our officials and our fields for CYC games. Also, thanks to Laura, Marc, and Jeff here at the CYC office who have put in many extra hours preparing our fall sports.
We pray for the success of our fall sports, the health and safety of all involved, and the hope our kids enjoy the sports they play.
