Frequently Asked Questions

Why in the world are you doing this?

Youth soccer has become way too organized and focused on winning with 3rd grade elite teams, travel to far-away towns, over-coaching, and screaming sideline parents. For an eloquent description of this problem please refer to the writings of Winchester's own Bob Bigelow. In contrast, we believe that an exciting competitive soccer program can be put together that emphasizes having fun playing with friends and maximum ball contact.

We sincerely beleive that soccer (and all sports) should be fun at all levels of play from toddlers, through club teams, through high school, through college, throught professional).

Please go on...

There is a simple fact about our current soccer programs: despite the large amounts of time devoted by families, kids aren’t playing enough. Consider a typical elementary school player in the Winchester soccer club. She has one practice a week and a Saturday game. If the practice starts on time (some don’t) and is well run (some aren’t), she is reasonably active for about an hour. That’s not bad, but if we move onto the Saturday, things aren’t quite so rosy. She has a 9:30 game in Hopkinton. The family loads up the car at 7:45 to meet the car pool that leaves at 8:00. They drive for an hour, arrive at the field about 9:00, get settled, warm-up for 10 minutes or so and start their game. There are 11 players on the team, so she gets to play roughly about 1/2 of the 1 hour game. After the game is over they hop in the car and return home at 11:45. It might have been nice to stop for lunch but they have to be in Burlington for their son’s game at 1:00. Here's the upshot... for 4 hours of family time their daughter played soccer for 1/2 hour.

Do I need to choose between Contact Soccer and the Winchester Soccer Club?

Absolutely not. If the existing programs in Winchester Soccer club appeals to you (and more importantly your son or daughter), then you should stick with it and might consider doing one session per week of Free Play or join us for a tournament or two or just play in the summer or winter. Registration for our program is “a la carte.” It is also likely you have children that are not eligible for our programs. There is no reason why you can’t enroll some of your children in our program and some in the Winchester Soccer Club.

How should I decide if this is the right thing for my child?

First and foremost, try to understand the program offered by Contact Soccer and discuss this with your child. Listen to what s/he wants. If you want to explore the philosophical underpinnings of this club, go out and buy a copy of Just Let the Kids Play by Bob Bigelow. Do a little soul searching with regards to your goals for your child. Finally, she may be most concerned with what her friends are doing. Encourage conversation among the kids and talk with other parents. Remember...friends should play soccer together.

Who is behind the club?

The club was founded by Patrick Demasco. He has been active in youth soccer for almost 10 years as a parent, coach, Winchester Soccer Club Age Group Coordinator and Board Member. In 2004, he received the Coach of the Year award from the Winchester Soccer Club.

Your programs have fixed schedules, how come?

One of our frustrations with the some youth programs is the lack of predictable schedules (for both practice and game). Consequently, we have decided to have a fixed schedule (Tuesday and Friday with Saturday as a makeup day). While this may be create conflicts for some families, we believe that in the long run this predictability will be a benefit.

Where do the fees?

Approximately 90% of the fees go to our mentors (or in the winter for gym rental and mentors). A small percentage goes towards equipment. The only financial benefit Patrick sees is his season tickets for the NE Revolution, which he often shares with Contact Soccer families.

Will there be uniforms?

No, it is the nature of our program to be informal. We do have tee-shirts available for purchase if you would like.

Can I get involved?

Absolutely, we will have a tremendous numbers of volunteer opportunities including coaching/mentoring, administration, fields, , etc. Please let us know if your interested.

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