FCSC Practice Field Policy
You are only authorized to practice on your scheduled days and fields. Permission is required from the FCSC Field Coordinator to use fields at other times. You can contact me at chowardfcsc@verizon.net. All practice schedules are submitted to Parks & Recreation.
Attendees are responsible for their trash! When you leave a field, make sure no water bottles and/or trash are left behind. Deposit all trash in receptacles at the site. If the receptacles are full or unavailable, take the trash with you.
Practice / Game Cancellations
Practices and games may be cancelled due to unsafe weather or field conditions. Always assume practices and games will be held unless a cancellation is communicated. Light rain is considered acceptable playing weather in soccer. If there is ANY question, check the hotline. Do NOT use the fields if they have been closed.
Coaches are responsible for notifying their team members of cancellations. All coaches should call every team member UNLESS the team member is satisfied with a direct notification method below. Some coaches (travel in particular) make private field arrangements that are outside of FCSC’s jurisdiction-players should always get their information from their coaches.
Cancellation Announcements
1. The FCSC Hotline
Call 540-349-8722, and press 1 to get to the field status message. Practice cancellations will be recorded by 3:00p.m. Game cancellations will be recorded by 7:00 a.m. Saturday morning.
2. The timeframes for games is generally between 9 a.m. and 3 p.m. Decisions about game day cancellations are made early in the morning in conjunction with the FCSC Board and the referee assignor. The decisions are based on field conditions and weather predicted over the entire game period. In the course of a day, one game may be played in relatively hard rain and another may be played with conditions relatively dry--it’s a best guess situation.
In some cases, fields at some sites may be playable while others are not. Assume only that the games you are notified about are cancelled. That is, a U6 game may be cancelled while a U12 game is not.
If we damage fields by playing or practicing on them when they are wet, we are responsible for fixing them, and this can be surprisingly expensive.
Referees have the ultimate say over whether game conditions are safe. They may cancel a single game based on their observations. That is their right and responsibility.
Field Setup
Once the fields have been setup, it is the responsibility of each SFL & Recreation Commissioner / Travel Coordinator to make sure their game fields are marked clearly on game days. Commissioners and Coordinators should notify their coaches of their field setup procedures.
Typically the fields are lined each game day with the first home team using a field being responsible for lining it. The last home team is typically responsible for putting corner flags away.
Coaches are responsible for making sure that all goals are anchored before using them.
Hope you have a great season!
Cathy Howard - FCSC Field Coordinator
