Age Groups:

For Soccer, the U in U08, U10, etc..means UNDER.  Therefore, U08 is for 6/7 year olds, U10 is for 8/9 year olds, etc...U08 is Coed, U10B is male only, U10G is female only.  U08 and U10 are INSTRUCTIONAL leagues, where NO scores or Win/Loss records are kept.

For the safety of our youth, ALL coaches and assistant coaches are required to pass a criminal background check, which is conducted by Roanoke County Parks and Recreation.

The VBC (with agreement from Roanoke County) has decided to NOT ALLOW players to move up in age groups.  Players MUST and WILL play in their correct age based assigned group and there will be NO EXCEPTIONS, regardless of player skill, sibling in upper age group, prior coach history, etc...

Equipment:

Soccer balls - U08 (size 3), U10/U12 (size 4), U14/U16/U19 (size 5).  All players must purchase their own cleates and shinguards.  The shinguards must be worn during ALL practices and games.  Only Non-Metal Cleates will be allowed......

(1) Game Jersey, (1) Shorts and (1) pair Socks are included in the registration fee.  Players are allowed to keep these items at the end of the season.  The Vinton Soccer club does NOT allow any uniform upgrades, ALL players receive the same brand quality jersey, shorts and socks.

While the club does not prohibit individual teams from adding last names to the backs of the jerseys, the Club with neither be responsible for any of these additional costs and also does not support or encourage this practice.  Rather, we believe in the true TEAM concept and encourage identifying players by number only.

Games / Practices:

Games will not start until the latter part of August or early September, usually coinciding with the 1st week of school for Roanoke County.  U08/U10 will play a 10 game schedule, and Roanoke County Parks and Rec. normally schedules U12+ age groups to a 10 game schedule.  All U08/U10 games are played in the greater Vinton area or at Mount Pleasant.  U12+ games can occur anywhere in the Roanoke County (or Roanoke City for older age groups) area.  The annual County Classic Soccer Tournament (for U10+ age groups) is held on a mid-month weekend during October.  Games and Practices are rarely scheduled on Sundays, but all other days of the week are available for scheduling.  Generally, coaches are able to request their own practice times/days of week.  Practice schedules are issued in mid-July.

Practices for the U08 and U10 age groups are normally 60 minutes in length, the U12+ age groups practice in 90 minute intervals.  Practices may begin on AUGUST 1st.  For insurance purposes and compliance with Roanoke County Soccer Rules, NO practices in any age group may begin before August 1st.  This includes any "informal" on-field get togethers that involve the players, soccer equipment, player conditioning and/or soccer related activities.  Any coaches or teams found to be in violation of this rule, WILL BE SUSPENDED.  Team meetings prior to August 1st are highly encouraged and there are many public facilities (such as libraries, meeting rooms, etc...) available for this task.

Player Tryouts / Drafts:

For U08 Coed, players are assigned to teams by the coordinators and are NOT drafted by the coaches.  This is done to ensure a balance of the numbers of boys/girls per team.  There are NO player tryouts for this age group.

For U10 Boys and U10 Girls, players are drafted by the coaches using a listing of names of players.  There are NO player tryouts for this age group.

For U12+ Boys and Girls, players are drafted by the coaches.  Player tryouts will be held as necessary, normally only in the U12, U14 and U16 age groups.  Dates/Times/Fields will be communicated via email to the coaches/players at least 1 week in advance, normally tryouts are in mid July.  All players who have signed up and paid the registration fees, before the draft, WILL be drafted and assigned to a team.

For all age levels, expect initial email communication from your coach in the July 15th - July 20th timeframe, if you registered on-time (before June 30th).