JP Children’s Soccer depends on volunteers

JP Children’s Soccer is an all-volunteer, parent-run, children-loved, non-profit organization created to bring affordable soccer to 3.5- to 6.5-year-old children in our community. The organization has been in ex-istence since 1978 and has been a big part of our community ever since, with both spring and fall seasons. The community needs to be aware that this is an all-volunteer organization. Without volunteers, the organization will no longer exist.

The current group of parents has been organizing the league for about the last four years. Their children are aging out of the league. If the league is to continue to be such a fun and unique resource for the com-munity, we need some new volunteers to take over some roles. Most volunteers are parents of small children, so jobs are divided into small, doable chunks. Available roles include: team parent coordinator, coach coor-dinator, equipment coordinator, communications and organizer of the end of season picnic.

Each season, JP Children’s Soccer needs coaching for the teams. No training or previous experience is needed—existing volunteers provide everything coaches need to know. Coaching requires only a one-hour com-mitment each week. The organization is in fairly good shape for coaches this spring, although we do need some more for Wednesday and Thursday teams.

This organization is one of the lowest-cost activities for kids in the area and is extremely popular. We charge only $25 per child. With that money we provide each child with a T-shirt, a team photo by JP’s own Petr Metlicka and the equipment—soccer balls, goals and cones. We host a potluck picnic for participants at the end of each season.

This is a grassroots program that is not about skill training, but about interacting with the ball. Our motto is “1,000 touches,” and that is exactly what we hope each child will achieve at each practice. We do not emphasize competition but rather the importance of getting kids to play outside and community-building. We get kids from all over the area joining the league because it has such a different feel to it.

We are currently enrolling children for the spring season, and our registration ends on April 18. We pro-vide online registration with acceptance of credit cards. Limited spaces are available for walk-on registration on the first day of practice.

To learn more about volunteering, e-mail [email protected]; see www.jpchildrensoccer.org; or call 326-7674.

Stacey McEnerney
On behalf of JP Children’s Soccer
Jamaica Plain

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