Capital Area Soccer Club

Mission Statement        Bylaws        

This information is provided as a guide to inform Board Members, Coaches, Parents and others as to the internal working of  CASC. It will explain how the Board operates, what types of programs we run, what rules guide the Club and how we are guided by Soccer Maine. 

The CASC began in 1997 as the Augusta Soccer Club. We are now a non-Profit organization and recognized by the State of Maine as such. Since our inception we have changed our named to Capital Area Soccer Club. We act as a Board and carry out functions acted on for the club. The list of current We are governed by a set of bylaws, and guided by our mission statement.  Briefly we are committed to provide the opportunity for youth players in the Capital Area Region to play soccer under the guidance and rules of Soccer Maine & the CASC. Our primary focus is to promote soccer for all youths in the area at 2 levels, recreation and travel. The CASC at this time has a no cut policy for all of its teams.   

We run soccer programs in the Fall and Spring. The Fall season consists of 2 parts. A Travel League as governed by Soccer Maine and a Recreation League governed by the CASC in association with the Augusta Recreation Department. The fall season is our main focus for recreational and competitive soccer. We provide a home field based recreational opportunity for 1^st time players with a less competitive training and game schedule. The recreation league games are played on Saturdays at the CASC complex. The Fall Travel League is for players who want play in a more competitive atmosphere and game schedule in other parts of the State. The Spring League is a travel league governed by Soccer Maine. It provides and opportunity for the more series player providing a higher level of competitive soccer.  Both travel leagues play on Sundays at the CASC Complex for home games and at various other fields in towns through out central and northern Maine. 

Recreation League: Run and administered by the CASC & the Augusta Recreation Department (Rec. Dept). The Rec. Dept handles all registrations for players. Employees of the Rec. Dept do this at City Center. The Rec. Dept collects fees set by the CASC and Red Dept at time of registration. CASC personnel & the Rec. Dept handle late registrations and collection of fees at the CASC Complex during the 1st day of player evaluations. This takes place at a date set by the CASC and Rec. Dept. sometime in late August. The CASC and Rec. Dept recruit coaches for the recreational league prior to the fall season.  Training is provided along with coaching guidelines concerning player participation, team practices and games schedules. Team rosters are made up after the 1^st day of player evaluations by the trained staff of the CASC operations committee with input from the Rec. Dept. All teams rosters are designed to be fair and equal for teams in the same league or age group.  Depending on registration numbers it is the intent to have a girls and boys league at all playing levels and age groups. However it is possible due to numbers girls and boys will play on the same team.   Final decisions are made by the CASC staff. The CASC staff with input from the Rec. Dept makes team and league schedules along with practice and game times. All Players are provided with a team jersey and a soccer ball. The CASC orders the T-shirts for all teams. All games are played at the CASC Complex on fields designated by the CASC. Field sizes, number of players on the field at a time, games length and rules of the games are set by the CASC staff with input from the Rec. Dept. Final decisions are made by the CASC staff.   

Financially the CASC and the Rec. Dept. share all costs for T-shirts, Balls, Ref fee’s and miscellaneous items (goals etc). At the end of the season the 2 parties will meet and review all costs and income (registration fee’s & sponsor fee’s). Costs are deducted from all income and a split of the remaining money is made. Ref fee’s will be paid by the Rec. Dept. this year to all referees. All referees must register with the Rec. Dept before payments can be made.  This will be done ether weekly or at the end of the season within reasonable time.

The CASC staff will assign all referees. Typically Cony HS Boys & Girls soccer team players will be the referees. 

Fall & Spring Travel Leagues: To participate as a club and play travel soccer games the CASC must belong to and adhere to Soccer Maine Soccer Association. In turn Soccer Maine belongs to Soccer USA. As a club we must follow certain guidelines of Soccer Maine. These include certain Bylaw requirements set forth by Soccer Maine & Soccer USA. I will not get into all of them here, as they are lengthy. I will only touch on the ones that govern how the Fall & Spring season run. All guidelines, rules and dates for are included in the handbooks available online at SoccerMaine.com. 

The CASC files yearly a Club Affiliation Application. This document establishes our club in good standing with Soccer Maine and sets the area or towns we are able to draw players from to play on our club teams. It also depicts the elected members of the Board. A filing fee is submitted with the application. We are also required to submit our current bylaws at the same time.  This is typically done by June 1^st. 

Games for the fall season start approximately the 1^st or 2^nd Sunday in September. In order to have a team in an age group our club will hold registration and tryouts during June & July. The operations committee sets the dates. In order to be included in the fall schedule all teams must declare in August the number of teams they intend to enter to Soccer Maine. A filing fee must be included. The filing fee consists of $10 per player plus a fee to participate in the year-end tournament ($250-$280). Once declared Soccer Maine will schedule all teams playing schedules. Final team rosters are not due until September at which time they are frozen. The operations committee prior to the season sets the team fees per player for our club. Fees cover uniforms, ref fee’s per game, year-end tournament, Soccer Maine’s $10 per player fee and other fees the club designates. Club fees are for maintaining our fields, scholarships and future investments. 

Soccer Maine establishes the playing schedules. They also set the field sizes, number of players per roster, number of players on the field, game length, age group cut-offs and specific rules of the game. As a club we do not have control over when and where we play. It is designed that all teams play approximately ½ their games at home. This will vary year to year depending on the number of teams and field availability. Some teams do not have a home field. Due to the complex we have and number of fields we typically will host more home games. Generally we try to play 3 team round robins every Sunday from September thru October, 6-7 weeks. Actual game times are not assigned by Soccer Maine. This is left up to the home team on that Sunday. This is due to field availability, travel time for the teams that day, referee availability and other reasons. 

As a club we are responsible for assigning Soccer Maine certified referees for all our home games. A club must use only certified referees and the correct number per game or face possible fines. A registered club assignor does this. If the club does not have one it must find one from another club and pay to have their homes games assigned. The number of referees per game is mandated by Soccer Maine including the fee each Referee is paid. The home team is responsible for paying the referees at game time. Each team playing pays ½ the total referee fee per game. Each visiting team is responsible to bring a check or cash and pay the home team coach. The home team coach is responsible for getting all payments to club officials. Club coaches are responsible for getting referee fee checks from the club president or treasurer for all their away games. 

A Soccer Maine sponsored year-end tournament is played in late October into November. Soccer Maine will schedule all games and field sites. The fee is included with our registration fee.  One weekend in early October (Columbus Day) is left open in the weekly schedule so teams, if they choose, may participate in other tournaments sponsored by other clubs in or out of state. These tournaments are voluntary on a team-by-team base with all costs over and above the team registration fee. Typical costs per team are $250 -$300 per tournament. Cost is divided amount the players.  This does not cover travel or hotel expenses.           

Ron Yankum    V-P CASC    June 2003

Who we support

*Travel Teams ages 8-14   *Recreational Teams ages 5-12   * Regional and State tournaments  * Home of Cony H.S. Soccer Team

Facility

3-Fields: 120yds L x 75yds W *3-Electronic Score Boards *Completely Fenced in Facility * Built in Irrigation & Sprinkler System *Concession Stand, Viewing Stands  *  2 Parking Lots: 200 Car Capacity