April 25, 2020

Dear MASA Families,

You may have recently seen the news that our governing body, PA West Soccer, has cancelled all league and tournament play for the Spring 2020 season.  They are considering creating a summer league, but as of April 24th, no soccer activities (training, practices, or games) are to take place before June 1st, at the earliest.

Player safety is the number one priority for the board members of Moon Area Soccer Association, and so during a meeting on April 24th, we have decided that MASA will not plan on participating in any summer leagues that PA West may put on.  Instead, we will focus on preparing for the Fall 2020 season.

As a board, considering the registration infrastructure that we have at our disposal, and the fixed costs that the Association has already incurred, we will be migrating every player’s registration to our fall season, aging the players up as outlined by the US Youth Soccer age matrix.  If your player plans on playing in the fall, you will need to take no action.

However, if you wish to receive a refund of your registration fees and NOT have your player migrate to the fall season, we will honor that.  The only deadline on requesting this refund would be once play starts in the fall for In-house (September 1), or when rosters are submitted to PA West for travel (August 1).  That way, if there is a change to your playing situation over the summer, refunds can still be processed.  Please note, requesting a refund now WILL NOT prevent you from registering via our usual process in the fall.

If you wish to receive a refund, please email the registrar directly ([email protected]) with the name of the player(s) to be refunded and your preferred mailing address.  Please allow 2-3 weeks from your refund request to receive your refund; at this point our only method for refund is via check.

Due to the aforementioned incurred processing costs in our payment and registration system, refunds will be the amount of your registration fees, less $5.  We appreciate your understanding.

If your player will not be participating in the fall, but you wish to donate your registration fees to MASA in order to help defray the cost of ongoing field maintenance, please indicate that in your email to the registrar.  Donations are greatly appreciated as we continue to maintain facilities and endeavor to improve youth soccer offerings in our community!

Special migration notes with regards to Travel Soccer:

We will not be holding club-wide tryouts for the 2020-2021 season.  If your player is on a travel team now, they will be on the travel team next season.  Newly interested players who wish to play travel will be able to register via an open registration system starting in early summer.  It is the Association’s position that we will max out the roster for every travel team.  If we end up more player interest than roster space, we will handle those situations on a team-by-team basis, likely with a small workout session acting like an ad-hoc tryout (assuming activities are allowed at that point).

Thank you for your patience and understanding during these unprecedented times.  If you have any questions, please ask; we’ll do our best to get you answers as soon as possible.

We’d all rather be enjoying the fresh air, camaraderie, competition, and FUN that accompanies this great sport, but our sincere wish is that the players and their families stay safe above all.

Ian Farrar

MASA President

[email protected]

Ted Merklin

MASA Registrar

[email protected]

FAQ:

:: Why are you cancelling the spring season?

Our governing body, PA West Soccer, has cancelled all soccer activities through June 1, 2020

:: Why aren’t you playing in the summer soccer season?
We don’t know if play will ultimately be allowed, and to give the most time for our volunteers, families, and community to stay safe and slowly resume normal activities, we will be staying with our normal Fall/Spring season cadence

:: If my player wants to play in the fall, what do I need to do?

Nothing.  We will be migrating players to our fall programs over the next few weeks.  You will get an email from our system when that takes place.  Alternately, you can request a refund, and then re-register over the summer when our registration system opens up in mid to late June.

:: Is my player “too old” to be migrated to the fall season?

If you are confident that your player will not be playing for MASA at all, request a refund or donate your registration.  We do not know or control what scholastic sports will look like in the fall.  However, we offer playing opportunities for all ages through high school for in house and travel (travel teams dependent on interest to form age-specific teams).

:: Can I change my mind about migrating my player to the fall?

Yes you can, up until rosters are submitted to PA West (early August) or when play starts (early September)

:: What are you doing with the registration funds you hold onto over the summer?

Funds will be put to use for our usual operating costs over the summer and fall: field maintenance (cutting grass, top dressing fields, equipment repair and replacement, in-progress capital improvements), business services (payment processing, insurance) as well as reimbursing volunteers for background checks and coaching classes.  No members of the MASA board occupy paid positions; all funds are spent in service of providing and improving youth soccer opportunities in our community

:: I’d like to help Moon Soccer - what can I do?

We are always in need of parent volunteers - see our page here for opportunities: https://www.moonsoccer.org/Default.aspx?tabid=398786.  Background checks, safety certifications, and coaching classes may be required for you to participate, but MASA will reimburse any expenses incurred.  

In particular, we are seeking a new registrar to take over those duties on the Board.  This is a great position for someone who can’t be at practices/games all the time, perhaps due to business travel or odd-hours work, as it is largely administrative and involves computer and communication work that can be done from anywhere.

Sponsorships are available, if you own a small business and would like to advertise on our fields and/or website.  Please see this page for more information: https://www.moonsoccer.org/Default.aspx?tabid=506892