CHANGES
Up to U12 teams - use 6 players + a goalkeeper

Why?
The Canadian Soccer Association and Sport Canada established the L.T.D.P. (Long-Term Development Program) to study the development of soccer players in Canada.

Following are a few of the several conclusions which they consider need to be corrected:
A - Poor programs for players ages 6 to 16 which result in athletes never reaching their potential
B - Training/practicing in the development years too often, with the focus on winning and not on player development (short term versus long term results)
C - Recreaional programs are inconsistent in quality
D - Fun is not always included in the training environment
E - Development programs are not properly defined

These are only a few of the points which are being put into place Canada-wide.

We at the Bolton Wanderers Soccer Club fully spport the changes being made and are one of the clubs taking the lead and putting them into play.

Players playing 7v7 (6 players and a goalkeeper) on a smaller field allows for more touches on the ball and eliminates a child standing on a full field, not getting many touches on the ball and having no fun whatsoever.  This helps eliminate D in the above list.

Could we drop to 6v6?  Maybe.
 
Could we use bigger fields?  Sure, but we would need to build them which would increase registration costs.

MICRO SOCCER PLAYERS - UNDER 5 ALL WEAR THE SAME COLOUR OF UNIFORM
Every game night our "future stars" will come to the field in their uniform and the coaches will be on the field with the Staff Coachs.  The children might not play with the same group of children which will allow the players to make new friends every week and to play with the friends they have on other teams.

At this age we are not really looking to focus on the team concept, nor should we be.  Frankly, children at this age have little or no idea of the "team" concept.  They are focused on themselves and the ball.  Soccer at this age should be about having fun, learning the basic skills of how to kick the ball and playing.

When the pre-game skills practice is completed, the coaches will give each child a pinnie which they will use for their game and return to the Coach upon completion of their game.  This will help eliminate point B in the above list.

There will be no 8-0 scores as we will not be keeping score and the focus will be on learning/development, ball touches and fun, not winning.

The highest absenteeism rate occurs during the summer at the Academy age group level.  Many parents are fortunate enough to have access to cottages; families take vacation breaks; children are tired from being outside playing all day and may not feel like playing so the numbers drop.  What if a large number of those missing are on the same two or three teams?  Do they play short?

By issuing the same colour of uniform to everyone, the players are all in a pool and different teams are selected each week for the games.  That is when the pinnies come in.  The players play on a different colour team each week (i.e., 140 players divided by 14 coaches = 10 players per team or, 112 players divided by 14 coaches = 8 players per team).
This ensures that all teams are playing with equal numbers and are not at a disadvantage.

There was one comment that sponsor's names would be hidden if the players wore pinnies.  So, why should they sponsor?  The sponsor's name and logo would only be covered for around 20 minutes per game.