1. Why did soccer introduce a volunteer policy?
Soccer has over 1,000 children register every year. In Fort Saskatchewan more children play soccer than any other sport. Volunteers help keep children’s programs affordable by keeping the registration costs lower which means more children can play soccer. We need more volunteer help in order to provide indoor and outdoor soccer programs to the increasing number of children.
We are very thankful for the volunteers we have but we just don’t have enough. We want to keep improving our children’s soccer programs by doing what we do better and doing tasks we don’t have enough time or people to accomplish.
2. What is soccer’s volunteer policy?
Our policy is on the website under the Information/Policies, Rules & Regs tab. Please review the policy for more detailed information.
We are asking all families (U3 to U19) to provide a $200 refundable volunteer fee which will be added to your registration fee during registration. We will refund the volunteer fee when the family completes five volunteer hours for tasks assigned by Fort Saskatchewan Soccer.
3. Do other sport groups in Fort Saskatchewan have a volunteer policy?
Yes, they may call it by other names.
4. Can I "opt out" of Fort Saskatchewan Soccer's volunteer policy?
While we would rather players/parents help us with the tasks required to run soccer programs for over 1,100 children each year, we do understand that some families would prefer the option of donating their volunteer fee to Fort Saskatchewan Soccer. Families can choose to not volunteer and their volunteer fee will not be refunded.
5. What counts towards volunteer hours and what doesn’t?
Parents are expected to help out with their children’s team. While this is a valued form of assistance, with the exception of team officials, dedicated( done the entire season) referee liaison and bench parent this is NOT considered part of Fort Saskatchewan Soccer’s official volunteer commitment. Team officials are the executive committee assigned coaches, team managers and level directors.
Volunteer tasks help soccer as an organization, not just individual teams. Volunteer tasks are assigned by the Soccer Sport Coordinator or a member of the Soccer Executive Committee.
At the time of registration, players/parents can chose a preference from a list of various volunteer roles. A detailed list of volunteer roles is found on our website www.fortsasksoccer.ca under the “Information/Volunteers” tab. While we try to assign tasks per registration preferences, we assign tasks based on the needs of Fort Saskatchewan Soccer. Some examples of volunteer opportunities are: coaching, managing a team. packing equipment bags, sorting equipment when it is returned, looking after soccer display signs, helping with pictures and decorating a parade float.
6. How are the volunteer opportunities tracked?
Some opportunities like coach, team manager, or executive committee member take more than five hours. When you complete the volunteer opportunity, your deposit is refunded as per the assigned commitment level.
7. How will I be contacted to volunteer?
All communications from Fort Saskatchewan Soccer are by email. We send out mass emails using our registration system when we have volunteer opportunities. The email provides information about the opportunity and we ask people to sign up on our website for a volunteer opportunity.
It is the players/parents responsibility to ensure our mass emails do not end up in a ‘junk’ folder, as this is not an excuse for not responding.
8. What if I am not available for an opportunity that I have been asked to volunteer for?
If you receive an email and aren’t able to help with that particular task other emails will be sent for another task we need help with.
9. What happens if I can't fulfill the opportunity I committed to or if I do not show up for my opportunity?
If a volunteer commitment has been made and the commitment cannot be fulfilled, the player/family is responsible for providing a replacement player/family volunteer.
If a volunteer commitment has been made and the person fails to appear for their commitment the volunteer commitment cannot be rescheduled and the volunteer fee will not be refunded.
10. What happens to my volunteer fee at the end of the season?
Once the commitment for the season is fulfilled the volunteer fee will be refunded. Those who do not fulfill their commitment will not have their volunteer fee refunded.
11. I haven’t been contacted for any volunteer opportunities.
It is the players/parents responsibility to ensure our mass emails do not end up in a ‘junk’ or ‘spam’ folder. You can check the website under Parent Corner/Volunteer Opportunities as all volunteer opportunities will be posted.
12. How long does the volunteering season last?
For the outdoor season opportunities are from February to the end of July. Indoor season volunteer opportunities are from July through the end of March.
13. I have multiple children registered in soccer. Does that mean that I have to volunteer 15 hours or pay the deposit more than once?
The volunteer time requirement is a minimum of five (5) hours of volunteer time to the organization per family per season. If multiple children (of the same immediate family) are registered in the same season only five hours of volunteer time or $100 is required for the season.
14. Am I notified once my volunteer fee is refunded
No. Once the volunteer commitment has been fulfilled, the deposit will be refunded to the credit card used for registration.
15. Where can I get more information about the volunteer policy?
Our policy is on the website under the Information/Policies, Rules & Regs tab
