Hey! I used to be the youth sports director at mcas yuma and we had sports for kids starting at age 3 and not 5 like here... Now that i have a 3 year old of my own i am beginning to realize how special that program was. Clearly flag football and tball werent as successful as soccer and basketball because they just don't get it, however it was really fun when the dads were on the field with the boys teaching them the sport they loved most and to watch the little ones run to 3rd base instead of first was adorable. Long story short, soccer is my favorite sport! I am sick to report the only program i could find to enroll my son was an 8 week soccer school for $112! Well, it is fun but with my program we only charged $45 and that included a uniform, pic package, trophy and end of season party! This current program does not even give you a t-shirt. U5 soccer is a huge success everywhere, i wish mccs cp would recognize this. We even ran a week long soccer camp in the evenings for parents to see how they took to the sport before paying for a season full of practices and games, that was $30 and included a t-shirt. I like the concept of soccer school but 1 practice a week and game on saturday or sunday is where the real fun is! I would like to start a small soccer league for kids under 5... Whether they have played before or not. I know it won't be as fancy as my previous program to start but even if we could get 2-6 teams put together and all the kids wore the same color shirt, we could have a lot of fun! Eventually if we sparked enough interest, we could have jerseys and good equipment and maybe even get mccs to jump on board and start u5 sports, at least soccer. I have previously posted i am having a difficult time meeting people and i thought this might be a great way for some of us moms and dads to meet other moms and dads while our kids socialize and have some fun play time outside :) i have 6 cones, 4 pylons and a few size 3 soccer balls which is the standard size for kids under 7. We could either use the larger goals somewhere on base or chip in for some smaller goals made from pvc they sell online or at a sporting goods store. I do not want this to be a competitive catastrophe, so no score keeping. If we can even get 2 teams put together, thatd be enough to start... The kids do not care if they play the same kids every weekend because learning is the important part! I am a recreation, parks and leisure services major so have plenty of experience and background to make this happen if enough interest is generated. We could do fun drills at practices while teaching basics. There would be no cost until we got the program off the ground and decided upon the need for more equipment and or uniforms. Please message me if you want in! I would like to have a trial program this summer, so maybe we could set up a parent meeting by april! I know plenty of parents played soccer growing up and that is all we need for coaching experience :) i have also contemplated contacting the base team to see if they have any interest in getting some volunteer time to help us out! I live in the wire mtn 1 sub, and am hoping to get kids from the del mar district to start. If you live on mainside and are interested, please feel free to join us and maybe we could get something started up over there too! Thanks for your time!! 

It's a novel concept, but under 5 year olds lack the attention, coordination and focus for sports.

Most sports out and town are 8 and up when my kids were little soccer was the only sport they could even play on base at the age of 5 so that's when they started and the base wouldn't allow any kids from out in town to come on base to scrimmage or play against our kids due to insurance issues so the kids could only play with other kids from base. 

I ran youth sports for 2 years and spent a good time in child development classes... Plus have 2 of my own. I understand your point but know something could happen if we made it happen. Negative attitudes don't get people anywhere... But unfortunately those are common place around here. There has got to be some happy, hopeful and positive people on this base and i intend to find them. This base is big enough and has enough kids that only base kids would be enough. I have spoken with the mccs youth soccer director and she said there is enough interest but due to lack of funding they don't have the budget to sponsor nays certifications for any more coaches than what they require for 5 and up. Even the small base town we moved from in georgia had soccer for 4 year olds... Clearly it would be a challenge but that is what makes the idea even more worth trying to acheive. I am tired of not knowing a soul here and have not found any play groups that click. This neighborhood lacks a warm sense of community that i have found every other place we have lived. Everything costs money here, even play groups which is understandable but paying for friends seems silly to me. I don't do clicks and prefer to avoid drama... I just want to meet nice people with kids to have fun with and doing something positive in the meantime! Is that so bad? The youth sports folks said if i created a synopsis and had enough people that we could pitch the idea to the athletic director and maybe then they could budget accordingly for the next fiscal year. Don't you think it is worth a shot? I do. 

The money/budget issue is a smoke screen on MCCS part. I have worked with numerous private and public parks soccer associations over the years and they were all 100% self-supporting with sign-up fees and volunteer coaches. Most even had funds enough at the end of the year for small scholarships for graduating players. Any clinics the coaches needed to attend were either free or low cost and sponsored by the associations. I paid a minimal fee to have a background check done as I was working with the kids and it was required. (All coaches and association board members had one) The registration fees pay for equipment, insurance, and in some cases at least partial uniform items. Parents foot the bill for anything else.

Until you can get an independant association on base and get MCCS greedy hands off the youth sports programs, nothing is going to change. 

I know that the vista soccer league does 3-5 year-olds. It's also very expensive. But the vista soccer league is very awesome. My 7-year-old played in the fall and she'll be playing in the spring. I was one of the coaches and all the coaches in that league are dedicated to the children playing. I just payed $125 and I believe it goes from March to May. Alexis will get a jersey, socks, shorts, and trophy. I do have to pay out of pocket for her pictures, but I know when I was growing up that's how all the leagues were. I played rec soccer till I was 14 then comp soccer till I was 19. Don't let me get started on college soccer. All I'm saying is it may be expensive depending on what cities you live in and yes the age may be different but if you talk to the program they will work with you. I know when Alexis played U7 there were 5-year-olds on her team they play fantastic.


soccer 

I found the little rascalz soccer schoo thru the vista soccer club, it was all i could find in the whole area. I didnt see any team play for that young tho... I thought we should do the class before enrolling him in a team... Idk why soccer and everything fun to do has to be so darn expensive out here... 

I can understand the budget justification on their part because i was there... Its not all a cover up but mccs tends to be a good old boys club on every base... Not interested in change. My position was cut when gwot funding dried up but that was fine because i was about to have a baby so unemployment was a sweet deal... But the youth sports was a non profit... Everything we took in, we took back out for the program... Idk where my salary even came from. Things have vastly improved in yuma since and their programs are even better than ever but this base is just to big to be flexible to changes their is a demand for. Idk i guess i thought cali was the state on the cutting edge and never imagined not being able to find u5 soccer around here... 

MCCS problem is they pay someone to do a job that every other soccer/sports group does for free. No money to pay you (or someone in a equal position here)equals the kids being SOL.

If the cost of soccer is blowing your mind, stay away from cheerleading. You practically need a bank loan for that by the time they get to high school/competition level! 

I got 2 boys so cheerleading wont be a worry for me hehehe!