Fall 2024 Soccer Registration + Summer Activities

Sign-up for the 2024 Fall Soccer Season is close to being underway at the regular registration page - https://www.stbarnabasparish.school/apps/pages/athleticregistration

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About Fall Soccer

Saturday Soccer is our In-house "Coffee" League for beginner players. The aim of the program is to introduce kids to soccer if they have never kicked a soccer ball or to begin to develop skills for those that might have taken a camp or two in their early years. For parents, it is a great place to meet other new parents to Barnabas. Parents are somewhat involved in these sessions, either as a season team leader or a "coach" for some weeks. No soccer experience is needed, just a bit of patience.  It is very informal, but a lot of fun and it is the only sports activity in the Fall for our youngest Buckeyes. The Coffee League kicks off on the Saturday after Labor Day and runs until mid-October, weather dependent. Rotating weekly sessions begin at 8:30am / 9:30am at the field behind the Convent. The times might change a little, but we will certainly stick with AM.

League Soccer is competitive soccer, relatively speaking, played amongst other area schools. Players of all skill levels are grouped into two-grade levels (1st/2nd | 3rd/4th | 5th/6th - JV | 7th/8th - Varsity) per league.  

1st and 2nd Graders will play approximately 6 games on Tuesdays with weekly practices on Thursday or Saturday AM over a 6-week period with no playoffs.  3rd and 4th Graders will play approximately 10-games over a 6-week period on Wed, Fri, and Sat AM at 9:00am, again with no playoffs in the Fall. 

JV and Varsity Teams will play 6-7 games with a short playoff after the regular season if we qualify with practices beginning the week before school starts. Games begin around Labor Day and the season lasts until the later part of October.  

Please contact Kevin O'Kelly at saintbarnabassoccer@gmail.com with any questions you might have. If you are not subscribed to our mailing list, a QR code is on the right side of this page, scrolling down just a bit.

Summer Activities

Area high schools offer boys, girls, and co-ed soccer camps beginning the week of June 10th.  As a sample, Br. Rice (6/17 - boys), McAuley (girls - 6/17), St. Rita (7/23 - boys), Mt. Carmel (boys - 6/24), and Marist (boys & girls - 6/24, and youth co-ed - 7/15) each have camps costing between $50 - $125 per weekly camp listed on their Athletics / Summer Camps webpages.

Chicago KICS (kicsfc.com) is hosting two weeks of soccer camps at the Evergreen Park Sports Complex (91st St just west of Western) beginning the week that school ends.  KICS hosts other camps in the South Loop location all summer long if these dates don't work for your schedule.  KICS offers a more advanced clinic for club players two times this summer.

Visit https://kicsfc.com/summer-camp/ for more information.

KICS is not the only club soccer program in the area, but they are the only club that sends me soccer camp info.  If anyone has information about other nearby clubs, please do not hesitate to forward that information to me.  Thanks in advance.

While it is not a camp or for kids, the Chicago Beverly Adult Soccer group (find it on Facebook Groups) hosts friendly, co-ed pickup games for players of all ages (14 - 65?) and skill levels (OMG to MLS).  Generally 2-hour games start at 9am or 10am on Saturday and/or Sunday mornings depending on the weather. There is no cost, no membership, and no obligation. It's just soccer for fun and exercise.

2024 Spring Soccer Season REGISTRATION is OPEN

Registration for the 2024 Spring Soccer Season is now underway at our new registration home: TeamSnap.  There are important notes all the way to the bottom of this post.
  
The Spring League Administrators for both leagues have asked for team registrations sooner than last year, so our registration period will be shorter than usual. Please finalize your registration by FRIDAY March 8th.

For those already using TeamSnap, a direct link to the Spring registration is here. https://registration.teamsnap.com/form/2728.  

For those who have never used TeamSnap before, there is a great help page on the School Athletics website at: TeamSnap Resources


League Soccer is competitive soccer, relatively speaking. We play against other area (mostly Catholic) schools. Players of all skill levels are grouped into two-grade levels (1st/2nd | 3rd/4th | 5th/6th - JV | 7th/8th - Varsity) per league.  Kindergarteners get their first chance at competitive soccer with a very friendly league.  Coaches will be on the field with the players instructing them on the basics of the beautiful game. 

ALL GRADE LEVELS - There will be indoor practice either Wednesday March 19th, Thursday March 20th, or Monday March 25th at the Evergreen Park Sports Complex on 91st Street.  All teams will get some time one of those nights from 6pm to 7pm on one of those nights.  More details will be sent as we approach those dates.  

Outdoor practices will begin in Mid-March, weather dependent for all those that remember last Spring's wet season.

Games for the younger kids begin after Spring Break (THANKFULLY) and run until Mid-May with playoffs to follow, with the season lasting until Memorial Day for the younger kids and early June for JV and Varsity.  Game days are played upon the coordination of the League, but usually not on Sundays.  Coordination with coaches in each grade level will occur to avoid school events for certain grade levels (e.g. First Communion, Graduation, etc.)

The younger groups will play approximately 9 games over an 6-week period. Unlike Fall Soccer, standings are kept and a playoff tournament is played at the end of the season.  The St. Linus coordinators are again considering a playoff style tournament played the week before Memorial Day.  More on that to come. The Kindergarten league does NOT have playoffs.

The Varsity and JV groups will play approximately 7 games (one more than previous seasons) with a short playoff after the regular season (with less teams invited this year though).  Games could start as early as Thursday March 20th the league said, which is before Easter, We will try to avoid games during Spring Break and the week of the School Play, but that might make for busy weeks at the end of the season.

TWO last items
First, we are working on having Soccer Pictures, possibly in late March or early April.  More details will be provided once teams are set.  For those who played Fall Soccer, but aren't playing Spring Soccer, we can arrange pictures for you as well.  This is the first time in a while we have done soccer pictures, so we are working on the details.  We'll do some better planning heading into next year.
Second, we are planning on a Pack the Field day in May, either the Sunday of First Communion or the Saturday prior to Mother's Day.  More on that to come if the schedules work in our favor.


Please contact Kevin O'Kelly at saintbarnabassoccer@gmail.com with any questions you might have.