AYSO serving Los Altos since 1968!
Region 43 serving Los Altos since 1973!
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AYSO serving Los Altos since 1968! Region 43 serving Los Altos since 1973! |
Everyone Plays ® * Balanced Teams * Open Registration * Positive Coaching * Good Sportsmanship
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Fields from other regions for U12/U14 away games:
COACH: If your schedule says "NETS", that means you are the first or last game of the day on that field. You need to follow the procedure for your particular field to determine what needs to be done. Also, you need to follow the procedure during any practice if you use the field equipment or find it left out by someone else. See the field procedures document for the details of what you may need to do.
AYSO Region 43 has permits to use the fields from the Los altos School District and City of Los Altos. There are certain requirements due to the permits and practices that enable us to come back each year. Please be respective of these region policies, the community property, and neighborhood residents.
The mowers will not mow if water bottles and other trash are left on the field. Show good neighborhood ideals and always leave a field cleaner than when you found it. Pick up all trash, whether left by you, the team before, or the school kids themselves, and place it in the appropriate containers at the field.
We have made special arrangements with the school district for port a-potties to be available at all fields. The principals have been nice enough to allow this and we see it as a great benefit. For the benefit of all users during practices and non-AYSO game days, the port a-potties are being left unlocked. They are cleaned once a week. If you have any issue with an unclean or damaged unit, contact the fields manager. Hillview has 24x7 restrooms next to the Bus Barn theatre. Rosita users can use the Covington port a-potty. Locations of these facilities are on the field site maps.
Under NO circumstances are you to climb over a fence to retrieve a ball. Most of the neighbors remain nice during the season and throw the balls back over. Some neighbors may get up to 10 to 15 balls a week over their fence (from practices and game day), so you can imagine what they have to put up with (in addition to the noise from the players and spectators). So be a good neighbor and simply wait for the ball to be thrown back over. If you find a ball on the field when you go to practice or play, it likely was thrown back over a fence. Simply put it in the field box. If you are missing a ball, check the field box, the field itself, or with other coaches. Worse case, kindly travel by street to the neighbors house and ask kindly if they could retrieve your special, favorite ball. Make sure to apologize for kicking it over their fence. Complaints from adjoining neighbors are the biggest problem field users face.
Please be considerate of residents living near the fields. Think if you had to put up with daily use of the field by a group event where each day a different car blocked your driveway, mailbox, or house. Please park in the parking lot, if available, or on the street so as to minimize the impact on the neighbors. And please do not think stopping long enough just to pick up a child from practice or wait for the child to come out is justification to block any driveway or mailbox. If we want to continue having access to the field, we need to exhibit our best good neighbor attitude. You are especially warned about parking near the fence or adjoining driveway near the El Monte entrance to the Almond field. You will be ticketed and likely towed from there.
Even if the stanchions are missing, never ever pull onto a school playground and park there. Only in very limited circumstances, to haul heavy equipment such as goals, do we have permission to enter the grounds with a vehicle other than into the parking lot.
Although soccer is safe and a joy to play in the rain, the field grass can get destroyed fairly quickly when the ground is saturated with water. Use good judgment in balancing the kids desire to play with the potential for destroying the field.
Los Altos City (Rosita and Hillview fields) has a rain policy that says you cannot use a field if there has been any rain 48 hours before. Usually this implies more water than they put through sprinkling each day -- 1/4" or more. Also, if a section of the field is very soft due to a sprinkler malfunction or over watering, please avoid that section. Please be considerate in your use of the fields. A field marked closed must be honored. Note that fields may get closed for practices but then be available for games. The City of Los Altos does not have a field closure hotline.
The Los Altos School District (LASD)does not have a specific policy with regard to rain but use common sense as if it were your own property and getting heavy use. If the field is too soft, do not use it. If a section of the field is too soft, block off that section. There is no field closure line for the LASD.
For convenience, here are the field closure hotlines of some neighboring regions:
The fields are maintained by city and school district employees. You are not to undertake any repair or maintenance issues without their prior consent. This includes cutting weeds or grass, filling holes, raking, de-gophering, or similar measures. The field liners know what minimal actions they may take. The adding of dirt, sand, chipped wood or other materials to holes, muddy spots, or areas with standing water can cause more harm over time than the good in the short term. Under no circumstances should you ever try to add gravel or similar hard materials to a field -- a knee going hard to a rocky surface can cause serious problems. Please report all unsafe conditions to a referee or the fields manager: fields@ayso43.org.
There are three main pieces of field equipment used in soccer beyond the turf itself. The details about each are given in the Field Equipment document linked above. A quick summary is below.
Corner flags are stored in the field box. They must be at least 5 feet in total height above the ground. Generally, they are in two halves -- a top half with the flag attached and a bottom half with a metal stake to stick in the ground. Please use both halves together and do not try and use just the top half stuck in the ground. This is very dangerous for the players.
Please make sure the flags are returned to a locked field box after use. Notify the field manager of missing or broken flags. Please make sure to get the metal bottom stake when removing the flag from the field. This is a safety issue at all fields due to mowing and use as a school playground.
Currently, nets are put up for the season. Most nets are taken down at the end of the regular season and stored in the Egan storage shed. Many goals are also taken down outside the season and stored there. In the future, for safety reasons, goals will have quick-attach net clips and nets will have to be setup and removed after each use.
Most goals now have back bars to attach or wrap the back bottom of the net around. If not, use yellow tent stakes that hopefully are still attached to the net or extras that are in the field box. The only purpose of the nets is to aid the referees in determining whether the ball went inside the goal posts or out. Therefore, hanging a net without attaching it at the bottom is not very useful.
Try to avoid any kids climbing on the nets -- especially if the goal is being prepared for movement and not staked.
Surprising to many, but Los Altos AYSO is responsible for or helps maintain over 28 soccer goals in just our small region of 900 players and 6 or so fields. For more information on how to safely setup, move or store a goal, see the Field Procedures guide for each field and maybe the Field Equipment: page indicated in the section title above.
Goals must always be staked when used or stored, locked, against a fence. In Region 43, we attach chains with carabineers to the goals and then bury stakes in the ground. Please make sure the chain remains attached to the buried stake at all times when the goal is out. Otherwise, please return the goal to face a fence and lock it up. A few, heavy goals are more permanent and left out for the season. We often "lock" these goals to the stakes.
Coaches are encouraged to carry a copy of the current field permit with them. If there is ever a problem with another group at the field who will not leave, you can call the Los Altos Police department and show the officer who arrives the permit. The officer will then instruct the others to leave. Without the permit, it becomes a "he says, she says" issue for the officer.
Note: sometimes special permits and arrangements are needed for tournaments or reschedules. These may not be included in the above as they are usually obtained through email approval.