Post by sidelinesdad on May 20, 2020 9:24:22 GMT -5
One thing Ambush has always done fantastically is communication. Format got weird in copy/paste and some graphics dropped but you'll get it. They will be playing top SCCL this year amongst others.
This is just to provide info for those interested.
------------
Ambush 2019-2020 End of Year Update
All Ambush Members:
Long Email Alert. But please take time to read this information about your soccer club.
As we wrap up the 20th year of Ambush Soccer, I would like to thank you for your continued participation in our program. To follow is an update on Ambush Soccer Club as we carefully inch towards 2020/21 Ambush Tryouts. This has been the most challenging year in our long history and one where we continue to sort through issues daily. The continuous flow of COVID-19 coronavirus information from all the governmental bodies we deal with is relentless and seemingly changes almost daily. But before we jump into all the details, I’d like to first say that I hope you and your family have stayed healthy and safe while we navigate through some unprecedented times.
As tough as it’s been to not play soccer at Webb Bridge Park, it has been equally rewarding to watch the time and effort put in by the coaching staff and the incredible Ambush players as they’ve grasped the idea of virtual training. They’ve turned it into a new aspect of Ambush Soccer Club that we’ll use for many years to come. Unfortunately, the Spring season and May tournaments have been cancelled by GA Soccer for the safety of everyone. Ambush Soccer Club and the coaches will continue training through the originally scheduled Spring season with the virtual training program, supported by the new online video library. Currently we are busy making plans for tryouts, summer training programs, and camps. As we always do at Ambush, we will only proceed forward with an overabundance of caution for the safety of everyone involved.
With that, I will now provide information on how we will wrap up the Spring season and move into tryouts and the summer program. Keep in mind, as with everything in our lives right now, the plan I’m going to outline is good for today and we think for the next short period of time. However, all plans are subject to change and we respectfully ask all our Ambush members to stay nimble and ready to adjust as we navigate through the challenge of the COVID-19 pandemic. In the end, our goals include prioritizing the safety of all our members while figuring out how we can get through this challenging period of time and remain a viable member of the community support system in Alpharetta. We thrive on the fact that the youth soccer players in our community need us. We also need you. And hopefully, we can all understand there’ll be challenges to be met, concessions to be made, and adversity to be dealt with. With a strong showing of solidarity, loyalty and commitment, there’s no question that Ambush will rise above all this and continue to support the Alpharetta community for many years to come.
Tryouts
We are anticipating the Fall season will start on time and as you already know, have opened the tryout registration process. To simplify and to help in every way possible, this year’s tryout registration is FREE. Typically, Ambush will open tryout registration and hold a formal tryout for all players to form teams. Due to the COVID-19 coronavirus, mandated small group ONLY gatherings and social distancing policies from the State of Georgia, Ambush will be doing things a little differently this year. Here is how we’ll proceed with tryouts and team formation:
Current Ambush Players will ALL be offered a roster spot on an Ambush team for next year. This is being announced on Tuesday, May 19th.
Ambush Coaches will begin contacting current Ambush players on Wednesday, May 20th and make formal verbal offers.
Ambush Players will be asked to accept the offer to play within a couple days of the offer and no later than Saturday, May 23rd.
Ambush Coaches will be available during this time to discuss the process and answer questions you may have.
At this time, tryouts for this year will be conducted on June 1, 2, 3, & 4 for all age groups.
The delayed start is to better allow for health and safety measures to be implemented in accordance with State and Local mandates.
Tryouts will ONLY be for NEW players to Ambush, reducing the size of the tryouts within limits of the mandates.
Ambush Coaches may ask some current Ambush players to attend tryouts if space permits and there is a soccer related need.
Age group, location, and tryout times will be posted on the Ambush website and communicated by Sunday, May 23rd.
Ambush is implementing this modified tryout for multiple reasons, including the State and Local COVID-19 safety mandates. But equally important, these are stressful times and we feel it’s very important to stick together. Ambush and it’s coaches unanimously agreed that a showing of loyalty and commitment to ALL our current players was important at this time. Relieving the stress of a soccer tryout as well as any health concerns that currently exist was very important in our decision making. We understand a lot of factors go into coaches, players and parent’s decision making at tryouts. This year is different for many reasons and we feel that a unified Ambush showing of loyalty and team formation was very important. We hope that you will help us implement this plan and accept your coach’s offer to participate at Ambush again in 2020/2021. Our returning players may be disappointed that they can’t get back on the field until June 1; we understand completely. We have a solution and more on that later in this email!! Ambush coaches and staff want to see the players too and we’ll make it happen.
Player Registration and Fees
With the postponement and eventual cancellation of the Spring season, our goal was to create a plan taking care of our members, our coaching staff and the Club’s viability as a resource to the youth soccer players in the Alpharetta community once we “Turn the Lights Back On”. Considering the Spring training portion of the season which began in January and was almost 50% complete, most teams had played a percentage of their games, and the majority of our annual fees are consumed from June 1 to Dec 31 each year, when the season was postponed the Club like all youth sports programs faced a critical financial time. With the help of the City of Alpharetta and the Ambush Board, we believe we’ve put together a plan that will allow us to move forward successfully into the future. Here are the details.
Member Discount/Credit
Each member who paid in full (the entire Full year fee without any reduction in the fee) will receive credit/discount that can be applied to the next playing season, which at this time is the Fall 2020 season.
The credit/discount amount for all members will average $205.00.
Some members will receive more and some will receive a little less.
Amounts vary from team to team and player to player based on annual fee amounts paid, which are different from team to team.
The credit/donation can be used on the next playing season or any other 2020 summer event such as camps.
If the credit/donation is not consumed by the end of the next played season, then it will become a charitable donation to the club.
Registration
Please register for Tryouts today. The entire team registration process begins with registration for tryouts. It’s free so please CLICK HERE to register today.
After your coach formally receives your verbal commitment to the team, just like he would if we were in the process of a normal tryout, an email will be sent to you from the system later in May.
This is where you will electronically accept the offer to play at Ambush for another soccer year (Fall 2020/Spring 2021).
This is where there will be some changes from the past due to the uncertainty of the COVID-19 coronavirus impact.
To assist Ambush members in getting through this period of potential financial hardship, we are going to modify the payment plan installments for the 2020/2021 soccer year only, as follows:
Two season teams (U8 to U14) – Spread out three payments to five payments.
One season teams (U15 to U19) – Spread out two payments to four payments.
The first of the payments is going to be a $100 deposit to start the process. This will be due at registration to hold your position on the team.
Then, your discount/credit will be applied and spread equally over the balance of your payments.
The second installment will be due around July 15th.
July 15th will be an important day in moving forward for youth soccer. At this time, we should be able to determine if the Fall season will be starting under normal operations.
Today, it is too early to tell what August brings us. In all fairness to everyone, we are going to move forward nice and slow with fee collections until we are certain about the Fall playing season.
The $100 initial deposit is an amount that will allow the club to operate over the next two months and prepare for the opening of the Fall season.
Let’s all continue to do our part in remaining safe and following CDC guidelines to knock out this virus and get back on the field.
Fundraising
We are all looking forward to the day we will be allowed back on the soccer fields unrestricted and back to “normal”. To assist in financial operations moving forward, for the first time ever, Ambush Soccer Club is forming a financial aid committee and planning a series of fundraiser campaigns for the Fall and Spring Season. The purpose of this effort is to financially supplement club operations and help cover increasing costs that are now part of our new world. We are going to see significant increases in areas such as insurance, COVID-19 protocol and new safety measures, SCCL league expenses, financial aid programs and other costs necessary to maintain club improvements and operations. These increases are going to come quicker than normal fee increases can cover. While we are doing everything to keep costs at a minimum, including recently approving a new budget with more aggressive cost control than ever, we will still need a little help from our members and our community. We are just now getting started with general fundraising activities and planning with more details to follow soon. For now Ambush is kindly asking our families to consider different ways to help us stay a viable and positive influence for the youth of Alpharetta. Most of you have seen the first sign of our new fundraising activity as you registered for tryouts. For the first time, we added a donation button on the checkout page as you registered. This has been a great success with over 30 individual donations already being made. Again, we thank you and we are so appreciative! Well done Ambush! We will have a transparent process for the distribution and use of any fundraising proceeds and activities. The financial aid committee will soon be looking for ideas and of course, volunteers! Hopefully we see many of you helping out as we move into the future.
Donations
To continue with the donation theme, over the past two months, I’ve received many emails from members indicating they would like to charitably donate any credits/discounts they may receive from the Spring Season. Concern was expressed to the Club making sure either their coach got paid or the club used the funds to continue operations. I cannot say how grateful I am to those of you who reached out in such a way. Your thoughtfulness is truly appreciated. As we continue our mission to provide value for all, we will give you the opportunity to let us know if you’d like to charitably donate a portion of or the full amount of your Spring Season credit/discount to the Club. Please CLICK HERE and take a short survey and let us know if you’d like to charitably donate all or part of your credit/discount to the club. If you do not wish to donate at this time, you can by-pass the survey. We will be adding other ways to donate in the future for not only individual members but also family members, friends, relatives, and of course local business and corporations. No contribution is too small and with our 501c3 non-profit organization status, your contribution or in kind donation would be tax deductible and would go towards improving the services for our youth athletes.
Fee Increase
For the short term, the Ambush Board also needed to analyze the Club’s financial position. The last time any of the components that make up the annual Ambush fee had an increase was 2015-2106. Over the past 4 years, our cost containment efforts have been sufficient to hold member fees steady and for that we are very proud. However at this time, with accumulating and increased costs from the past four years and new and increased costs due to the COVID-19 pandemic as well as our necessary change to the SCCL leagues, Ambush found it necessary to implement a minimal fee increase. Overall fees, depending on your team’s specific details, will increase between 3% and 5%. We still pride ourselves on managing the club responsibly and will continue to do so. With the help of fundraising as part of our short, medium, and long-term future, we will do everything possible to maintain fees at this level as long as possible. (Note: Keep this in mind. The specific components of your overall fees include: City Fees; Resident or Non-Resident, Coach Training Fees Based on License Level A-D, # of Nights Training, Director of Coaching Fee, Team Camp Fee, and Club Operating Fee. In the past and going forward, if any of these components change, you may experience a fee increase or a fee decrease even though the actual component cost itself has remained unchanged. For example: If your residency status, coach, # of nights training, or same coach with improved license changes, your fees will move up or down.
Additional Value
Now to address the players wanting to get back on the field as soon as possible; the fun stuff. Within the mandates of our governing bodies and with the Ambush return to play protocol in place, our coaching staff is going to conduct 3 weeks of FREE practice sessions starting Monday, June 8th. Further details on this FREE program will be sent very soon, including schedules. The coaches are beyond excited to be able to see their players and enjoy being back at Webb Bridge Park. We don’t normally train in June but since we’ve been shut down for over 2 months, we wanted to get started and knock the rust off as soon as possible. Of course we’ll be flexible with attendance since this is the summer months, so don’t worry if you have other plans during this time. We’ve missed a good bit of training time and this is just one more way the coaching staff wanted to give back and make up for lost time.
COVID-19 Preparations
Ambush are working behind the scenes preparing for a return to play. We are gathering information from all governing bodies involved in our area. We have developed a protocol to return to play and it has been approved by the City of Alpharetta Recreation Parks and Cultural Services as well as their local health authorities. We will be sharing this protocol with all Ambush members prior to returning to the field for official Ambush activities. You have already seen one of the first elements of the protocol when you registered for tryouts and checked the new waiver. Stay tuned for much more and in the meantime, here is one of the new signs you’ll be seeing at Webb Bridge Park.
Facebook & Instagram
We are utilizing Facebook and Instagram more and more. The number of Social Media followers has grown exponentially over the past year. For all the latest and greatest news and events at Ambush, SCCL, US Club, Georgia Soccer, Atlanta United, and even US Soccer, make sure you “Like” or “Follow” the Alpharetta Ambush Soccer Facebook and Instagram pages today!! Please follow our Social Media today and we’d be super appreciative if you’d nudge friends, family, and neighbors to do the same.
Facebook - @ambushsoccerclub
Instagram - @ambushsoccerclub
Camps
Due to the COVID-19 pandemic, we are currently evaluating the feasibility of our summer camps and considering adding new activities also. We’ll post everything on the website by next week.
Current camp lineup for the summer:
CAMP ALPHARETTA at WILLS PARK (June 22-26) Day Camp featuring outdoor soccer, indoor soccer, swimming, futsol, and sports themed art classes. (Limit 20 Ambush players).
Ambush Summer Camp (July 15 – 19) Webb Bridge Park.
Ambush Summer Goalkeeper Camp (July 15-19) Webb Bridge Park.
We will post camp details and open registration the week of May 25.
CLICK HERE to visit the Ambush website for details on all upcoming camps.
Uniforms
We have reached the midpoint of our current two-year cycle for our Ambush uniform kit. We will use the same kit for 2020/2021. Returning players are all set. If you need to replace parts of your kit, you can do so at soccer.com in your account. The two-year kit will consist of these mandatory items: Red Adidas game jersey, White Adidas game jersey, Black Adidas game shorts, Grey Adidas game shorts, Red Adidas game socks, White Adidas game socks, Sky Blue Adidas practice jersey and Solar Yellow Adidas practice jersey, Black Adidas Hoodie Sweatshirt. Optional items for Ambush will include a backpack and track suit. Ambush specific goalkeeping jerseys will be available also. Again, this kit will be used for one more year for the 2020/21 soccer year. Returning players who use their same kit as last year have $0.00 uniform costs this year!
Jersey Sponsor
As a reminder, Ambush has secured its first ever jersey sponsorship deal. For this final year in this kit, Ambush will display the logo of BIP Wealth on the front of it’s Red and White game jerseys. Ambush and BIP Wealth, who have offices in Buckhead and Alpharetta, are looking forward to continuing a positive and productive relationship.
Ambush Board of Directors
The Ambush Board is made up of 5 voluntary positions. On July 1st, two of those positions will reach the end of their two-year term. The incumbents, Doug Yearwood (President- that’s me) and Tom O’Connor (Treasurer) have both indicated we would like to remain on the Board for another term. Per Ambush By-Laws, new candidates can also indicate their interest in any of these positions. With two or more candidates interested in any of the positions, we would conduct an election amongst current Ambush members to place Directors for the new term. If anyone is interested in becoming a candidate for either of these voluntary Board positions, notify Kim Konopka at ambushb05@gmail.com before May 26th.
Important Dates
See graphic added
Ambush Goalkeeper Training
We are proud to announce that we have renewed our relationship with Glen Fox and Southern Crescent Goalkeeper Academy for next year 2020/2021. Both the paid expanded program and the free once per week sessions will be provided again. Glen will provide information later in the summer about next year’s program! We are also working on Summer session goalkeeper training. Watch for details on the Ambush website soon as soon as we navigate through all the COVID-19 protocol requirements.
Spring Voluntary Technical Training Program
If you had registered your player for the voluntary spring season additional technical training with Coach Xavier and Coach Ismail, the COVID-19 situation cancelled that program. You will receive a coupon code from Ambush that can be used for the same program in the Fall season in full or applied to any one of our upcoming camps. Watch the website closely for camp and program details as we continue to figure out the COVID-19 impact on the scheduling of these events.
Ambush Night at Atlanta United vs Inter Miami Game
Ambush members came out strong back in January and February when we announced Ambush night at the Atlanta United game on May 24th. This was going to be a great night for Ambush with over 400 tickets sold to the event by members, family and friends. The game has been postponed for now. To follow is the email reply I received from Atlanta United’s ticket office on May 19. Any further questions on this topic should be directed to the Atlanta United ticket office.
Hey Doug,
I hope all is well for you!
Robert sent me your information and I wanted to follow up on the Ambush night.
We have hopes to reschedule the clubs night and all tickets would be valid to the rescheduled date. Below is what I’ve been sending clients.
As of right now, the games are being postponed not cancelled. The match will be rescheduled for another date (TBD). Your current tickets are good for the reschedule match once the date is announced.
Below is Atlanta United’s refund policy during this time –
Tickets purchased for a postponed match will be honored when the match is rescheduled. If games are not played or are played without spectators, Atlanta United will work with the ticketholder to provide a credit for a future match or a refund, in accordance with all applicable laws.
Final Comment
Last year, in my final comments, I thanked everyone for their loyalty and commitment to the Club. I shared how grateful not only Ambush was but also the City of Alpharetta Recreation Parks and Cultural Services. I also shared how we were staying with Georgia Soccer in the midst of even more and more leagues popping up locally, regionally and nationally.
Back at that time, continuing our support for the Georgia Soccer leagues was absolutely the right thing to do. But as the 2019/2020 year progressed, it became very clear that the leagues our U13 and older teams were participating in were deteriorating. Both from a competitive point of view and organizationally in terms of scheduling/travel/expense/reliability. Improvements happened at times, only to be diminished by new problems in those leagues. Through it all, Ambush maintained positive relationships with everyone in the Georgia soccer scene regardless of leagues, competition, history, etc etc. And in the long run, those positive relationships paid off. No question the next wave of great leagues in Georgia is the Southeastern Clubs Champions League (SCCL). Starting in the Fall 2020, Ambush will be participating in all divisions/levels of the SCCL. This move was a tough but necessary decision. Our friends back at Georgia Soccer deserve all the credit in the world. They are some of the best soccer people in the country. The soccer scene in Georgia changed however and many clubs have moved on as the natural evolution of soccer in America continues. Ambush will also move on and the stable platform that SCCL provides will serve us very well for many years to come. We will be playing in the top flight of SCCL with our Red teams. We will play in the Premier 1, 2 or 3 divisions of SCCL with our White and Grey teams. This is going to be a huge challenge week after week. But that’s why we chose to play in the SCCL. We could have chosen a path of lesser resistance and probably won a lot of games. But in the end, we decided to go “Big” and challenge ourselves as a club, as coaches, and players and as parents. We will have some bumps in the road but we’ll learn from it…and we’ll improve, we’ll work, we’ll fight, we’ll develop on and off the field. And if we all stick together and work through the ups and downs that come with a change like this, over time we will rise to the top like Ambush teams always do. It will be very fun and very rewarding working through this change of leagues with all of you. Our rec soccer program, Jr Academy and Academy (up to U12) will continue on their same platform as in the past. Those programs are working very well and are a part of Ambush that is prospering and we look forward to another great year at the park. We look forward to seeing everyone in one of these leagues very soon! Your loyalty as we build stronger teams and move into the future is greatly appreciated!
Thank you again for your support of Ambush Soccer Club. It is appreciated. I’m sorry for the long email, but I had a lot of information to cover. I hope I’ve answered the majority of your questions. I really hope to see you soon at Webb Bridge Park…. more than you can imagine!
Stay Safe, Stay Positive, and Stay Healthy
Ambush! Let’s Go!!!
Doug Yearwood | President
Alpharetta Ambush Soccer Club, Inc.
This is just to provide info for those interested.
------------
Ambush 2019-2020 End of Year Update
All Ambush Members:
Long Email Alert. But please take time to read this information about your soccer club.
As we wrap up the 20th year of Ambush Soccer, I would like to thank you for your continued participation in our program. To follow is an update on Ambush Soccer Club as we carefully inch towards 2020/21 Ambush Tryouts. This has been the most challenging year in our long history and one where we continue to sort through issues daily. The continuous flow of COVID-19 coronavirus information from all the governmental bodies we deal with is relentless and seemingly changes almost daily. But before we jump into all the details, I’d like to first say that I hope you and your family have stayed healthy and safe while we navigate through some unprecedented times.
As tough as it’s been to not play soccer at Webb Bridge Park, it has been equally rewarding to watch the time and effort put in by the coaching staff and the incredible Ambush players as they’ve grasped the idea of virtual training. They’ve turned it into a new aspect of Ambush Soccer Club that we’ll use for many years to come. Unfortunately, the Spring season and May tournaments have been cancelled by GA Soccer for the safety of everyone. Ambush Soccer Club and the coaches will continue training through the originally scheduled Spring season with the virtual training program, supported by the new online video library. Currently we are busy making plans for tryouts, summer training programs, and camps. As we always do at Ambush, we will only proceed forward with an overabundance of caution for the safety of everyone involved.
With that, I will now provide information on how we will wrap up the Spring season and move into tryouts and the summer program. Keep in mind, as with everything in our lives right now, the plan I’m going to outline is good for today and we think for the next short period of time. However, all plans are subject to change and we respectfully ask all our Ambush members to stay nimble and ready to adjust as we navigate through the challenge of the COVID-19 pandemic. In the end, our goals include prioritizing the safety of all our members while figuring out how we can get through this challenging period of time and remain a viable member of the community support system in Alpharetta. We thrive on the fact that the youth soccer players in our community need us. We also need you. And hopefully, we can all understand there’ll be challenges to be met, concessions to be made, and adversity to be dealt with. With a strong showing of solidarity, loyalty and commitment, there’s no question that Ambush will rise above all this and continue to support the Alpharetta community for many years to come.
Tryouts
We are anticipating the Fall season will start on time and as you already know, have opened the tryout registration process. To simplify and to help in every way possible, this year’s tryout registration is FREE. Typically, Ambush will open tryout registration and hold a formal tryout for all players to form teams. Due to the COVID-19 coronavirus, mandated small group ONLY gatherings and social distancing policies from the State of Georgia, Ambush will be doing things a little differently this year. Here is how we’ll proceed with tryouts and team formation:
Current Ambush Players will ALL be offered a roster spot on an Ambush team for next year. This is being announced on Tuesday, May 19th.
Ambush Coaches will begin contacting current Ambush players on Wednesday, May 20th and make formal verbal offers.
Ambush Players will be asked to accept the offer to play within a couple days of the offer and no later than Saturday, May 23rd.
Ambush Coaches will be available during this time to discuss the process and answer questions you may have.
At this time, tryouts for this year will be conducted on June 1, 2, 3, & 4 for all age groups.
The delayed start is to better allow for health and safety measures to be implemented in accordance with State and Local mandates.
Tryouts will ONLY be for NEW players to Ambush, reducing the size of the tryouts within limits of the mandates.
Ambush Coaches may ask some current Ambush players to attend tryouts if space permits and there is a soccer related need.
Age group, location, and tryout times will be posted on the Ambush website and communicated by Sunday, May 23rd.
Ambush is implementing this modified tryout for multiple reasons, including the State and Local COVID-19 safety mandates. But equally important, these are stressful times and we feel it’s very important to stick together. Ambush and it’s coaches unanimously agreed that a showing of loyalty and commitment to ALL our current players was important at this time. Relieving the stress of a soccer tryout as well as any health concerns that currently exist was very important in our decision making. We understand a lot of factors go into coaches, players and parent’s decision making at tryouts. This year is different for many reasons and we feel that a unified Ambush showing of loyalty and team formation was very important. We hope that you will help us implement this plan and accept your coach’s offer to participate at Ambush again in 2020/2021. Our returning players may be disappointed that they can’t get back on the field until June 1; we understand completely. We have a solution and more on that later in this email!! Ambush coaches and staff want to see the players too and we’ll make it happen.
Player Registration and Fees
With the postponement and eventual cancellation of the Spring season, our goal was to create a plan taking care of our members, our coaching staff and the Club’s viability as a resource to the youth soccer players in the Alpharetta community once we “Turn the Lights Back On”. Considering the Spring training portion of the season which began in January and was almost 50% complete, most teams had played a percentage of their games, and the majority of our annual fees are consumed from June 1 to Dec 31 each year, when the season was postponed the Club like all youth sports programs faced a critical financial time. With the help of the City of Alpharetta and the Ambush Board, we believe we’ve put together a plan that will allow us to move forward successfully into the future. Here are the details.
Member Discount/Credit
Each member who paid in full (the entire Full year fee without any reduction in the fee) will receive credit/discount that can be applied to the next playing season, which at this time is the Fall 2020 season.
The credit/discount amount for all members will average $205.00.
Some members will receive more and some will receive a little less.
Amounts vary from team to team and player to player based on annual fee amounts paid, which are different from team to team.
The credit/donation can be used on the next playing season or any other 2020 summer event such as camps.
If the credit/donation is not consumed by the end of the next played season, then it will become a charitable donation to the club.
Registration
Please register for Tryouts today. The entire team registration process begins with registration for tryouts. It’s free so please CLICK HERE to register today.
After your coach formally receives your verbal commitment to the team, just like he would if we were in the process of a normal tryout, an email will be sent to you from the system later in May.
This is where you will electronically accept the offer to play at Ambush for another soccer year (Fall 2020/Spring 2021).
This is where there will be some changes from the past due to the uncertainty of the COVID-19 coronavirus impact.
To assist Ambush members in getting through this period of potential financial hardship, we are going to modify the payment plan installments for the 2020/2021 soccer year only, as follows:
Two season teams (U8 to U14) – Spread out three payments to five payments.
One season teams (U15 to U19) – Spread out two payments to four payments.
The first of the payments is going to be a $100 deposit to start the process. This will be due at registration to hold your position on the team.
Then, your discount/credit will be applied and spread equally over the balance of your payments.
The second installment will be due around July 15th.
July 15th will be an important day in moving forward for youth soccer. At this time, we should be able to determine if the Fall season will be starting under normal operations.
Today, it is too early to tell what August brings us. In all fairness to everyone, we are going to move forward nice and slow with fee collections until we are certain about the Fall playing season.
The $100 initial deposit is an amount that will allow the club to operate over the next two months and prepare for the opening of the Fall season.
Let’s all continue to do our part in remaining safe and following CDC guidelines to knock out this virus and get back on the field.
Fundraising
We are all looking forward to the day we will be allowed back on the soccer fields unrestricted and back to “normal”. To assist in financial operations moving forward, for the first time ever, Ambush Soccer Club is forming a financial aid committee and planning a series of fundraiser campaigns for the Fall and Spring Season. The purpose of this effort is to financially supplement club operations and help cover increasing costs that are now part of our new world. We are going to see significant increases in areas such as insurance, COVID-19 protocol and new safety measures, SCCL league expenses, financial aid programs and other costs necessary to maintain club improvements and operations. These increases are going to come quicker than normal fee increases can cover. While we are doing everything to keep costs at a minimum, including recently approving a new budget with more aggressive cost control than ever, we will still need a little help from our members and our community. We are just now getting started with general fundraising activities and planning with more details to follow soon. For now Ambush is kindly asking our families to consider different ways to help us stay a viable and positive influence for the youth of Alpharetta. Most of you have seen the first sign of our new fundraising activity as you registered for tryouts. For the first time, we added a donation button on the checkout page as you registered. This has been a great success with over 30 individual donations already being made. Again, we thank you and we are so appreciative! Well done Ambush! We will have a transparent process for the distribution and use of any fundraising proceeds and activities. The financial aid committee will soon be looking for ideas and of course, volunteers! Hopefully we see many of you helping out as we move into the future.
Donations
To continue with the donation theme, over the past two months, I’ve received many emails from members indicating they would like to charitably donate any credits/discounts they may receive from the Spring Season. Concern was expressed to the Club making sure either their coach got paid or the club used the funds to continue operations. I cannot say how grateful I am to those of you who reached out in such a way. Your thoughtfulness is truly appreciated. As we continue our mission to provide value for all, we will give you the opportunity to let us know if you’d like to charitably donate a portion of or the full amount of your Spring Season credit/discount to the Club. Please CLICK HERE and take a short survey and let us know if you’d like to charitably donate all or part of your credit/discount to the club. If you do not wish to donate at this time, you can by-pass the survey. We will be adding other ways to donate in the future for not only individual members but also family members, friends, relatives, and of course local business and corporations. No contribution is too small and with our 501c3 non-profit organization status, your contribution or in kind donation would be tax deductible and would go towards improving the services for our youth athletes.
Fee Increase
For the short term, the Ambush Board also needed to analyze the Club’s financial position. The last time any of the components that make up the annual Ambush fee had an increase was 2015-2106. Over the past 4 years, our cost containment efforts have been sufficient to hold member fees steady and for that we are very proud. However at this time, with accumulating and increased costs from the past four years and new and increased costs due to the COVID-19 pandemic as well as our necessary change to the SCCL leagues, Ambush found it necessary to implement a minimal fee increase. Overall fees, depending on your team’s specific details, will increase between 3% and 5%. We still pride ourselves on managing the club responsibly and will continue to do so. With the help of fundraising as part of our short, medium, and long-term future, we will do everything possible to maintain fees at this level as long as possible. (Note: Keep this in mind. The specific components of your overall fees include: City Fees; Resident or Non-Resident, Coach Training Fees Based on License Level A-D, # of Nights Training, Director of Coaching Fee, Team Camp Fee, and Club Operating Fee. In the past and going forward, if any of these components change, you may experience a fee increase or a fee decrease even though the actual component cost itself has remained unchanged. For example: If your residency status, coach, # of nights training, or same coach with improved license changes, your fees will move up or down.
Additional Value
Now to address the players wanting to get back on the field as soon as possible; the fun stuff. Within the mandates of our governing bodies and with the Ambush return to play protocol in place, our coaching staff is going to conduct 3 weeks of FREE practice sessions starting Monday, June 8th. Further details on this FREE program will be sent very soon, including schedules. The coaches are beyond excited to be able to see their players and enjoy being back at Webb Bridge Park. We don’t normally train in June but since we’ve been shut down for over 2 months, we wanted to get started and knock the rust off as soon as possible. Of course we’ll be flexible with attendance since this is the summer months, so don’t worry if you have other plans during this time. We’ve missed a good bit of training time and this is just one more way the coaching staff wanted to give back and make up for lost time.
COVID-19 Preparations
Ambush are working behind the scenes preparing for a return to play. We are gathering information from all governing bodies involved in our area. We have developed a protocol to return to play and it has been approved by the City of Alpharetta Recreation Parks and Cultural Services as well as their local health authorities. We will be sharing this protocol with all Ambush members prior to returning to the field for official Ambush activities. You have already seen one of the first elements of the protocol when you registered for tryouts and checked the new waiver. Stay tuned for much more and in the meantime, here is one of the new signs you’ll be seeing at Webb Bridge Park.
Facebook & Instagram
We are utilizing Facebook and Instagram more and more. The number of Social Media followers has grown exponentially over the past year. For all the latest and greatest news and events at Ambush, SCCL, US Club, Georgia Soccer, Atlanta United, and even US Soccer, make sure you “Like” or “Follow” the Alpharetta Ambush Soccer Facebook and Instagram pages today!! Please follow our Social Media today and we’d be super appreciative if you’d nudge friends, family, and neighbors to do the same.
Facebook - @ambushsoccerclub
Instagram - @ambushsoccerclub
Camps
Due to the COVID-19 pandemic, we are currently evaluating the feasibility of our summer camps and considering adding new activities also. We’ll post everything on the website by next week.
Current camp lineup for the summer:
CAMP ALPHARETTA at WILLS PARK (June 22-26) Day Camp featuring outdoor soccer, indoor soccer, swimming, futsol, and sports themed art classes. (Limit 20 Ambush players).
Ambush Summer Camp (July 15 – 19) Webb Bridge Park.
Ambush Summer Goalkeeper Camp (July 15-19) Webb Bridge Park.
We will post camp details and open registration the week of May 25.
CLICK HERE to visit the Ambush website for details on all upcoming camps.
Uniforms
We have reached the midpoint of our current two-year cycle for our Ambush uniform kit. We will use the same kit for 2020/2021. Returning players are all set. If you need to replace parts of your kit, you can do so at soccer.com in your account. The two-year kit will consist of these mandatory items: Red Adidas game jersey, White Adidas game jersey, Black Adidas game shorts, Grey Adidas game shorts, Red Adidas game socks, White Adidas game socks, Sky Blue Adidas practice jersey and Solar Yellow Adidas practice jersey, Black Adidas Hoodie Sweatshirt. Optional items for Ambush will include a backpack and track suit. Ambush specific goalkeeping jerseys will be available also. Again, this kit will be used for one more year for the 2020/21 soccer year. Returning players who use their same kit as last year have $0.00 uniform costs this year!
Jersey Sponsor
As a reminder, Ambush has secured its first ever jersey sponsorship deal. For this final year in this kit, Ambush will display the logo of BIP Wealth on the front of it’s Red and White game jerseys. Ambush and BIP Wealth, who have offices in Buckhead and Alpharetta, are looking forward to continuing a positive and productive relationship.
Ambush Board of Directors
The Ambush Board is made up of 5 voluntary positions. On July 1st, two of those positions will reach the end of their two-year term. The incumbents, Doug Yearwood (President- that’s me) and Tom O’Connor (Treasurer) have both indicated we would like to remain on the Board for another term. Per Ambush By-Laws, new candidates can also indicate their interest in any of these positions. With two or more candidates interested in any of the positions, we would conduct an election amongst current Ambush members to place Directors for the new term. If anyone is interested in becoming a candidate for either of these voluntary Board positions, notify Kim Konopka at ambushb05@gmail.com before May 26th.
Important Dates
See graphic added
Ambush Goalkeeper Training
We are proud to announce that we have renewed our relationship with Glen Fox and Southern Crescent Goalkeeper Academy for next year 2020/2021. Both the paid expanded program and the free once per week sessions will be provided again. Glen will provide information later in the summer about next year’s program! We are also working on Summer session goalkeeper training. Watch for details on the Ambush website soon as soon as we navigate through all the COVID-19 protocol requirements.
Spring Voluntary Technical Training Program
If you had registered your player for the voluntary spring season additional technical training with Coach Xavier and Coach Ismail, the COVID-19 situation cancelled that program. You will receive a coupon code from Ambush that can be used for the same program in the Fall season in full or applied to any one of our upcoming camps. Watch the website closely for camp and program details as we continue to figure out the COVID-19 impact on the scheduling of these events.
Ambush Night at Atlanta United vs Inter Miami Game
Ambush members came out strong back in January and February when we announced Ambush night at the Atlanta United game on May 24th. This was going to be a great night for Ambush with over 400 tickets sold to the event by members, family and friends. The game has been postponed for now. To follow is the email reply I received from Atlanta United’s ticket office on May 19. Any further questions on this topic should be directed to the Atlanta United ticket office.
Hey Doug,
I hope all is well for you!
Robert sent me your information and I wanted to follow up on the Ambush night.
We have hopes to reschedule the clubs night and all tickets would be valid to the rescheduled date. Below is what I’ve been sending clients.
As of right now, the games are being postponed not cancelled. The match will be rescheduled for another date (TBD). Your current tickets are good for the reschedule match once the date is announced.
Below is Atlanta United’s refund policy during this time –
Tickets purchased for a postponed match will be honored when the match is rescheduled. If games are not played or are played without spectators, Atlanta United will work with the ticketholder to provide a credit for a future match or a refund, in accordance with all applicable laws.
Final Comment
Last year, in my final comments, I thanked everyone for their loyalty and commitment to the Club. I shared how grateful not only Ambush was but also the City of Alpharetta Recreation Parks and Cultural Services. I also shared how we were staying with Georgia Soccer in the midst of even more and more leagues popping up locally, regionally and nationally.
Back at that time, continuing our support for the Georgia Soccer leagues was absolutely the right thing to do. But as the 2019/2020 year progressed, it became very clear that the leagues our U13 and older teams were participating in were deteriorating. Both from a competitive point of view and organizationally in terms of scheduling/travel/expense/reliability. Improvements happened at times, only to be diminished by new problems in those leagues. Through it all, Ambush maintained positive relationships with everyone in the Georgia soccer scene regardless of leagues, competition, history, etc etc. And in the long run, those positive relationships paid off. No question the next wave of great leagues in Georgia is the Southeastern Clubs Champions League (SCCL). Starting in the Fall 2020, Ambush will be participating in all divisions/levels of the SCCL. This move was a tough but necessary decision. Our friends back at Georgia Soccer deserve all the credit in the world. They are some of the best soccer people in the country. The soccer scene in Georgia changed however and many clubs have moved on as the natural evolution of soccer in America continues. Ambush will also move on and the stable platform that SCCL provides will serve us very well for many years to come. We will be playing in the top flight of SCCL with our Red teams. We will play in the Premier 1, 2 or 3 divisions of SCCL with our White and Grey teams. This is going to be a huge challenge week after week. But that’s why we chose to play in the SCCL. We could have chosen a path of lesser resistance and probably won a lot of games. But in the end, we decided to go “Big” and challenge ourselves as a club, as coaches, and players and as parents. We will have some bumps in the road but we’ll learn from it…and we’ll improve, we’ll work, we’ll fight, we’ll develop on and off the field. And if we all stick together and work through the ups and downs that come with a change like this, over time we will rise to the top like Ambush teams always do. It will be very fun and very rewarding working through this change of leagues with all of you. Our rec soccer program, Jr Academy and Academy (up to U12) will continue on their same platform as in the past. Those programs are working very well and are a part of Ambush that is prospering and we look forward to another great year at the park. We look forward to seeing everyone in one of these leagues very soon! Your loyalty as we build stronger teams and move into the future is greatly appreciated!
Thank you again for your support of Ambush Soccer Club. It is appreciated. I’m sorry for the long email, but I had a lot of information to cover. I hope I’ve answered the majority of your questions. I really hope to see you soon at Webb Bridge Park…. more than you can imagine!
Stay Safe, Stay Positive, and Stay Healthy
Ambush! Let’s Go!!!
Doug Yearwood | President
Alpharetta Ambush Soccer Club, Inc.
Attachments:
