Soccer

Jupiter United Soccer Club (JUSC) has recreational soccer programs for boys and girls from the age of 3 up until the age 18. Age groups in soccer are typically separated by the format of “U5, U6, U7,” etc., where the ‘U’ stands for “under.” These age groups are determined by the US Soccer Federation (USSF), the governing body for all youth soccer in America.

There are 2 Recreational seasons. Fall and Spring. Fall registration opens up in June and the season takes place from September through November. Spring registration opens up in January and the season takes place from March through May. In the Fall, all games finish the week before Thanksgiving and in the Spring, no games are scheduled over Spring Break and/or Easter weekend.

Early registration is essential in allowing time to build teams as well as their training and game schedules as building team rosters and creating team schedules has many moving parts that we do our best to manage. Additionally, the processes of securing volunteer coaches and processing their background checks while they complete required training takes time as well.

Know that we do NOT allow players to request their teammate, coach, or practice nights due to the total number of registrants each season and the fact that we cannot accommodate them all.

Your registration fee pays for your player’s registration in the Florida Youth Soccer Association (FYSA), secondary medical insurance through FYSA, a player pass (if applicable), field maintenance, soccer and field equipment, referees, the uniform jerseys, an appropriately-sized ball for your player, an 8”x10” individual/team photo from Picture Day for your player, and the administrative costs required to run the program.

Practices generally begin in the first week of the season. Spring season practices generally start in the first or second week of March while Fall season practices generally get underway the week after Labor Day in September.

Our youngest players, Grasshoppers (U4 and U5), do NOT practice during the week. Instead, they typically practice and play small-sided games on Saturday mornings under the direction of one of our professional trainers, Cliff Wisdom, with help from volunteer parent assistant coaches.

Practice days and times for the older players (U6-High School) depend on the coach but are twice a week for an hour each time, usually on either Mondays/Wednesdays or Tuesdays/Thursdays. Practices are in the evenings with start times usually varying between 5:30 and 8 pm.

In the Fall season, our younger teams (Grasshoppers, U6, U8) practice at Lighthouse Park while our older teams (U10-High School) practice at Jupiter Community Park. In the Spring season, ALL teams regardless of age practice at Lighthouse Park.

Park assignments are not promised and/or guaranteed. Practice dates and times for all age divisions are oftentimes determined by the volunteer coach of your child’s team.

These are the addresses of our current field locations:

Jupiter Community Park – 3377 Church Street, Jupiter FL 33458

Lighthouse Park – 500 Captain Armours Way, Jupiter FL 33469

This being south Florida, odds are players are going to get rained on during practice at some point in time. Basically, so long as there is no lightning within the immediate park area, yes, practice is typically still on. Rain by itself is usually not a reason for the Town or County to close a park unless the fields are flooded/have standing water and are therefore unplayable.

The Town of Jupiter, NOT any coach, is responsible for making the call to close the fields at both Jupiter Community Park and Lighthouse Park. This often means that a town employee must physically visit each park and make that determination in person. It is possible that your team may arrive for a practice only to be told that the fields are closed. This can happen from time-to-time and we know that it is not optimal, however the Parks Department for the Town does its best to advise JTAA of such closures as soon as possible and we share that information with the program coaches when we get it.

When players have already arrived at the field or are already on their way to the park and there is prolonged lightning within a 10-mile radius of the park, we respectfully ask our volunteer coaches to call a practice off or end it early.

Jupiter Community Park (JCP) is equipped with a lightning alert system but Lighthouse Park is NOT. The alert system at JCP will go off when lightning has been detected within a 10-mile radius of the park. When the alert system goes off (indicated by a single long horn blast and a flashing yellow light on the unit–located on the scoreboard by multi-purpose field 4), everyone must immediately clear the fields and go to their vehicles. The field closure will last for 30-minutes and, if no more lightning is detected within that time, the horn will blast three (3) times to indicate that the fields are safe to go back onto. If additional lightning is detected after the first alert, the ’30-minute clock’ resets and the countdown to clear begins again from the last lightning strike in the area. A coach can decide to call practice if the alert is in place and not expected to end any time soon.

Volunteering as a recreational coach is one of the greatest experiences you could have with your child. You do NOT need to have ANY soccer playing or coaching experience. As a 99% volunteer-run organization, JTAA depends on assistance from its families to make our program possible. Volunteering to coach accounts for around 5-6 hours a week and can mean the difference between us having enough teams for our players or having to turn registrants away due to a lack of coaches and, therefore, teams.

Our recreational soccer program is run under the direction of Jupiter United’s Director of Coaching who can be a good source of information and assistance. He or she can assist you or get one of our professional trainers to provide you with some basic info regarding training, session plans, and tips/suggestions. If you are interested in making a positive difference in the lives of children in the JTAA, please email one of the points of contact below:

Neil McKay – Director of Coaching, Jupiter United SC [email protected]

Dawn Mesa – Executive Registrar, JTAA [email protected]

Volunteer coaches are given their team rosters a few days before the start of practice. They will then reach out to the players on their roster via email or phone to provide information about practices, etc. If you do not hear from a coach by the Sunday before a season/practice typically starts, please email us at [email protected].

All recreational soccer players will be provided with two (2) jerseys for game days (white for ‘home’ games and blue for ‘away’ games). The cost of this is included in your registration fee. The uniform typically arrives during the first week or two after the start of practice. Jersey numbers are not assigned and number requests are not taken.

Coaches will hand out uniforms to players when they are received from JTAA. Please keep in mind that players may not be permitted to participate in Saturday games if they are not wearing the proper uniform jersey. We ask that they wear black shorts and socks (if they have them) with their jersey for games.

There is no uniform requirement for practice; players can wear the clothing of their choice for practices.

The majority of games will be played on Saturdays with the possibility of an occasional weeknight game depending on the number of teams in the player’s’ particular age group or if games must be rescheduled due to inclement weather.

All games for the Grasshopper group are played at Lighthouse Park. U6 and U8 teams also have games at Lighthouse Park. Our older teams (U10-High School) may sometimes have games at Lighthouse Park but they are typically played at Jupiter Community Park.

Game schedules and their locations are determined based on the number of teams in each division and the number of fields available at each park.

There are usually 8-10 games per season. We try to get everyone at least 10 games when creating the schedules but factors such as the total number of teams in an age group can and do ultimately contribute to the final schedule.

Just like with practices, so long as there is no lightning within the immediate area, yes, practice is usually still on. Rain by itself is not a reason for the Town or County to close a park unless the fields are flooded or have standing water and are therefore unplayable.

Shin guards are required. Additionally, comfortable shorts for exercise, soccer cleats, and water are needed. Your coach may also ask you to bring a ball. If so, know that:

Grasshoppers – U8 use size 3 balls 
U10 – U12 use size 4 balls
U14 and older use size 5 balls

Although shin guards are required, cleats are not. Many younger children are more comfortable in their sneakers. Older children will want the traction that cleats provide.

Absolutely NO jewelry or anything that could cause harm to themselves or other players can be worn during practices or games—especially games. This rule includes earrings, as well as hair beads and barrettes, and even arm/wrist casts.

We recommend that, if you’re considering getting your player’s ears pierced, you do it between seasons because earrings must be removed to play in games. They cannot be covered with band-aids. This is a FYSA rule, not a club rule, and it is NOT discretionary for the referees or club officials.

Only players and coaches registered with Jupiter United can participate in our practices and games due to potential liability issues. Others are not covered by our insurance. If your child’s friend is interested in playing soccer, please direct them to email [email protected].

Our scholarship program fund is driven by our sponsors and allows us to allocate funds for players who are in financial need. Our goal as a club is to provide as many players with assistance that need it. For scholarship information, please reach out to [email protected].

Players and spectators are kept separate to aid the coach and referees in team management. It helps the coach to have all the players in one place. It helps the player to understand that his or her instructions come ONLY from the coach during the game. It is typically best if the player does not have the distractions of family around.

It is very important that parents and guardians remain off of the playing fields entirely during training and games to ensure that the players have their full attention on their coaches. Parents are NOT allowed to coach from the sidelines. During games, parents must remain on the opposite sideline of the team benches. Only registered coaches with current completed background checks are authorized to be on the bench side of the field.

Should your child get hurt during practice, the coach will evaluate him or her to identify the severity of the injury. Oftentimes, if your child or the coach requires your assistance, the coach will call for you to come over.

The referee typically will assess the hurt player and, if necessary, call the coach over. If it is serious and requires parental assistance, the coach and/or referee will call for the parent of the child to come onto the field too. Parents/guardians are NOT allowed to just go onto the field without being called for by the officials. Doing so could cause the referees to call a game off or call it a forfeit.