Welcome to the 2014 Football and Cheerleading Season. More Than 100 Football Players And

Welcome to the 2014 Football and Cheerleading Season. More than 100 football players and cheerleaders will take the fields in a few weeks. Our goal is for all of the GSMAA participants to enjoy a fun packed and safe season. We are making every attempt to have the program run as smooth as possible. This packet is a quick reference guide for parents – a kind of “frequently asked questions” guide. We recommend it is kept in an accessible place for the entire season and hope you and your family find it useful.

Packet Topics:

·  Who / What is GSMAA?

v  Board of Directors

v  Other Members

v  Program Directors

v  Coaches / Other Coordinators

v  Parents and Participants

v  Open Positions

·  Program Funding

v  Your Registration Fees

v  Community Sponsorship

v  Fundraisers / Concessions

v  General Donations

v  Spiritwear

·  Registration Forms

v  Registration Form / Waiver

v  Red Rose Contract

v  Code of Conduct

·  Equipment

v  Football

v  Cheerleading

v  Caring for your Uniform

·  Practice

v  Football

v  Cheerleading

v  General Rules for Practice

·  Game Schedule

v  Pre-season

v  Season Game Schedule

v  Special Dates

·  Schedule Changes / Inclement Weather

·  Rules of the Game

v  Age and Weight Requirements

v  Varsity and Jr Varsity

v  Safety

v  Spectator Conduct

v  Volunteers

Who / What is GSMAA?

GSMAA (Garden Spot Midget Athletic Association) is an organization that is solely managed and run by volunteers. The organization was formed approximately 50 years ago and has administered a variety of sports over the years. Currently, GSMAA has governance over the following programs:

v  Garden Spot Midget Football (travel league)

v  Garden Spot Midget Cheerleading (travel league)

v  Elementary Basketball Girls & Boys (through grade 6 – no travel)

v  League Elementary Lacrosse Girls & Boys (through grade 8 – travel league)

v  Legion Baseball (travel league)

The GSMAA Board of Directors currently has 5 member positions (1 vacant):

v  President – Corrine Hansen

v  Vice President Helmet Sports – Scott Focht

v  Vice President Non-Helmet Sports – Vacant Position

v  Secretary – Jackie Andress

v  Treasurer – Nancy Dykie

The Board has overall supervision of all the programs running under the GSMAA umbrella. Specific programs are headed by a Director, and in some cases, an Assistant Director or Administrative Assistant. In addition to Program Directors, GSMAA relies heavily on other volunteer positions that cover the administrative items like advertising, community sponsorship, wellness, fundraising, spirit wear, etc. The board is active 12 months a year and has governance over all aspects of all sports in the program.

GSMAA is pleased to announce the Directors and Assistants for the 2014 Football & Cheerleading season:

Football Director(s): Jared & Wendi Horst

Football Assistant Director: Carol Martin

Cheerleading Director: Melissa Gordner

Cheerleading Assistant Director: Brittiany Garman

The football and cheerleading programs utilize a Team Mom and Head Coach structure for all communication between parents and the program. Team Moms and Head Coaches are the first point of contact for parents with questions or concerns in the program because they are the most accessible and specific to teams. Contact information for these volunteers will be distributed before the first scrimmage.

Parents and players are also an important part of the GSMAA program. Thus, it is important to remember that we all represent the program and are part of its success. All members (Board, Directors, Volunteers, Parents, and Players) are expected to follow the GSMAA Code of Conduct at all GSMAA events and in all correspondence about the program.

An organization the size of GSMAA requires MANY volunteers for its success. Please contact a Board Member to learn how you can volunteer.

Program Funding

GSMAA makes every effort to have a fair and equitable distribution of funding. Funds generated by a program are used specifically for the program that generated the funds. Community sponsorships that are specific to a sport are also used to fund that sport. General donations are allocated across all sports.

GSMAA sets registration fees as low as possible. In many cases, registration fees are not adequate to fully fund the program. Thus, the program relies heavily on donations, concessions, and fundraising to close the funding gap.

The 2014 Football / Cheerleading funding gap will be closed with the following fundraising activities:

v  Community Sponsors – we are currently seeking business sponsors who would like to advertise with us this season. Please see your Director or a Board Member to make your donation.

v  Concession Sales – Two concessions are running this season. The primary concession will be in the football stadium during home games. All parents are required to volunteer at least 1 hour this season, and the concession stand is a great place to fulfill that requirement. The cheerleaders are also running a smaller stand during practices to raise money to pay for their new uniforms.

v  Hoagie Sale – we will once again be conducting a hoagie sale mid-season. Stay tuned for details.

v  Spirit Wear – Spirit wear is sold at or slightly above cost. All proceeds from spirit wear sales will be used to fund the football and cheerleading program. Please see your Spirit Wear coordinator to make suggestions of items to add for next year’s line. The ordering will be done online. Here is the link:

https://www.agpestores.com/ESGSports/groupproducts.php

Any questions regarding sprit wear please contact Miki Boyer @ .

Registration

The registration form now includes the liability waiver and picture consent. The following three forms must be completed and signed before a child will be allowed to participate in the program. There are no exceptions to this requirement.

v  Registration form with waiver properly completed

v  Red Rose Contract (football only with birth certificate)

v  Code of Conduct

Raffle tickets are available for sale to help parents earn back all or a portion of their registration fees. We are working this on a pilot program and will modify the ticket program for next year’s season. All sold ticket stubs must be turned in to the football shed no later than August 30th to be included in the prize drawings.

Equipment

Football Equipment

The team will supply the following items:

v  Practice Uniform

v  Game Uniform

v  Helmet

v  All Required Pads

v  One Mouth Guard

Players must supply the following items:

v  Additional Mouth Guard. We supply one standard mouth guard per player. If your son wears braces, you may need to provide your own specialty mouth guard. For all players, it is not a bad idea to have an additional mouth guard or two on hand for your son, as some of the boys (especially the younger ones) tend to chew on them. Extra mouth guards can be purchased at any sporting goods store and Wal-Mart. If you do buy one, get the kind with a strap that attaches to a helmet. It must be a color, not clear, any color is fine (officials need to be able to easily see that the boys are wearing them.) Play is absolutely not permitted without a mouth guard.

v  Rib guard. Rib guards are not required in the league. Wearing them is at the discretion of each player (and / or his parents). We do have a limited supply of rib guards which we will provide on a first come, first served basis.Unfortunately, our supply of these pads is very limited so we cannot guarantee one to each player. They can be purchased at sporting goods stores or online if you wish to purchase one for your son.

v  Cleats. We do have quite a number of used cleats that have been donated - ask at the shed if you are interested. Cleats with metal or removable spikes are prohibited in the league and cannot be used. Only plastic molded cleats are permitted. Please see the Program Director if you are not sure which cleats to wear.

v  Athletic Cup. The boys are required to wear an athletic cup. These can be purchased at any sporting goods store or even Wal-Mart.

v  Black Socks. We prefer socks to be mid-calf but they must be black. Pink socks are acceptable for games in October to support Breast Cancer Awareness month.

v  Weather protection. Please remember it is cold later in the season. The players have little protection to keep them warm. Long sleeve shirts and pantyhose are acceptable additions to the uniform when it is cold. If possible, please stick to the school colors when adding items to the standard uniform.

Cheerleading Equipment

GSMAA is pleased to let you know that our cheerleaders will receive new uniforms this season. The supplied uniform will include the following: skirt, shell, crop top, and boy shorts.

Cheerleaders are asked to supply white sneakers with an arch and white ankle socks. Hair should be tied back and absolutely no jewelry can be worn to practices or events. Clothing for practices should comply with the school’s dress code. Children who do not comply will not be allowed to practice or participate on game day.

Uniform Care

Instructions on how to care for uniforms will be distributed when uniform hand-out takes place. It is important that uniforms are clean and cared for properly. Parents are responsible for and will be charged for any uniform that is not returned timely, clean, complete, and in acceptable condition.

Practice

Football Practice

There will be three days of conditioningwith no contact (no pads, but players should wear their helmets if possible), August 5, 6 & 7, 6:00 pm - 8:00 pm (Equipment will be handed out this week)

Contact practice (in full pads) starts week of August 11:

Week # 1: Aug 11- 12 - 13 - 14, 6:00 pm - 8:00 pm

Week # 2: Aug 18 - 19 - 20 - 21, 6:00 pm - 8:00 pm
No one will be allowed to participate in contact practice without the Red Rose Midget Player Contract signed by physician and the GSMAA registration form being completed and signed by a parent.

Once school starts (week of Aug 25), practices are three nights a week : Mondays, Tuesdays & Thursdays, from 6:00 pm - 8:00 pm.

Cheerleading Practice

There will be three days of practice the first week, August 5, 6 & 7,6:00 pm – 7:30 pm.

Week # 1: Aug 12 - 13 - 14, 6:30 pm – 8:00 pm

Week # 2: Aug 19 - 20 - 21, 6:30 pm – 8:00 pm

Once school starts (week of Aug 25), practices are two nights a week: Tuesdays & Thursdays, from 6:30 pm – 8:00 pm.

All practices are at the school practice fields (behind the home side bleachers) unless otherwise announced.

General Rule for Practice

v  All practices are at the school practice fields (behind the home side bleachers) unless otherwise announced.

v  All players and cheerleaders should bring a water bottle (filled) to all practices and games. Bottles should be clearly marked with the child’s name.

v  Coaches and Directors reserve the right to bench players and cheerleaders for games when inappropriate conduct occurs at practice or previous games. Inappropriate conduct includes not following the Code of Conduct as well as missing practices, arriving late, not participating, etc. These are team sports which require all players to be present.

Game Schedule

Pre-Season

Manheim Townshipannual Summer Scrimmage will take place on August 23, 2014. C & D games will run from 8am till about 11:15 am and A & B will start about 11:30 am and run until 3:00 pm. Every team will get 2 scrimmages. Location is the Manheim Township high school complex. There is no cheerleading for this event.

Season Game Schedule

The varsity game schedule is organized by the Red Rose League. It is not uncommon for the schedule to arrive late in pre-season due to late enrollment changes at the participating programs. Late registrations cause teams to enter and exit the league schedule at the last minute. The current schedule is as follows and is subject to change:

We travel to games at other schools in the Red Rose league. We are in Section 2. Travel will be required to any of these locations.

Home varsity games are played on the Garden Spot High School football field. Home JV games are played on the Garden Spot practice fields.

There are 9 varsity games in the season. Varsity games are played on Sundays or Saturdays, in the afternoon to early evening timeframe.Number of JV games in the season and days/times for JV games may vary. We will be distributing the complete game schedule once practices begin.

The first regular season varsity game for 2014 will be the weekend of Aug 30/Aug 31. Since this is a Holiday weekend (Labor Day) please notify your coach as soon as possible if you are unable to attend the first game of the season. The last regular season game will be the weekend of Oct 25/26. For A, B, & C teams, there could be playoff games following the regular season. (D team games do not continue past the regular season) The final Championship game is played on Nov 15 between the 2 top teams in the league.

A and B Teams playfour 9 minute quarters; C and D team play four 8 minute quarters.

The junior varsity game schedule is organized by the Directors between league teams. Our Director will attempt to schedule as many JV games as possible realizing the schedule is adhoc and can change weekly. If your son is assigned to a JV team, please keep in close contact with your Team Mom and Head Coach for game schedules and changes.

There is no cheerleading for JV games.

Special Dates

There are four dates to keep in mind that are events outside the game and practice schedules:

v  Team Picture Night – Monday & Tuesday, Sept. 8 & 9th

v  Youth Night with the High School – Friday, Sept. 12th

v  New Holland Fair Parade – Wednesday, Oct. 1st

v  Pink Day – Oct. 5th

Schedule Changes / Inclement Weather

Program Directors and Coaches make every attempt to minimize disruptions to practice and game schedules. However, sometimes it is unavoidable. Parents should check e-mail and text communications daily for schedule changes.