Happy Spring soccer to all our club patrons! We are in the season where one weekend you might be in shorts and a T-shirt, while the next requires a winter coat and gloves. Despite the variable weather, the good news is that our players are out on the pitch and our parents and families are watching from the sidelines. With nearly a month of the season under our belt, our teams are seeing all kinds of success on the field, providing a competitive and entertaining product. While our players are learning and growing not only their soccer skills, they are exhibiting the values of our club (CARE) – Character, Accountability, Respect and Excellence. We ask that all our patrons, whether they be parents on the sidelines, coaches on the bench, refs from our club or other family members enjoying ‘the beautiful game’ to exhibit the same values that set us apart from other organizations in the valley.

When we all exhibit those core beliefs, we strengthen our ability to grow, recruit and reinforce the reputation we have cultivated over the past several years. Having said that, many of you have decided to try and certify as a youth soccer referee along with your son or daughter. Thank you for your service in helping to maintain the integrity of the game here in the valley. We are down about 60% of our referees from the previous year, and with tournaments starting soon, we will need all hands on deck to meet the challenges of all the games on the schedule. Remember, part of the reason we have a ref shortage currently is the poor treatment they have received by parents and coaches. We all need to do our part in holding back our sideline comments – recognizing that those individuals are other people’s kids and parents who also love the game and are doing the best they can. If we have learned anything in the past year, it’s that we are all better off when shown a little grace.

Your board is busy working on plans for not only this season still, but also tackling the bigger issues facing the club as we look forward to the next year. Some of them include: Setting appropriate tuition fees for the 2021-22 season; Designing our new uniform kits that all teams will be adopting this Summer; Transitioning to our new contract with Puma (from Nike) with our local partners at Soccer, Etc.; Looking at recruitment and retention of high-quality coaches and what sort of compensation we can offer as a club, while still staying fiscally responsible on behalf of our players and families; Expanding our reach through social media; Increasing our partnerships throughout the valley to acquire more practice space for our teams; Growing the recreational program so that our youngsters can develop a love of the game and who may one day feed into our competitive programs; and increasing our fundraising reach to help offset the costs of running a large organization.

This list represents only the tip of the iceberg that your volunteer board has been spending countless hours on in the background. If you feel as though you have a skill that would transfer well to the administration of our club, we can always use the help. Contact any of the existing board members for more information on how you might get involved. Having said that, this is my final newsletter update as I am wrapping up my three-year term as Board President. I will still be around volunteering my time at the fields, during tryouts and for fundraisers, and of course watching our teams compete on the pitch.

I introduce to all of you Oscar Klaas, who will be taking over my role as President. He comes to us with an incredible knowledge of the game as an administrator, volunteer and coach who has deep roots in the local soccer community. He has been with Storm as a parent for three years and as a coach on our U14 Girls team for one year. He will be an excellent representative for our club and leverage his unique skill set to continue the healthy operation and stewardship that has long been a strength of our club leadership. I have personally known him for the past seven years when he was a youth volunteer coach for FC Nova, and took a ragtag group of kids (my son included) and molded them into a fearsome force on the pitch – many of whom still play together to this day on the U15 Boys team. We are incredibly lucky to have a person of his integrity and talent to lead us into the future!

Thank you for the opportunity to serve. As always, go Storm!

Michael Tetrault

Registration:

We woud like to thank Brandy Suydam for serving the Club as Registrar for the past several years. She has been nothing short of amazing. Brandy will now be taking on a new roll on the Board as Director of Fundraising, which is an integral part of keeping our club running efficiently and effectively. Emily Rich will take on the additional responsibilities as Registrar for next season. We made it through our first year on the GotSport system for registration. While we were able to get everyone registered and set up, we know that many issues were encountered with the new system along the way. We have heard your feedback and will be discussing the issues we have had with the GotSport Admin Team. We are hoping to be able to fix the issues and have a streamlined system going forward. If you have any questions, please contact Emily at idahostormregistrar@gmail.com.

Finance:

Mike Rich serves as our treasurer and handles all Club's finances. As discussed above, Our Club transitioned from using Sports Connect to GotSport to administer player accounts and billings. We still have balances due from the 2020-21 season and need to collect those balances ASAP. We would ask that each of you log into your GotSport account by following this link and ensure that your account is fully paid and up to date. Once on the site, please follow theses steps:

1. click on Program Registrations

2. select the "Storm Season 20-21"

3. click on "Billing"

4. you can then see your balance due and make a payment

With such low Club fees charged, it is imperative that accounts be paid timely in order for us to cover fees and expenses (i.e., registration, fields, referees, IYSA, Equipment, etc.). A player that is behind on account payments may not be able to participate with the team at practices or games until payment is made or a payment plan is worked out with Mike. Payment methods accepted by Storm are as follows:

Venmo - @Storm-Soccer

Checks - made out to Storm and sent to PO Box 6445, Boise, ID 83707

Credit Cards - GotSport allows for payment via credit card, however, we are charged a 2.9% fee for credit card transactions

Mike can be contacted at mrich715@gmail.com with any billing questions.