Information for new players

Joining

If you want to join LePa, please contact team leader of your age group or fill in the form in How to join?.

Team leader will contact you and fill in the details. For younger children, it is good for the parent to be present during first training sessions. There is two-week free trial period at all teams and after it you can decide if you want to join or not.

Team operation

The mission of the LePa coaches, employees, board, parents and team officials is to provide children a great opportunity to play football. As adults, our duty is to provide a good and respectful atmosphere, and develop processes that support the development of the kids and bring joy to what the do.

Team organization consists of head coach provided by the club, other coaches (parents and/or club coaches), team leader, treasurer and other volunteers. Team officials are chosen by the parents.

Volunteers are vital and teams can't function without them. Please volunteer!

MyClub

MyClub is a membership service used by the club, where team events, communication and invoicing are handled. Each member of the club has their own member account. Keeping things up to date in MyClub is vital as information is used for invoicing and insurance purchases, for example. Keeping information up to date is the responsibility of the parents (for under 18s).

Payments

Playing in LePa consists of monthly team fee and annual club membership fee. For more information, see Costs.

Paying invoices in time is essential. If you need more time to pay, contact your team treasurer before or within one week of due date of the invoice. For more information, see Invoicing.

Playing license and insurance

All players need playing license from Finnish FA and an insurance. Normally insurance is bought together with license, but if you have your own that covers competitive football, you can use that. Club purchases the license and insurance and the team invoices them from players either separately or as part of the monthly team fee.

Playing license and insurance is for calendar year and they are bought in December, before the start of the year. If a player has own insurance, you need to inform team leader and sign a form to prove that you have a proper insurance.

Matches and training

Teams practice and play according to the club and Finnish FA policies on what is appropriate for given age and motivational level. Players of a team are divided into suitable smaller groups in training sessions and into playing groups for matches/leagues. Groups can change dynamically. For more information, see Team guidelines.

Head coach designs training sessions and makes the teams choices (roster, positions) for games. All instructions for the players during games comes from the coaching staff.

All team events are in MyClub where you enroll to them. Enrolling can be done by the player or the parent, but it is very important to enroll in time whether you are in or out. It makes the life of coaches easier.

Parents are welcome to watch training and games, but it is important to remember that coaches are in charge of the events. Please allow players and coaches the opportunity to focus on the sport.

When you watch the events, stay outside of the pitch. In games, spectators should be on the opposite side from the staff and substitutes.

Communication

Good communication is crucial for the team to function. Please follow the communication guidelines to make the communication effective.

The primary channel for communication is MyClub. In addition to it, teams can use WhatsApp groups for quick information. Beloging to such groups is voluntary, but recommended.

Football is an emotional sport. It is important for all adults to show players a good example of respectful behaviour even when things get emotional. 

Having a good atmosphere is the responsibility of everyone. All communication must be respectful, appropriate and factual. Any kind of teasing, discrimination and bad behaviour is forbidden and can lead to an expulsion from the messaging group.

Principles

If you have a question for the head coach or the club, please contact team leader first. Also check out relevant information from the web site where you can find answers to many common questions.

If you want to give feedback to the club, please contact team leader who forwards your feedback to the appropriate person in the club.

If you want to give feedback to the head coach, please do it by email. Instant messages are not the best way to give feedback. We also encourage you to reflect on the content of your feedback before sending so that it isn't clouded by emotions and your message is clearer.

Common team WhatsApp is for quick announcements, not for discussion about a player, team, coach, official, referee or parent. It should not be used for feedback or lengthy discussion about team operations, which more suitable for parental meetings, for example.

Be mindful of the leisure time of head coach and volunteer team officials. They are not obligated to answer all questions immediately. Avoid sending messages late in the evening.

Breaks and quitting

As a basic principle, you should commit to playing in a team for entire season. This makes planning and budgeting much easier. A best time to end the hobby or move to another club is at the end of season in October.

If a player wants quit or take a short break, immediately inform team leader who tells you which invoices need to paid.

Lähtökohtaisesti joukkueessa pelaamiseen tulisi sitoutua koko kaudeksi. Hyvä ajankohta harrastuksen lopettamiselle tai seuran vaihdolle on lokakuussa, kun kausi päättyy.  

Jos pelaaja lopettaa joukkueessa tai haluaa jäädä tauolle, hänen on ilmoitettava siitä heti joukkueenjohtajalle. Joukkueenjohtaja kertoo, mitkä laskut pitää maksaa. See Invoicing for details.