Blackhills FC

• Builds the soccer skills and team commitment needed to play at the highest levels possible.
• Teaches players individually how to play their best soccer in a team environment.
• Provides excellence in coaching, training and facilities needed for players to reach their
  maximum.

Blackhills FC offers age-appropriate soccer training and skills development for kids who love to play soccer. Players who hate to see the season end, players who are looking for a more competitive type of play, players who wants to improve their fitness and soccer skills are well suited to the programs offered by Blackhills FC.

By becoming involved in Blackhills FC a player will get experienced coaching, intensive skills development, more playing opportunities, and teammates who share in common a commitment to become higher level soccer players.

Blackhills FC has an experienced staff of Head and Assistant Coaches along with a committed Executive Board. We are organized as a Coaching Staff with a consistent coaching philosophy and we want to help children improve their soccer abilities and enjoy the game.

• Flexible training using additional and makeup practices with other club teams.
• Players have the chance to practice with other BHFC teams for additional training or make up
  a practice.
• 2-3 practices per week.
• Structured practice regimens.
• Club Trainers.
• Specialized goalkeeping coaching.
• Additional specialized soccer training for all players.
• Two written player evaluations per year.
• A Club Manager who handles all finances.
• A dedicated coaching staff.
• A dedicated Executive Board.
• A club coordinator who organizes club and team fundraisers and volunteer opportunities, which may reduce player fees.
• In the near future, the use of a Club-sponsored new complex of 8 to 10 fields now under construction.

The Club also organizes several special events each year. These include, College Night where information about college soccer is presented to interested families, Annual Club Picnic and the annual Soccer Ball fundraiser.

Often multiple Blackhills FC teams are entered into a tournament to provide a mutually supportive atmosphere for our players and their families. It is our culture for players and parents from other Blackhills FC teams to support teams other than their own during tournaments and league play.

Teams are formed based on a player’s age and not school grade. The “U” means “under” and the number is the players age.  Player’s must be under the number by August 1st to be considered for that team.

Boys and Girls U11 through U14: Tryouts in May, spring training, summer tournaments, league seasons in the fall and in the early spring (Jan/Feb), the State Cup in March/April. The U11 player fee does not include the State Cup fee. Parents will be asked if they want to participate in the State Cup at U11.

Boys U15 - U19: Tryouts in March, spring training, summer tournaments, League Placement Tournament (for non-PDL age teams), league season in the fall and State Cup beginning in January or February.

Girls U15 - 19: Tryouts in mid-May, spring training, summer tournaments, League Placement Tournament for non-PDL teams, league season beginning in February followed by State Cups.

This is subject to change based on the organization that develops the schedule.  Occasionally a team may have games on both Saturday and Sunday of a given weekend.  Generally, games will be played as follows:

Boys U11 - U14, Saturdays.
Boys U15 - U19, Sundays.
Girls U11 - U14, Saturdays.
Girls U15 - U19, Sundays.

Washington State Youth Soccer Association (WSYSA), develops the league schedule for teams competing in the WSYSA State Leagues: www.wsysa.com

District 3 develops the league schedule for teams competing in the regional league: www.district-3.org. 

The Player Development League develops the schedule for teams participating in the PDL: http://www.playerdevelopmentleague.org/

The League Placement Tournament, LPT, is used to place teams into the appropriate state leagues for older teams. LPT’s are only used for teams ages U14 - U19 -- unless that team is already placed in a WSYSA State League or is involved in the PDL.

Every player is responsible for attending at least two 90 minute practices each week. Typically younger teams practice on two weekday evenings each week and older teams practice 2-3 times during the week.

We do our best to have multiple teams of similar ages practice at the same time and place to increase carpooling opportunities. Practice days, times, and location are usually set on a monthly basis and due to field constraints are subject to change.

During the summer, teams are entered into weekend-long tournaments that expose them to a wide range of competition. Typically, our younger teams are entered into 3 summer tournaments and our older teams entered into 4-5 tournaments spread out over the year.  Soccer tourmanents are located in communities all over the state and sometime out of state.  Sometimes tournament schedules and location mean overnight stays are required.

Tournament entry fees are part of the player’s program fee; however travel, food and lodging expenses are not covered in the players program fee and are borne by the players and their families.

During league play, teams are entered into leagues for which they have qualified through a LPT or placed into a regional league that is best for their development. Travel for league play is characterized by day trips in the greater Puget Sound region, and less frequently to Eastern Washington and Bellingham and Vancouver.

Yes, soccer goes on year-round, yet we do manage to have breaks throughout the year.  Blackhills FC recognizes that soccer is one part of a balanced life. 

Team practices are mandatory for every player. However, family, school and spiritual obligations have priority over soccer. If a player will not be attending a practice for any reason, we ask the player to notify the coach.

Blackhills FC does not prohibit players from playing other sports. We advise that it will become increasingly difficult to maintain a multiple sport schedule as the player becomes older.

Coaches and your teammates have an expectation that soccer will be a first priority during the LPT’s, league play and State Cup tournaments.

Blackhills FC coaches understand that tryouts can be stressful experiences and will do what they can to provide as much information as possible about the process to the players and parents.

In general terms, tryouts consist of small sided games and large sided games observed by our coaching staff.  Multiple coaches will observe players and use the assigned vest numbers to take notes and make selections.

The players receive a score based on their tryout performance. If there are 10 selectors and 8 selectors choose this player their tryout score is 80%. We do not combine both tryout date scores, they are independent of each other and we take the high score from the two tryouts.

Parents or legal guardians can register online. Retuning players please use your current login in name and password. Each new player will create a login name and password. If you are unable to register online your parent or legal guardian must fill out a registration form. Please bring the completed registration to tryouts.

Players go through our tryout process and are selected by our coaching staff. The goal is to place players on a team with similar ability levels.

If you miss our scheduled tryout, a player can try out for two weeks by attending the team’s regularly scheduled practice and can be picked up on the team providing there is room on the roster.

Blackhills FC has an Academy program. This allows players not selected to our teams or players who want to train with Blackhills FC the opportunity. Information can be found on the Blackhills FC website under “Academy.”

Academy players will train with their age-appropriate Blackhills FC teams during Blackhills FC practice times. An Academy player may attend up to three Blackhills FC practices per week. Academy fees are charged monthly and are payable in advance.

• U11, maximum of 14
• U12 - U19, maximum of 18

All players will be notified by a phone call within 72 hours of their final tryout. If you do not receive a call please contact James Charette at 360-943-8233.

Yes, but only those players who are capable of starting and playing the majority of a game. We determine this through discussions between the head coaches of both the true age and higher age teams, and with the coaching director, coaching coordinator and the players’ parents.

Yes, the Club can form a multiple teams if there are enough players and interest.  Second teams must have 15 players 6 weeks after tryouts. At this point if the team does not have 15 players the Club will meet with the parents to discuss whether it is advisable or desired to move forward with the  Team.

We do not have hidden costs! All the costs are for the entire year and set prior to tryouts. The cost for a player to participate in the Blackhills FC program consists of two components: a program fee and uniform kit cost. The program fee is set annually by the Executive Board of Directors and it varies by age group.

Blackhills FC offers a number of additional practice opportunities for its players. These programs are all covered in your program fee:

• Winter, Spring, Summer and Fall Training Camps.
• Skills Training Center sessions.
• Goalkeeping.
• Playball.
• All team training.
• Coaching Director.
• Coaching Coordinator.
• Club Business Manager.
• Club Coordinator.
• Coaches salary.
• Coaches reimbursement for travel expenses.
• Tournament entry fees, U11 player fee does not include State Cup fee.
• Field rental for practices and games.
• Field Turf rental for practices and games.
• Officials fees.
• Practice equipment.
• Player registration fee for WSYSA and DYSA
• League entry fees.
• Communication expenses, website, mailings...
• Coaches gear.
• Goalkeeping uniforms.
• Club seminars.

Expenses for the uniform kit, shoes, personal equipment, travel, lodging and meals are not included in the player fee. 

For U11 teams the State Cup registration is not covered in the player fee.  Teams wishing to participate in that tournament will need to discuss paying the registration fee.

The Club’s annual fee can be paid at once, or more commonly, in monthly installments. Each family receives a monthly electronic statement, which can be paid in cash, check or by credit card.

When a player is selected to a team he or she pays a $300 non-refundable registration fee. This fee is deducted from the annual fee and is not an additional expense.

Yes, Blackhills FC does have a financial aid program. Financial Aid forms are located under “Documents” on the Blackhills FC Website.