MC United Soccer

Information on Options for Donation or Refund of Spring Fees

Hello MC United Families. 

MC United's Board has been working over the last 5 days to quickly make decisions and get you the information you need regarding options for Spring 2020 registration fees. 

Throughout this whole situation, our families and players have been our biggest priority. 

This spring was going to be a record-breaking season for our club in terms of the numbers of players participating (30 teams this year!)  

While the outcomes this spring are not what any of us wanted, we hope that your experience with MC United -- whether you are a brand new player this season or a "veteran" -- will inspire you to return to soccer and MC United when the situation improves. We remain optimistic for fall and hope to see you all back soon. 

Please read the attached document above for all of the details. 

Families may choose one of two options via this link by Friday, May 15:  https://forms.gle/7cUm4pjXTH18SnDS7

PLEASE coordinate and have one person per household complete the survey so we do not have duplicates for the same family. 

1. DONATE:  As a registered, 501(c)(3) nonprofit organization, by forgoing a refund and by selecting "donation", your registration fees (or an amount you specify) will be allocated to the new MC United Future Fund. Contributions to this fund will support need-based player registration scholarships and future programming that will be of direct benefit to players and coaches. For example: winter gym stipends, player development and training sessions, coach training, and equipment. We have established this fund within MC United to help meet the future needs of our club and players. 

Your consideration of a donation will be especially impactful this year, as many families are experiencing the economic effects of the COVID-19 pandemic. We rely on our tournament proceeds to help offset some of the costs of player registration scholarships and other club expenses. With the cancellation of the March 2020 Central Wisconsin Futsal Championship and this past weekend’s Mountain Bay Cup, we will not have the same level of funds to reinvest in our scholarships and activities as we typically would. Moving into the fall season and beyond, many in our community may have greater financial needs than in the past. We sincerely appreciate your consideration, but also recognize that some families are not in a position to choose this option.  

2. REFUND: You may request a REFUND of spring registration fees (minus a $10 administrative fee ). Demosphere and late fees are not refundable. If we do not receive your refund request via the form at the link above by Friday, May 15, we will gratefully apply your fee to the MC United Future Fund.

(We are unable to issue credits for future seasons.)

Thank you and I hope to see all of you and your players soon. 

Sharon Belton

President

MC United 

MESSAGE FROM THE MCU PRESIDENT

Good afternoon. I promised to share information with each of you on the status of our soccer seasons as soon as it became available. Thank you for your patience. 

This morning we received the attached communication from the Wisconsin Youth Soccer Association (WYSA). In summary:   

• All spring/summer WYSA and District leagues and WYSA-sanctioned competitions are cancelled for the remainder of the spring/summer season (the spring/summer 2020 season ends on July 31). 
• This means that State and Classic leagues are cancelled and there will be no additional WYSA-sanctioned tournaments that MC United teams will plan to attend (there are no WYSA-sanctioned tournaments in July).  
• If your state team is registered for a July showcase tournament out-of-state, it is unlikely that WYSA will allow the team to attend due to COVID-19 restrictions related to "unnecessary travel", but I will be getting more information on this next week. I have asked our coaches not to plan any out-of-state tournaments between now and July 31 until further notice/clarification. 
• In-person club training remains suspended until WYSA indicates otherwise. Clubs may only begin in person training when government directives indicate it is safe to do so and we are able to achieve the minimum health guidelines recommended to gather in groups. Informal, in-person practices among players as a "MC United activity" are also not sanctioned or permitted by WYSA or MC United.  

What's Next? 

• Over the past month, MC United's Board has been meeting, making contingency plans, and assessing the possible financial impact of the Mountain Bay Cup tournament and season cancellation on our club. We have also been looking ahead to Fall 2020-Spring 2021, as this is usually the time of year when we start making plans for our upcoming seasons. 
• Now that we have firm confirmation from WYSA about our spring/summer season cancellations, we can now turn our focus to making more specific plans re: next steps. Getting accurate information is essential to our decision-making. Over the next five days, MC United's Board and our planning committees will be meeting. We will also be participating in CWSL and WYSA meetings on May 2, May 4, and May 5. We will then communicate with families in the three areas below.  
• Spring 2020 Registration Fees: Our initial focus will be on "making things right" with families relative to the cancelled spring/summer seasons. No later than Sunday, May 10 you can expect to hear from us about options for handling your spring registration fee payments. We are making plans to allow families to choose a donation, refund, or possibly a credit for a future season. As a registered, 501(c)(3) nonprofit organization, by selecting the "donation" choice, 100% of your registration fee would be allocated to help support future MC United programming activities such as winter gym stipends, player development and training sessions, coach training and clinics, equipment for teams, and need-based scholarships for families. In addition to refunds, we are currently looking into the logistics of offering the option of a credit for a future season within Demosphere (this is a bit more complicated than it may seem). Please be thinking about what option your family would prefer, as we will be asking each family to privately specify this on a form when we are ready. 
• Uniforms: No later than Sunday, May 10 we will also communicate our plan and timelines for distributing uniforms to families who ordered them for the spring season. 
• Planning for Fall 2020-Spring 2021 - we are also looking ahead to the Fall 2020-Spring 2021 season and making decisions and plans to make it as financially easy as possible for families to return to MC United when health and safety conditions allow. In addition, we are reviewing WYSA's new tryout policy for state teams (distributed today) in light of the COVID-19 season cancellation. Expect more information on plans for the next season later in May. 

We appreciate your continued support of MC United during these unprecedented times. We know it has been hard for the kids to be in a "wait and see" situation, only to receive more disappointing news. 

We also appreciate your patience as we waited for decisions to be made about the season. Please thank your coaches and team managers who spent hours of their time preparing for our spring seasons. 

Our biggest concern as a club is on how this impacting our kids. Please reassure your players -- in any way that you can -- of the importance of staying engaged in this sport that they love. We will be back. At some point. And we want to see all of our families return.

Thanks,

Sharon Belton

President

MC United 

We know you have options when choosing a competitive soccer club, so why choose MC United?

• Our club is home to students from across Marathon County and beyond including the Wausau, DC Everest, Newman, Marshfield, Stevens Point, Abbotsford, Medford, Eagle River and Minocqua area school districts 
• We offer girls and co-ed team options
• MC United provides scholarships to ensure everyone has the opportunity to play
• MC United is one of the only Clubs in the area to provide opportunities for play during both fall and spring seasons 
• Our teams attend three tournaments during the spring season (included in registration fees) and four tournaments during the fall season. All of the teams from our club participate in the same tournaments (except for the fourth fall tournament which is coach's choice), which helps to limit travel costs for families while allowing them to enjoy watching other MCU teams compete
• We offer diverse levels of play — competitive teams that play in the CWSL league as well as those that play in the State League*
• Our certified coaches are some of the best in the area
• MC United is host of the Mountain Bay Cup and MCU Fall Cup held annually in the fall and spring. The Mountain Bay Cup draws more than 100 teams from around the state to our area for a weekend of competitive soccer on some of the best fields in the state. 
• MC United regularly offers players access to specialized clinics in goalkeeper training, speed and agility, foot skills, etc. 
• We develop players from the ground up — offering the MCU Firecrackers Youth Academy for grades K-2 and competitive U9 - U18 teams*
• We are growing! MC United registrations are up nearly 20 percent from last year! 

*High school players: MC United welcomes all players. However, it is recommended that players joining MC United for the first time as a high school player (freshman U15s through U18) have some prior experience playing in another competitive soccer club; WAYSA, Everest Youth Soccer, or another indoor or outdoor recreational soccer program; or have participated for a season in their school district’s middle or high school soccer program. Parents of high school players interested in joining MC United that have not had any prior soccer experience should contact Lance Kelly, MC United’s Director of Coaching, prior to registration. This will help ensure that parents and players that are brand new to soccer have information about general skill, agility, and fitness expectations prior to committing to participation.

CANCELLED UNTIL FALL

MCU Family

Due to COVID-19 and the Safer-at-home guidelines we have decided to cancel the Spring Firecrackers academy. We are planning to still hold the fall session. Please continue to watch the Academy webpage for updates.