Heartland Soccer Association
9161 W 133rd Street, Overland Park, KS 66213
Phone: 913.888.8768
Heartland Soccer Association is recognized as one
of the largest soccer leagues and tournament hosts in the country. We offer recreational to premier divisions, ages U8 through U19.
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NOW OPEN!
Fall 2016
Heartland Soccer League registration
June 1st through noon on July 1st!
No late registrations
will be accepted!
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ImPACT Baseline Concussion Testing
Open to all Heartland Soccer participants
for more information click here.
Overland Park Regional Medical Center
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league teams this spring
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1,296
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league teams last fall
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1,265
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league players in 2015
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40,000
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tournament teams this year
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2,634
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tournament players this year
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42,000+
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referees
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1,600
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coaches
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1,400
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Tournament Numbers
(number of teams)
Border Battle
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159
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| KC Champions Cup |
410 |
| Mothers Day Classic |
407 |
KC Invitational
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282 |
Fall Kick Off Challenge
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224
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Sporting KC Affiliate Friendlies
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125
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Heartland Midwest Classic
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202
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Midwest All Girls
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300
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Girls HIT
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238
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Boys HIT
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382
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NCAA Men's College Showcase
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104
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In the last 12 months Heartland welcomed teams
from a total of 17 states and Canada.
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Get certified to be a referee!
Sign up to be a referee for
Fall 2016 Heartland league.
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Health Tip from HCA
Knee Pain: How to Choose the Right Brace for Your Child.
Knee pain is an increasingly common problem for young athletes and may result from both acute and overuse injuries.
A variety of structures are particularly susceptible to injury among young athletes, including the bones that make up the knee joint (femur, tibia, and patella), the muscles and tendons that move the joint (quadriceps, patellar tendon and hamstrings), the cartilage that cushions the joint (medial and lateral meniscus) and the ligaments that stabilize the joint (medial collateral ligament, lateral collateral ligament, anterior cruciate ligament, and posterior cruciate ligament).
The use of knee braces is an important consideration for a variety of injuries, and may be intended for prevention or incorporated as part of a treatment plan. The goal of any knee brace should be to work together with the innate structures of the knee to reduce pain and promote stability without loss of normal knee function, thereby reducing injury risk.
Knee Braces: Types & Uses
Knee Sleeves
These are neoprene braces which slide over the knee. It may include padding over the kneecap, an opening for the kneecap, straps, and/or a buttress surrounding the kneecap.
Basic sleeves provide warmth, compression, and perhaps an increased sense of knee support. They may be used in the treatment of patellofemoral pain or to reduce swelling. When a kneepad is included it provides additional protection to the front of the knee. It is important to recognize that while knee sleeves may help relieve swelling and provide a feeling of support following injury, they do not provide increased knee stability following injury or surgery.
Knee Pads
Knee pads may include knee sleeves with additional padding or rigid outer shells that cover the front of the knee with straps that wrap around the leg to secure it in place. Knee pads do not provide increased stability but may reduce injury risk, particularly in activities with the potential for direct blows to the front of the knee such as volleyball, skateboarding, biking, or roller skating.
Patellar Tracking Orthosis (PTO) Brace
This brace involves a knee sleeve with an opening for the patella and straps or buttressing around the opening. This may limit movement of the patella, thereby reducing the likelihood of patellar subluxation or dislocation. They may also include hinge along the sides of the knee to provide an additional sense of stability. While definitive evidence is lacking, these braces may reduce pain for some individuals with patellofemoral pain due to improper tracking of the patella.
Patellar Straps (bands)
Patellar straps have become an increasingly popular and visible tool for addressing anterior knee pain in young athletes. Patellar straps should be positioned midway between the bottom of the kneecap and the bump on the shin, applying pressure to the patellar tendon that runs down the front of the knee and inserts on the lower leg. This is thought to relieve some of the stress on the tendon and its attachment on the tibia and may relieve pain associated with patellar tendonitis and Osgood-Schlatter disease.
Hinged Knee Braces
Unlike sleeves, these braces consist of one or two bars with hinges along the sides of the knee and straps to hold it in place. While there are a variety of different hinged braces, they are all designed to increase stability by supporting the ligaments along the inside or outside of the knee (medical and lateral collateral ligaments). Prophylactic knee braces are designed to prevent injury during contact sports. Although these are commonly worn and may reduce injury risk among a certain subset of athletes (football linemen, for example), it is not yet clear whether these are cost-effective or applicable to other sports.
Functional and postoperative knee braces can be either a combination of metal and plastic or foam liners that wrap around the upper and lower leg and with metal bars along both sides of the knee and hinges that can be adjusted to limit range of motion. They are intended to improve the stability of an injured knee and are most commonly worn following injury while awaiting surgical reconstruction, or after surgery to protect the reconstructed knee. They can be adjusted to allow various amounts of range motion, can accommodate swelling better than casts or splints, and are easy to remove and replace for icing and re-examinations.
Some Warnings for Parents about Knee Braces:
All knee bracing should be undertaken in consultation with your child's doctor or athletic trainer. While many varieties are available without a prescription, they should only be used once an accurate diagnosis has been made and a comprehensive management program has been developed.
For both acute and overuse injuries, knee braces should be only one element of a comprehensive treatment program. While some braces may protect the knee from further injury, rehabilitation that targets flexibility, strength, range of motion, and balance should be the mainstays of any recovery program.
The use of knee braces to prevent knee injuries should be considered carefully. This approach has not yet been shown to be cost-effective, and should not take the place of proper sport-specific training programs to reduce injury.
Source: American Academy of Pediatrics
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Coaching Requirements
Heartland soccer league is sanctioned by Kansas Youth Soccer. There is a minimum coaching requirement. All recreational and premier coaches must complete the F license course. It is online and can be found at the following link.
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National C License Course
KSYSA is hosting a USSF National C license in Ottawa KS and then testing in KC at Swope Soccer Village,
July 31 to August 7 and Nov 18-20 respectively.
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Referee Development Clinic
held during
Midwest Mother's Day Tournament
The Referee Development Program Mission is to create an environment and process where every referee can further develop their knowledge and skills to contribute to a safe, fair and enjoyable soccer experience for our teams. The Referee Development Program is designed to develop our referees by providing increased levels of training and multiple levels of on-field mentoring. Currently, Heartland Soccer uses over 1,500 referees to manage your league and tournament matches.
The Tournament Clinics give high-achieving referees an opportunity to work games under the observation of Heartland's trained Mentors. Those referees receive in-depth feedback about their performance on the field; this is referee coaching. There is also a classroom component, where the participants watch video of themselves on the field and learn more about practical topics.
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Congratulations
Ryder Barrett!
We would like to congratulate Ryder Barrett for being selected by the Coaching Staff of the Kansas State Youth Soccer Association to represent Kansas in the ODP Sub-Regional event this June in South Dakota!
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Huge Thank you to Scheels!
Thank you Scheels for hosting our spring Heartland Soccer monthly referee meetings in the Steven D. Scheels Training Center located in their Overland Park store. We are extremely appreciative of all the Scheels gift cards donated as door prizes.
We will see you in the in August.
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Congratulations to local players
and
their accomplishments!
Click below to read the full story.
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This Month in History............
June 1942- FIFA World Cup was not held due to WWII
June 1946- FIFA World Cup was not held due to WWII
June 21,1950- Michel Platini was born
June 30,1951- Australia recorded their worst ever defeat, 17-0 against England
June 1969- Honduras/ El Salvador break diplomatic relations due to soccer match
June 1984- France wins soccer's European Cup
June 24, 1987- Lionel Messi was born
June 1992- Denmark upsets Germany 2-0 to win European Soccer Championship
June 2016- Copa America celebrates its 100
th year anniversary
June 2016- First time America host the Copa America
June 3-26- Copa America will hold 32 matches in the U.S.
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Coaches Corner
Set up: Half a field using the width of the 18 yard box with 3 zones marked out. A line of cones or gates mark the final thirds.
Instructions: 9v9 directional game. Teams play 8v8 in the middle zone with keepers in their goal. Each team play 8v8 in the middle zone with keepers in their goal. Each team possesses the ball until they can penetrate the final zone to go 1v1 with the keeper. players run and the penetrating pass must be through different gates.
Coaching Points:
Shape and balance of the team to support underneath the ball.
Timing of run into the end zone-offside in effect.
Quality and timing of penetrating pass.
Straight pass= diagonal run
Diagonal pass= straight run
Combinations to penetrate 1-2, overlap, 3rd man run
Quality of finish
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Heartland Soccer 2016 Referee Meetings Dates
Referees of all ages and experience levels are encouraged to attend Heartland's monthly referee meetings! Join us to learn tips and tricks for ARs and Referees, fun games, vital information, and fabulous prizes!
Parents are always welcome.
Monday, August 8th
Monday, September 12th
Monday, October 10th (Columbus Day)
Monday, November 14th (End of Year Party)
Meeting times:
Mentors will meet 6pm-7pm
Monthly Referee Meeting from 7pm-8:30pm
Meetings will be held at the "Steve D. Scheels" Training Center in the northwest corner of the second floor of the Scheels store located at 6503 West 135th St, Overland Park, KS 66223
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| Referee Development Academy Program
On Memorial Day, Scheels Overland Park Soccer Complex played host to Heartland Soccer Association's Referee appreciation party. This season, our referees showed a great willingness to work hard and improve their abilities. Many of our refs attended the Referee Development Academy Program's (RDAP) Monthly meetings, and our Referee Mentors reported back with countless examples of refs who were enthusiastic about learning more and craving feedback for them to improve. In appreciation of all the hard work and dedication shown throughout this Spring season, Heartland refs were treated to Papa John's Pizza, competitive and educational referee related activities, and prizes. At the end of the event the RDAP staff also presented their end of season award winners. Thank you to all of our Heartland Soccer Association Referees for your continued efforts in helping make our soccer ecosystem thrive! A Huge Thank you to Papa John's for providing pizza for our event.
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A SPECIAL THANKS TO ALL OUR SPONSORS
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101 Ladies Accessories
3 Women and an Oven
AAA Insurance
Academy Sports and Outdoors
Advocare
Arvest
Benjamin Franklin Plumbing
Burger Fi
Casey's
Chartroose Caboose
Chevrolet
Chick fil A
Corner Bakery Cafe
Damsel in Defense
Dick's Sporting Goods
Drs. Hawks, Besler, Rogers & Stoppel
Edible Promotions
Farmer's Insurance
FC Kansas City
Global Connections
Goodcents
Gordon Biersch
Grey Grace Boutique
Grimaldi's
Harlan C Parker State Farm
Hasty Awards
Hayward's Pit BBQ
HCA
Healpains
Huntington Learning Center
iFly
Isagenix
J&K Soccer
Jamberry
Jimmy John's
Johnny Cascone's
Jon Russell's Barbeque
Kansas Athletics
KC Running Store
Kincaid Coach Lines
Legoland/Sea Life
Lenny's Subs
Le-Vel
Levine Advertising
Lululemon
Mary Kay
McCarthy Auto Group
Menorah Medical Center
Missouri Comets
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Molle Toyota
Momo Bands
Moneytalks Financial Foundation
Nerium
Norwex
Overland Park Regional Medical Center
Overland Park Soccer Club
Pacific Dental Services
Paciugo Gelato
Panera
Papa John's
Pickleman's
Pinstripes
Prairiefire
Premier Designs Jewelry
Price Chopper
Rasmussen College
Research Medical Center
Rock and Brews
Rosati's of Overland Park
Salty Iguana
Scentsy
Scheels
Scott the Electrican
Shred-It
Skyzone
Slim Chickens
Smoothie King
Soccer Master
Southern Charmed
Sporting Kansas City
Storage Mart
Strouds
Sunflower Bank
Swope Park Rangers
Tastefully Simple
The Roasterie
The Storage Place
Thirty-One Gifts
Three Sisters
Tick Tock
Tiger-Rock Martial Arts
T-riffic T-shirts
Urban Air
Valley View Bank
Worlds of Fun/Oceans of Fun
You Oughta Be In Pictures
Young Living Essential Oils
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| If you would like to nominate a player for the play of the month email Katie Falco Falcokatie@gmail.com |
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Division Winners - Spring 2016
Heartland Soccer Spring 2016 division winners are now listed on the Heartland website.
Medals:
Medals are now available for all players on division winning teams. The medals may be picked up at the Heartland Soccer Association office, 9161 West 133rd Street, Overland Park, KS. If your team is a division winner, please have one representative pickup the medals for the entire team.
Heartland Awards Events with Sporting Kansas City:
Sporting Kansas City will again host an awards ceremony at the 4 pm game on June 19 and the 6 pm game on July 3. All division winning teams attending the game will be recognized during a half-time parade at field level. A large block of tickets have been set aside for sale to Heartland division winners. After that block is sold, tickets will be standing room only. Details for the events were included in the congratulatory email sent to division winning teams.
June 19th event is now sold out.
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From the Heartland League Director, Richard Davies
The end of the Spring 2016 season is here. I hope you have had a great time and the players have finished happy and healthy.
There will be a lot of thought and concerns about tryouts and new teams and age groups this year, we plan on giving out as much information as possible to you to try and alleviate the concerns.
We have updated our rules to show the new formats of play and roster sizes. Please look on the website for the most updated rules. The new formats will be 7v7 and 9v9 instead of 6v6 and 8v8. League Rules
click here
Registration is now open for the Fall 2016 season, please be sure to have your teams signed up in the correct age group. The age groups will be by birth year so you will play to the birth year of your oldest player. To register
click here
There are field size changes as well as format changes, the one that is a noticeable difference is the 7v7 size field. They will be approximately 50 yards by 30 yards which is quite a reduction from the 6v6 fields in the past. The fields will be in quads, where one 11v11 size field will have 4 x 7v7 fields on them. There will be no 7v7 games at Swope Soccer Village next season due to parking and traffic concerns.
I know the gap between seasons seems to get shorter every year, but we at Heartland want to thank you for playing with us this spring and hope that you have a fantastic summer with your families.
See you in the Fall.
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Heartland Soccer Changes Fall 2016- Spring 2017
- There will be no true U8 Division.
- U8 Teams will play in U9. If those U8 teams want to play other U8's only, then please indicate that on the registration form in seeding comments box. You sign up as U9 but will be placed in subdivisions of U8 teams based on demand.
- U9 and U10 will play 7v7 on fields that are approximately 50 yards x 30 yards.
- U11 and u12 will play 9v9 on fields that are approximately 80 yards x 50 yards.
- There will be no divisions of U10 9v9 and u12 11v11.
- There will be no 7v7 games at Swope Soccer Village. At the other facilities there will be 4 x 7v7 fields on one full size field. So the fields will be assigned as part of a quad, for example 1 full size field will be broken down into NE, NW, SE, SW.
All divisions will be birth year with the following breakdowns.
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AGE
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Birth Year
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GRADE
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U5
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2012
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Pre-K (9/1-12/31)
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U6
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2011
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K and PreK
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U7
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2010
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1st and K
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U8
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2009
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2nd and 1st
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U9
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2008
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3rd and 2nd
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U10
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2007
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4th and 3rd
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U11
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2006
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5th and 4th
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U12
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2005
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6th and 5th
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U13
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2004
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7th and 6th
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U14
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2003
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8th and 7th
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U15
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2002
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9th and 8th
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U16
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2001
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10th and 9th
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U17
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2000
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11th and 10th
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U18
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1999
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12th and 11th
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U19
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1998
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12th
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Premier roster sizes are the following:
7v7 U9 & U10
KS = 12, MO = 14, Heartland Game Day 14
9v9 U11 & U12
KS = 14, MO = 18, Heartland Game day 18
11v11 U13 & U14 KS = 18, MO = 22, Heartland Game Day 18
11v11 U15 and above KS = 22, MO = 22, Heartland Game Day 18
In the (02) U15 Division Only
, the guest player limit is 5.
In all other age groups guest players are limited to 3.
During the U15 (02) gender specific high school season we will still have true U15 divisions. Teams can reform from the existing 8th graders and make up numbers from the U14 (03) by double rostering and guest playing.
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Kansas City Invitational Tournament
The KCI tournament has been operating for over 25 years and continues to attract top soccer talent. This year we welcomed 282 teams from 11 different states to the KCI tournament over the May 27-30 weekend. Over 4,500 athletes spread over 49 divisions participated. With such a large number of teams and divisions offered, teams were able to play against teams with like skill levels.
Games were played at the Scheels Overland Park Soccer Complex and Swope Soccer Village.
During the KCI players, parents, coaches, referees and spectators had the opportunity to participate in the KCI Champions Wall photo contest. Participants took pictures in front of the Champions Wall and then posted them on social media.
Winners were selected each day and took home Jon Russell's BBQ gift certificates.
Thank you to everyone that participated in the Kansas City Invitational Tournament and the Champions Wall photo contest.
Winners of the Champions Wall photo Contest
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Gateway Sports Village Update
The Grandview Tax Increment Financing Commission on Wednesday voted 9-1 to recommend approval of $61 million in TIF for the $300 million youth sports-anchored mixed-use development.
With the Grandview Board of Aldermen approval, the TIF will become part of a $78 million public support package for the $234 million portion of Gateway Sports Village.
The development plans include calls for 14 lighted artificial-turf soccer fields; an 86,000-square-foot fieldhouse; three hotels with a total of 540 rooms; and 334,000 square feet of mixed-use space, including 21,000 square feet of restaurants.
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Brendan, Cody & Mason Kelemen
This trio of brothers is the Papa John's Referee Spotlight for the month of May. Brendan, Cody and Mason have all played soccer since they were very young and continue to play today. Both Mason and Cody play high school soccer at Blue Valley West and competitive soccer at Overland Park Soccer Club. Brendon continues to play intramural soccer in college with his fraternity.
All three boys have learned a great deal through being referees. Brendan says he has, "learned how to keep his cool in stressful and intense situations", Cody has learned to be "more responsible for myself" and Mason says he has learned a lot about "how to deal with people". Sounds like some good lessons learned!
Besides playing soccer and working, the boys spend their time serving within the community (Cody), fishing (Mason) and even achieving the rank of Eagle Scout (Brendan).
When asked what their favorite thing about being a referee was, the boys had some pretty great answers that made us smile in the office. Mason boldly stated that his favorite thing about being a referee is, "getting up early in the morning each weekend", and all three brothers agreed that one of their favorite parts of being a referee was the tasty food that is provided by our amazing sponsors at tournaments as well as the people they have met along the way.
We are so glad to have you on board! Thank you for your hard work.
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The Heartland Soccer Association Ecosystem - Fans and Referees:
On May 9th more than 60 Certified Referees met at the Scheels store for the Monthly Continuing Education Meeting. These Referees were not paid for attending this meeting. They came to learn how they could become even more effective officials for your matches.
 We have completed more than 700 Peer Mentoring Reports, as a part of our efforts to deliver the best soccer experience for our Heartland teams. We can't be successful with our training, mentoring and guidance without the help of the coaches and especially you, the fans. For those of you who have been supporting our young Referees - we say "Thank You!". We know we have more work to do, and we will continue to do what we can to deliver SAFE and FAIR matches for your players.
This month we want to review one of the most misunderstood decisions that the Referee team has to make - Offside.
Offside is one of the primary responsibilities of the Assistant Referee. Offside is defined as being closer to the goal line than either the second to the last defender or the ball at the moment the ball is played or touched by a team mate. This is a lot of data to keep track of. We thought you might want to know what we expect of the Assistant Referee.
Positioning: You see the Assistant Referees moving up and down the field during the match. Have you ever wondered why they do this? Because the Assistant Referee is supposed to stay even with the person who is the second to the last defender. This puts them in position to make the call when the ball is played.
Sounds fairly simple, doesn't it. At the same time the Assistant Referees need to be able to tell when the ball goes over the line (the whole of the ball over the line) and then to make a decision on which team gets the throw-in or goal kick or corner kick.
What happens when the Assistant Referee starts watching the game? They can lose their position with the second to the last defender, which will make the decision to call an offside that much more difficult. Why do we point this out? Because most of us want to watch the area around the ball (this is where the action is, right?). Ball watching creates problems for Assistant Referees. Do you think it could cause the same problems for the spectators?
During a recent tournament, the Assistant Referee was focused on his positioning. He was even with the second to the last defender (as he was trained to do). In his opinion and based on his positioning, a player on one team passed the ball to a team mate who was in an offside position. The flag went up and the
Referee blew the whistle. It was a classic offside decision. But, the parents of the attacking team (who were probably watching the ball) did not agree. This happens every weekend and is OK. What the parents did next, however, was to direct profanity at the Assistant Referee. This is not OK.
Given the choice of watching the play around the ball or watching the second to the last defender, most of us would watch the play. The good news is that you can because the Assistant Referee is watching the second to the last defender. Next time you enjoy watching a soccer match, think about what the Assistant Referee is doing. I bet this will lead to more thank yous and fewer profane comments. Wouldn't you agree?
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Overuse Injuries Among Young Athletes Common but Preventable
Even though school is out for the summer, young athletes are still training hard for tryouts, practice or just having fun with friends.
In summer, Overland Park Regional Medical Center also sees an increase in young athletes in our three Emergency Rooms across Johnson County.
 "Kids are jumping into sports at a young age and young athletes need to properly train," says Dr. Dan Farrell, orthopedic surgeon with the Sports Medicine Program at Overland Park Regional Medical Center. "These young athletes need to improve mobility, strength and endurance to prevent over use and mechanical injuries."
In fact, Overland Park Regional Medical Center is seeing an increase in overuse injuries.
"In light of seeing more and more kids who are focusing or specializing in one sport and playing that sport all year round," says Dr. Farrell.
Dr. Farrell, who is sub specialty boarded in sports medicine from the American Board of Orthopedic Surgery, recommends a mix of the following:
- Cross training: This helps strengthen different muscle groups and allows over-strained muscles time to rest. Cross training can help improve form and train and develop new skills.
- Mobility: Dynamic stretching before and after practice or a sporting event.
- Rest: Resting at least one day a week.
"The word rest can mean different things for different people," Dr. Farrell says. "Kids need to have fun and relax. That includes not training and not focusing on their sport."
Parents and coaches have a great deal of influence-for better or for worse. Parents and coaches should stress moderation in training and should restrain the zeal with which they push youth and teens.
"Coaches should themselves learn and use proper training techniques and avoid too many repetitive drills, since the overwhelming reason for overuse injuries is overuse-repeating movements too much, resulting in microtraumas, Dr. Farrell says. "Coaches should also teach proper motion techniques for such activities such as throwing or running."
Dr. Farrell recommends caregivers and coaches follow this rule of thumb.
"If your child has a deformity, swelling or skin changes, that young athlete should see their primary care physician right away," says Dr. Farrell.
For more information about the Sports Medicine Program at Overland Park Regional Medical Center, visit
oprmc.com/sportsmedicine
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