Dear high school coaches, service coordinators, and Best Buddies sponsors,

Please forward this to anyone who you think may be interested. Thanks!

Do you know a teen who would like to volunteer some time on Saturdays this spring? We are always looking for buddies for our soccer players with special needs. Buddies assist players in various ways, both on the field and off, and they are crucial to the success of the league. We provide buddy training, so volunteers do not need to know a lot about soccer, and they do not need to have prior experience working with kids with special needs. Being a buddy is a great way to gain that experience and to do some good in the community. The time commitment is just 2 hours a week, on Saturday afternoons from April 8-May 27. The exact time and field have not been confirmed yet, but once that is set it will be the same every week.

If you have questions about what being a buddy entails, feel free to email us here.

If you are ready to register your teen as a buddy, please follow these steps:

1. Go to http://www.ayso697.org/Default.aspx?tabid=808162.

2. Click on “for volunteers,” then select “+ sign up” in the “2017 OPAYSO VIP Spring Soccer” field at the bottom of the page.

3. If you already have an account in the new system because you have registered a player for spring (for VIP or for mainstream) or you have registered yourself as a volunteer, you’ll simply need to add your volunteering teen to your profile and then register him or her as a buddy. But….

4. If you do not already have an account for the new registration system, you will need to create one. It is fairly straightforward and will make registering as a volunteer simpler if your teen wants to continue to be a buddy in future seasons.

New Buddy Trainings will be held on a couple of evenings in mid to late March and early April, and a All-Buddy Meeting (including returning buddies) will be held on Wed April 5. You will receive an email with more information about the trainings and meeting, and a link to sign up for them, at a later date.

Thanks so much for your interest.
Holly Barnes