While we dodged the massive amounts of rainfall yesterday that devastated our neighbors to the west in Arab and to the south in Pelham (and Birmingham in general), we still received a significant amount locally. The fields are simply too wet to host games tonight, so go ahead and help us spread the word that they are cancelled for 10/7. We will have things back on track next week.

Uniform update: The uniforms did not ship out to arrive today as expected, but they should arrive on Monday. Once I confirm they will arrive, I will contact coaches and get them in their possession. We do not give individual uniforms to parents, as they are packed for the whole team. The coaches will distribute to players. **Please note that you will receive picture order forms with your uniform. It will speed up the process with the photographer if you have the form completed when you arrive at the field at the pre-arranged time to have your pictures made.

Picture update: If your team was on the picture schedule for Monday, it will push later in the week or the following Monday. Your coach will be contacted by the photographer to set up a different time and the coaches will inform the parents.

Schedule update: While it has been rolling out slowly, this has allowed us to identify and resolve conflicts as we go and put out a more reliable schedule in the end. The remainder of the schedule should appear over the weekend. Our season plan is to continue (weather permitting) playing games on Monday, Tuesday and Thursday through Nov. 4th.

We do apologize for the rough and tumble start to the season, and we certainly do appreciate and value your patience as we wade through it all. It’s been great to see everyone back on the fields and we can’t wait to wrap up another great season.

DC Inferno Soccer Staff

P.S. As an alternative to being at the FPSC fields tonight, remember that CFC (Chattanooga Football Club) is hosting the Cal United Strikers at Finley Stadium at 7:00 Eastern time (that’s 6:00 Central time) tonight, and your players can get in free. See below for details of the process.

OFFER CODE: DCINFERNO

Ticket Guide

Get your tickets

• Go to cfctix.com
• Select the game you are purchasing for. Once you select the game on the homepage, you will see an “Offer Code” bar along the top of the page (shown below in image 1). Please input the password you received from your organization.

 Without Offer

Once you put in the offer password, you must click “Check”  (hitting the enter key will not work). After entering the password, when you select a seat in the stadium you will now have the option of selecting a Partner ticket option. It will show up as “DC INFERNO” This ticket is for children only, parents are expected to purchase a standard Adult ticket online. 

Do you ever wish you were a meteorologist? I sure do. After looking at the forecast, the rain appears to be holding off until at least 8 tonight, so why not try, right? It’s only a little water…. (Famous last words of Eddy Bolton, ha!!) Come prepared tonight with a coat or umbrella just in case the rain hits early. If something changes, we will let you know through remind, or Facebook, or the Teamsnap app if possible.

It’s also Quesadilla night!! Quesadillas are prepared and packaged by one of our sponsors, Limon’s Mexican Restaurant in Henagar. I can tell you from personal experience, they are outstanding, and as the nights cool off, they will really hit the spot. Make sure to get one early, because they go fast!!!

How do I join the Remind group? Just click here and follow the directions. We copy most major announcements, weather or otherwise) to this Remind channel. (As it fills, we move you to additional groups, there are space limits)

How do I get on Teamsnap? If you have not received an email invitation, talk to your child’s coach and see if they can check the email address we used to add you to the system. If they cannot change it, talk to someone at the front gate and we will try to get you taken care of and added. All team communication is handled through the app, as well as game and practice schedules, so it is important that you are on the app as soon as possible.

See you all at the fields, let’s go have some fun tonight!!

DC Inferno Soccer Staff

The fields were quite dry, so they took the rain yesterday very well. We will be having games tonight. Please let your team know if you were on the schedule. The forecast for the rest of the week looks a bit dismal, watch for updates tomorrow and Thursday.

In our journey to provide the best soccer experience possible for the kids of DeKalb county, we have met Kris Ray, who’s role with Chattanooga Football Club includes heading up their community development program. We have watched CFC as the have developed over the last few years and they are a club with a support foundation to be envied.

Kris will be at the fields Thursday, and there will potentially be some of their professional players to interact with our recreational program players and coaches. Come out and join us, and let your players meet and experience some players that are at a “slightly higher level”. You can also ask questions and find out a little more about our neighbor to the north.

Rec soccer games begin tonight at the Fort Payne Sports Complex. There are limited games played on Mondays, with most of the games being played on Tuesdays and Thursdays, and admission to the games is $1.00 per person. Admission is available at the Gault Avenue side and the railroad track side of the complex.

A few items to note:

1. Uniforms won’t be in until the end of the 2nd week due to a combination of the coaching shortage, sponsor shortage, and Covid supply and manufacturing issues. This year was seemingly a perfect storm, but with a little patience and understanding, we will get through it and play some soccer. Games will feature one team in pinnie vests and one team in regular T-shirts until uniforms arrive.
2. If you have any trouble locating your game, please don’t hesitate to ask at the entrances. There are maps there to assist you in finding your field. You can also access the field map HERE.
3. The concession stand will be open, with a similar menu to last year, candy, and bottled drinks. We will not have fountain drinks this year.
4. Coaches will pick up game roster cards at the main concession ticket booth as they enter.
5. We see issues shown on the news daily of people acting out in public. This is not the venue for that. Remember that this is a game and we do this for the kids. Keep your comments positive for the kids, especially for the younger ones, they look to you to see if they did good or bad. Don’t steal their happiness over your own pride.
6. We have a ZERO tolerance policy for referee abuse. The world around us is losing referees at a staggering pace in all sports, and our choice is to be the exception and not the rule. Most of our referees are students and trainees, and negative comments take their focus from the game and from the players (remember, we are here for the kids, make it positive). It takes years of experience to become a good referee, and if we discourage them, we won’t have any good referees left in a few years.
7. 24 hour rule: A good rule of thumb, whether frustrated at a coach, referee, another parent or any situation that happens at the field is to wait 24 hours and then get in touch with the parties involved. (Many times after this cool-down period, you find that there is no need to pursue the meeting after all.) At the very least, you can have a conversation without all the emotions of the night before.

Covid notes:

1. Masks are not required, so please try to social distance as much as possible.
2. Please use sanitizer and wash your hands regularly.
3. If you have symptoms, feel bad, or have been around a family member who shows symptoms or feels bad, please don’t come to the complex. Go home, get better, and we will be glad to have you back.