This spring started with Wayland Youth Soccer (WAYS) players, coaches and families “chilling out.” Snow on April 12 meant unexpectedly cold playing conditions for the very few games played. The 14 consecutive weekends of rainfall during April, May and June forced many games to be rescheduled continuously throughout the season.
WAYS’s youngest players in grades K-2 play their games at the middle school. These 28 teams of resilient players persisted through weeks of cancellations for wet or cold temps and learned the basic skills of soccer in the rain and mist.
For third-graders, spring season brought the new experience of moving up from in-town scrimmages against fellow Wayland players to travel games, going as far as Attleboro for away games and hosting those teams at Claypit School fields in home matches.
The fields at Claypit are the home field to WAYS third- through sixth-graders. The familiar fields with ample parking are well-loved spots to see many friends in pursuit of their athletic goals. Again this spring, as had happened to multiple fields during the winter, a nighttime drive left damaging tire tracks across most of a field. While the games had to be moved from one field to the next, the players’ spirits were high as they came together to play.
With 28 K-2 soccer teams plus 31 travel teams (14 girls’ teams and 17 with boys), Wayland Youth Soccer is one of Wayland’s largest sports organizations, and it relies heavily on its volunteer coaches and board members. From recruiting parents for coaching, organizing teams, planning skill building opportunities, scheduling and rescheduling games, managing youth soccer has many moving parts. Referees make games possible and again this season WAYS Referee Coordinator Brud Wright provided his essential program for training Wayland teenagers for the job.
Chilling out on the sidelines and the field was a key focus for youth soccer this spring. The Boston Area Youth Soccer (BAYS) league organization rolled out the Referee Abuse Prevention policy (RAP) to replace its longstanding zero-tolerance policy. WAYS’s early spring newsletter noted that “many of our referees quit after one instance of being told they called a game poorly. Because of this, no parents can speak to the referees before, during or after the game.”
The Spring 2025 season saw the lowest number of BAYS infractions for Wayland coaches in many years. “It’s thanks to the high-quality character of our coaches and their excellent model for our children. Thank you also to our referees for being the best kids and adults around,” said WAYS President Lesley Stewart.
Unsung hero of the season
An unsung hero of the season was field scheduler Kelly Pierce, who rescheduled nearly a third of every travel team’s 10 games. Unusually rainy game-day weather meant shifting the times, referees and locations of dozens of games, coping with the unusable fields at Claypit, plus the extra hurdle that many referees are too young to drive and are not able to pivot freely across town, multiplied by every player and parent’s limiting schedule options. Wet weekend games were balanced by drier weekday practice sessions across town. Families built camaraderie under umbrellas on the sidelines of games.
A soccer community
Coach Mike Martins commented, “For me, it’s bittersweet as I’ve been coaching these seniors since kindergarten. I will miss being on the sidelines watching these boys compete together.”
Stewart expressed the feelings of many when she said, “These are golden years and we’re so lucky to be part of it. Thank you to our volunteers and families, and to our town management who help make these experiences possible. We hope everyone enjoys chilling out this summer, and looks forward to lacing the cleats up in the fall!”
