Pittsford Panthers

Football and Cheerleading Club

Frequently Asked Questions

• When does football start this year? Football starts on Friday August 1^st at 6PM.
• What is the minimum age requirement to participate in this program? Your child must be 8 years old by August 1st. If he or she is not, they cannot participate.
• Do you offer a flag football program for younger kids? At this time we do not offer a flag football program.
• When does the season run? The season starts on August 1st and runs through the first week of November.
• We didn’t participate in the Pittsford Panthers program last year. Are we allowed to signup during the preregistration period? Preregistration is only for returning players or new players with a sibling that completed the previous season with the program. All other registrants must wait for the open registration process in order to sign up.
• What is the open registration process? The open registration process is a period of time where anyone that does not qualify for preregistration process is allowed to sign up for the program. Depending on the number of available openings, this process may require a lottery.
• When is the open registration period? The open registration period is after the close of the pre-registration period. Depending on when pre-registration closes, this period is generally a few weeks after the official close of pre-registration. Please refer to the Pittsford Panthers web site for official announcements regarding open registration.
• Who is eligible to participate in the open registration process? Any child that meets the age and weight limitations and lives in Pittsford.
• What is the lottery all about? – If the number of people that sign up during open registration exceeds the available number of openings, a lottery will be held to pull names at random from those that signed up during open registration.
• My son/daughter wants to play with their friends on a particular team. Can they request that team? We pick kids at random and appoint them to the various teams that need to be filled. We intentionally avoid grouping kids so we can eliminate opportunities to “stack” teams.
• My son/daughter played on a particular team last season, but this season wants to move to the other conference. Can they do this? As with the previous question, the answer is we do not swap kids back and forth between conferences. Once you have been appointed to a conference, this is where you will stay for your duration of the program.
• What time are practices held throughout the season? In August, practices run Monday – Thursday from 6-8PM, and Saturdays from 9-11AM. There may be extenuating circumstances that cause deviations in those plans, but changes are communicated well in advance. Once school starts in September, practice schedules change to Tuesday, Thursday and Saturdays, starting out at 6PM – 8PM, but as daylight diminishes, we scale practice times back during the week. Saturdays are still generally two hours long.
• How long are practices? Practices generally last 2 hours per night/day during August. This is the same for both football & cheerleading. As we move to September and October, practice times will vary and the durations will vary as well. For the most part, we schedule practice times around the available light for the football players. This is due to some families having both football players and cheerleaders to drop off and pick up, so we want to keep the logistical issues to a minimum and have these times be the same for all kids. There will be occasions that the cheerleaders may be asked to stay longer (for instance, if a cheer competition is approaching), but you will be notified in advance of these changes. Keep in mind that as daylight diminishes in the fall, so will practice times. Depending on how cloudy and overcast the fall days get, practices may be as short as 75 minutes long.
• When are games held? – Most of all league scheduled games are held on Sundays. There may be instances when a game is moved to a Saturday, but changes are communicated well in advance.
• Where are practices held? – National teams practice at Barker Road Middle School and American teams practice at Calkins Road Middle School fields. Deviations to these plans may be necessary due to other scheduled events. Your coaches will keep you informed of any changes to these plans.
• What is certification? – Certification is a process conducted by the league to verify the accuracy of the rosters. Each child must be certified by a specific date or the child will be unable to play or participate in league sponsored events. Your certification dates are listed in the CALENDAR.
• Where are games held? – Home games are generally held at Pittsford Mendon High School.
• What times are the games on Sundays? – The start times are as follows: C team – 11:30AM; A team – 1:30PM; B team – 3:30PM
• How long are the games on Sundays? The games generally last about two hours, depending on the number of interruptions that might delay the game.

·        We generally go on vacation in August. What is the impact to us if we are in this program? The Pittsford Panthers football and cheerleading club expects every participant to attend and actively participate in every practice and game. Attendance means arriving before the coach begins warm-ups and staying until the coach adjourns the team.  The Club stresses safety for all participants, and places high value on developing teamwork from the start; teamwork is created best through demonstrated commitment to teammates, coaches, and oneself. Our attendance policy states that for August à players and cheerleaders are permitted to be absent, without explanation or excuse, from no more than three (3) practices during the period commencing on the first day of practice and running to the beginning of school.   Once School Begins:  Players and cheerleaders are permitted to be absent, without explanation or excuse, from no more that two (2) practices at any time commencing from the beginning of school through the last scheduled football game (players) or the league cheer competition (cheerleaders).  Players and cheerleaders are permitted to be absent, without explanation or excuse, from no more than one (1) scheduled league game throughout the season.

·        What is the nature of the family volunteer requirement? - This program is based on a 100% volunteer commitment from all of its members (coaches, board members, families). In order to support the program and run it to the standard that everyone has become accustomed to, each family is required to donate volunteer hours. These hours can be applied many different ways. Many of the tasks are fun and provide you with opportunities to meet new people, all with a common goal in mind à to provide the best possible program to the families, relatives and friends associated with Pittsford Panthers Football and Cheerleading.

• What is the program’s refund policy? – The refund policy is as follows:

If you resign your Pittsford Panthers membership:

Before March 1, your refund will be 100% of the amount paid.

Between March 1 and August 1, your refund will be 50% of the amount paid.

After August 1, your refund will be 0% of the amount paid.

• What are the registration fees? Fees are $200 per child or $500 per family (3 or more kids)
• Does the program engage in any fundraising activities? More of a guideline than a rule, the program has tried for many years to avoid multiple fundraising activities. Considerable board emphasis is placed on developing and maintaining an annual budget with the goal of keeping our costs in line. We do realize, however, that we need to do some fundraising or all costs associated with the program are placed on the shoulders of the parents. Our primary fundraiser is selling pizza coupon books. These coupon books essentially sell themselves. We do offer a buyout option for those that do not want to sell these books, but this is a mandatory fundraiser for all families enrolled in the program.

Updated Thursday, June19th 12:43 PM