Oregon SC relies heavily on volunteers to help us provide the best possible soccer experience for players.

However, it has become very challenging to get the help that is needed as the club continues to grow and develop.

Some examples of this problem include:

• Vacant Board positions, whose duties have fallen to either other Board members or former Board members who have offered to help on an interim basis
• Struggles filling Recreational and In-House coaching positions
• Inabilities to fill the needed volunteer spots for the Oregon Soccer Fall Fury, which is the club's main annual fundraiser

The bottom line is that approximately 30 or 40 volunteers were doing the vast majority of the work; a group that makes up a very small percentage of the members of a club that has had between 700 and 900 players for the past few years.

As a result, Oregon SC has had volunteer requirements for all families with 9U players and older since the 2018-19 season.

Families are responsible for four hours of volunteering for each OSC player on 9U teams and older — regardless of the program (Recreational, Academy or Competitive) — each season.

A season is considered fall and spring; for example, Fall 2023 and Spring 2024 is the 2023-24 season. Parents have the option to opt out of those volunteer hours for $200. (The opt-out fee increased for the 2023-24 season.)

For high school-aged players, whose teams play in either only the fall or spring, the requirement is two volunteer hours or a $100 opt-out fee. The same is true for spring-only players. (The opt-out fee increased for the 2023-24 season.)

To be clear, we would much rather see more volunteers than to collect additional money from families. However, collecting money from those who choose to go that route allows us to pay people to perform some of the tasks for which we cannot find volunteers without raising fees on all players.

People who serve in the following positions are exempt from volunteer requirements:

• Board member (voting or non-voting position)
• Oregon Soccer Fall Fury tournament director/committee member
• Recreational coach (9U and older)
• Academy coach (8U/9U/10U)
• 6U/7U/8U In-House coach
• 4U/5U In-House coach
• Team manager (9U and older)

* Please note that there are licensing requirements for all coaching positions.

Beyond those positions, here are some ways volunteer hours can be completed:

Additionally, we are flexible on what can be considered volunteer time — families are welcome to approach the Board with proposals for topics/projects that they feel would benefit the club.

Check out and sign up for volunteer opportunities through the "Dibs" page, which is available under the "More+" tab on the top far right side of this website.

• Oregon Soccer Fall Fury
• Goal moving
• Field flag crew (make sure all fields have corner flags on game days, return them to the sheds after final games of the day)
• Goal net take down crew (November)
• Goal net set-up crew (March/April)
• Community Park Clean-Up Day (spring)
• Bucky Book distribution (fall)
• Food Drive (usually one in fall, one in spring)
• Equipment Trade-In (summer)