Indoor League Information Winter 2025
Dynamo's philosophy emphasizes development of fundamental soccer skills, knowledge of the rules of soccer, and good sporting behavior with an eye towards creating lifelong lovers of the game of soccer. We seek to minimize outside pressures on our players. We do not pursue success in competition for its own sake, but only as a by-product of our approach.
We expect all spectators to model this behavior, specifically by:
- showing respect for all coaches at all times;
- showing respect for all players regardless of perceived skill level;
- praising positive team behaviors rather than individual efforts;
- minimizing sideline involvement (i.e. NO coaching from the sidelines).
Please keep in mind that Dynamo is an entirely volunteer-run organization. Parents who have the urge to shout out instructions to players, coaches, or referees must restrain themselves or will be asked to find another league.
Jump to a particular topic using the links below, or scroll down for more information.
General Information | Coaches & Other Volunteers | Formats and Rules | Equipment | Game Location and Fields | Game Schedule | Referee Schedule
General Information
The season will begin Sunday, January 19, 2025. New this year: the season will be 9 weeks long. Week 1 will be a practice and Weeks 2-9 will be games. The season will end Sunday, March 16, 2025. Sessions will be held on Sundays only, starting at 8 am, 9 am, 10 am, or 11 am. Each practice or game will be 1 hour session. All teams will be coed unless there is enough interest to have separate boys and girls U8 divisions.
Registration for Winter Indoor 2025 will be $105 for U8 and U10 players, and $115 for U13 players. New this year: there is a $10 surcharge for U13 players for the full-field turf format. There is an early bird discount before November 28 and sibling discounts available.
The season will be held in the athletic complex of the Neighborhood Academy. The address is 709 N. Aiken Ave, Pittsburgh, PA 15206.
Registration will begin Wednesday, November 20 and end Friday, December 20.
Space is limited. If your player's division is full, please sign up for the waitlist. We will try to accommodate as many waitlist players as possible.
Important Dates:- Registration Open Monday, November 18, 2024
- Early Bird Discount Ends Wednesday, November 27, 2024
- Registration Closes Wednesday, December 18, 2024
- Coaching requests and team notifications early January 2025
- Team schedules available early January 2025
- Referee interest deadline early January 2025
- Week 1 (practice) Sunday, January 19, 2025
- Week 2 (first game) Sunday, January 26, 2025
- Week 9 (last game) Sunday, March 16, 2025
Coaches & Other Volunteer Opportunities
Dynamo Winter Indoor coaches must obtain the same clearances as coaches participating in the fall and spring seasons, as required by PA law. You ONLY need your Driver's License to sign up, but you will be asked to upload clearances if you have them. If you have already gone through the PA West/Affinity process, your clearances should show up as verified when you sign up to coach. If you have not, please work on obtaining your clearances if you don't have them already. We will remind you (and reimburse) any clearances you may need before the season starts. Coaches who do not appear to be working towards their clearances will not be allowed to coach this winter. Detailed directions on obtaining clearances are here: Rec Coaches (pghdynamo.org). Please upload completed clearances to the registration system and ask [email protected] if you have questions.
When you register, you will be prompted to choose a volunteer role. Pittsburgh Dynamo is an entirely volunteer-run organization, and your help is crucial to our ability to provide a good experience for your child. No experience or expenses are necessary for any role. Specifically this year, we need to fill the following roles to make this season happen:
- Coaches! We always need coaches! Coaching comes with a $30 discount to be credited back to your account by mid-season.
- Volunteers to sort and bag t-shirts. This may include picking up the t-shirts from the printer, sorting them into the teams, and getting them to The Neighborhood Academy before the first game. All this work happens pre-season. You may be contacted by the Indoor Coordinator to ask how you can best contribute -- you will not be asked to do it all.
- Volunteers to set up the fields before the games every week. There may be a field format change if the age group changes in between games.
- Volunteers to transport the equipment to/from the Neighborhood Academy. We will likely only be able to keep some equipment at The Neighborhood Academy from week to week. (We will provide all the equipment.)
Formats and Rules
Please note: If you would like to change your player's division (aka playing "up" or "down") or register an advanced U6 (2019 birth year) player, contact indoor@pittsburghdynamo.org as early as possible for assistance.
| U7/8 | U9/10 | U11/12/13 |
| Birth Year | 2017-2018 | 2015-2016 | 2012-2013-2014 |
| Ball Size | 3 | 4 | 4 |
| Games | 4 v 4 on turf | 5 v 5 on court | 7 v 7 on turf |
Throw-Ins,
Headers
| No | No | No |
| Goalies | No | Yes | Yes |
| Goals | Pop-up | Large goals | Large goals |
Equipment
Regardless of age, each child participating in the Indoor League should bring some basic items for each game:
- Soccer Ball (size 3 for U8, size 4 for U9 and older)
- Shinguards
- Soccer socks to cover shinguards
- Appropriate footwear (soccer cleats, other soccer shoes, or sneakers) -- please note that for all games on the hard court, players will not be able to wear cleats
- Water bottle
Team shirts will be distributed during the first week of the season and should be worn to each game. Game Location and Field
Games will be played in the athletic complex of the Neighborhood Academy. The address is 709 N. Aiken Ave, Pittsburgh, PA 15206.
U10 games will be played on the full court. U13 games will be played on the full turf. U8 games may be played on the court or the turf. U8 court games will be played on the court divided into halves. U8 turf games will be played with the turf field divided into thirds:
Game Schedule
Each team has one game per week on Sunday. The first week will be a practice and get-to-know-your-team week. Weeks 2 through 9 will be games. The game schedule will depend on the number of teams per age group and should be available in early January. U8 games will always be at 8 am, U10 games may be at 8 am but will also rotate through 9 am, 10 am, and 11 am start times. U13 games will rotate through 9 am, 10 am, and 11 am start times.
Some games will be played at the Multi Sport Turf Field in the Field House at The Neighborhood Academy located at 709 North Aiken Avenue in Pittsburgh. Cleats, indoor shoes, or sneakers may be worn. U8 and U13 will play on the turf. U8 turf games will always be played at 8 am. U13 teams will rotate through start times of 9 am, 10 am, and 11 am.
Some games will be played on the basketball court in the Field House at The Neighborhood Academy located at 709 North Aiken Avenue in Pittsburgh. Indoor shoes or sneakers may be worn, NO cleats. U10 will be play all their games on the court. U8 may play some games on the court, which would be also at 8 am. Otherwise, U10 teams will rotate through start times of 8 am, 9 am, 10 am, and 11 am.
Schedules will be available on GameChanger.
Click here for a PDF of the entire season: check back in early January.
Please note your player's division AND color (i.e. U8-Royal not just Royal) when looking up your schedule on the PDF. Several divisions use the same colors.
Referee Schedule
Interested referees should fill out this interest form before January 6.
Click here for a PDF of the entire season: check back in early January.
Reminders will be sent on Tuesday evening for the upcoming weekend. Please email [email protected] as soon as possible if your plans have changed.
DO NOT FORGET to check-in before your games! Initial the check-in sheet on the clipboard in the Lost & Found / First Aid box near the entrance of the Fieldhouse.
Questions
Please contact [email protected].