Northampton Soccer Club previewed its Fall 2026 travel season and rolled out a leaguewide sportsmanship crackdown, while the city's Parks and Recreation Department flagged a mandatory water ban on its website.

NORTHAMPTON --

TOWN -- The Parks & Recreation Department's website is displaying an alert reading "MANDATORY WATER BAN IN EFFECT," directing residents to a "Read On..." link for details. No further specifics on the ban's scope or duration were provided on the page.

YOUTH LEAGUES -- Soccer: Northampton Soccer Club says its Fall 2026 Travel Soccer games begin Sept. 12, with practices starting in mid-August. Practices and home games will generally be held at Florence Fields (145 Meadow St., Northampton), though some U11-U14 teams may practice at JFK Middle School in Florence this season. Pre-Travel sessions (ages 4-7) will run on Saturdays, with dates still to be determined.

The club also highlighted a new conduct policy for the season: U.S. Soccer has "significantly increased the minimum penalties for misconduct towards officials from registered participants," including tripled sanctions for incidents involving minor referees and a new "Gross Misconduct" category covering "insulting, belittling, insinuating or taunting behavior which undermines the authority of the referee." The Massachusetts Youth Soccer Association has also introduced a new pre-game routine, with players, coaches and referees lining up five yards from the spectator sideline, a home-team reading of a sportsmanship statement, and a pre-game handshake — added after the club said "multiple instances of misconduct have been reported during post-game handshakes." NSC said it "expect[s] all Northampton coaches, players, and parents to set an exceptionally high standard for the rest of the league when it comes to our treatment of referees and opponents."