UYSA Policy Changes Overview

Background US Soccer Mandates o Small-sided games o Birth-year age groups Input from PDC, League Commissioner, State Technical Director, Competition Sub-Committee, Independent Consultant Need for Flexibility o Travel Distance o # of Referees o Alignment

Competition Structure X-league – Starting Fall 2016 o U9/U10 – 7 v 7 o U11/U12 – 9 v 9 o X-League Teams Can Start Try Outs the Monday prior to Memorial Day State Competition League (SCL) o U13/U19 – 11 v 11 D2 and above in all age groups Interregional League (IRL) o U13/U19 – 11 v 11 in all age groups. o North, Metro, South o All SCL and IRL Teams Try-Outs Start Tuesday after Memorial Day

Fall and Spring Season Play Ages U9 through U15 will play both fall and Spring o U15 now includes both 8 th and 9 th graders and as such will play year round. Includes all 9 th Graders and half of 10 th Graders

SCL Team Placement (Alignment) General Principles o Team placement and movement in the SCL will be based on previous season performance and “Continuity.” o A team’s “Continuity” will be based on the Organizational Member (OM) under which it competes or, in the case of an independent team, on player retention. o After each season – Standard promotion and relegation between divisions o The PDC and CS shall have discretion for the following: to resolve alignment issues in the absence of specific applicable guidelines; to accomplish fairness and equity, especially during transition period.

Continuity Organizational Member Teams o OM holds the natural transitional spot for each team with no player retention requirement. I.E. A OM Team is currently U17 P1 with 98 and 99 birth year players. The Teams new spot is U19 P1 (based on US Soccer Mandates) and it retains that position. Independent Teams o Team retention requirement o Team holds natural transitional spot – U16 P1 team with 99 and 00 birth year players they hold same spot in U18 P1 if 9 returning players – retain spot o 7-8 returning players – relegated one division o 5-6 returning players – relegated two divisions o <5 returning players – new team starting in the IRL

Continuity – Team Splits OM Splits for birth year alignment where the OM holds the spot at the older age group per policy a team will be granted the same division at a year younger if: 1-The OM does not already hold a position or positions within the bracket (If they do the OM must organize its teams to accommodate player movement into the teams already placed in the bracket) 2- If the split is a true 50/50 split. Example: A roster with 8 players of the older birth year and 8 players from the younger birth year. Acceptable splits of the current roster will be 6/6, 7/7… or higher. 3-If your team plays in the National League or DPL and the team splits, both teams will be guaranteed a spot division’s equivalent to their natural progression. (This allows teams that have DPL/NL spots to retain their DPL/NL spot regardless of what US Soccer decides to implement. Currently they are undecided and we would like to move forward with our game plan rather than waiting on them to make a solid decision. Allowing both teams a spot ensures that we do not penalize our teams regardless of what US Soccer decides.) 4- If a OM creates a team due to a team birth year split and has 6 returning players from the previous roster plus 3 additional players from within the club or outside the club that have played in the same division or a higher division. Again if these criteria are met then the team will automatically be granted a spot in the same division of the birth year age of the younger players equal to that of the initial guaranteed spot of the teams natural progression. All other instances the team and OM must petition the Birth Year Transition Alignment Committee for placement. Organizational Member Teams o Petition the PDC Independent Teams o Old rules apply PDC and CS discretion o Flexible league size during transition period

IRL Team Placement Same general principles as SCL Process o Two up/two down amongst divisions in three zones o Current Standard Transition from IRL to SCL.

X-League Team Placement Same general principles and Process