Montclair Soccer Club

 

Tournament Information

Page history last edited by Montclair Soccer Club 9 mos ago

There are a variety of different soccer tournaments open to different age groups and classes. This document provides an introduction to Soccer Tournaments as relevant to members of the Montclair Soccer Club. The combined experiences of Coaches and Team Managers were used as the basis for this document.

 

This document is divided into the following sections:

 

Words of Advice

  • Make sure your assistant coach is licensed and has a coach's pass. The assistant coach needs a pass just as does the coach and all of the players. Your team will not be allowed to play without at least one licensed and accredited coach. Some tournaments will not allow a non-accredited assistant coach to be on the sidelines.

  • While the application deadline is usually two months before the event, you should send in your applications as soon as possible. To maximize your chances for getting into your first choice, you should apply to the tournament as soon as your team is formed in the Spring.

  • Sometimes it is good to contact the Tournament Organizer before sending in your application to make sure they are still open.

  • If you have not heard back from the Tournament Organizer within 2 weeks of sending in your application, contact them to make sure that they received it. Sending them an email message should be all that is necessary.

  • Tournaments are usually annual events. If you were happy with how a tournament was run last year, this is likely to be true again for next year. Most tournaments have the same Tournament Organizer year after year.

  • Some tournaments are more difficult to get into than others. Ideally, your rejection letter will arrive early enough that you have time to apply to another tournament for the same weekend.

  • Only apply to CYSA-related tournaments. If your team wishes to enter an event that is not affiliated with CYSA, you will have to take responsibility for the additional cost and paperwork this will entail.

  • During the Fall season, tournaments are scheduled for the last weekend of the month. Class 3 teams, and teams playing at the District level, do not have regular season games on tournament weekends. These teams do not need to worry about tournaments conflicting with regular season games.

  • You can only apply for one tournament per weekend.

 

General Tournament Information

Tournament Structure

Tournaments are normally 2-day events. Teams play two games on Saturday and one on Sunday for the initial rounds. Teams that do well enough to advance will play another game on Sunday. Unless this is a Jamboree, the second game on Sunday will determine 1st through 4th places.

 

Calendar

Montclair Soccer Club teams are registered through California Youth Soccer Association - North (CYSA). The CYSA Tournaments site contains the latest copy of the tournament calendar and the tournament application form. Tournaments are often scheduled nearly a year in advance. This document is updated continuously as new tournaments are organized.

 

Applications

Application forms are available from the same website as the Tournament Calendar. They are usually available as Word documents. To save time, fill in the generic information and then create copies for each tournament to which you want to apply.

 

Submissions

All CYSA tournament applications are first submitted to the District 4 Tournament Directors. They have written a guide for doing this called The Perfect Tournament Application Package. Follow these directions when submitting a tournament application. Doing so will insure that your application doesn't go to the bottom of the pile!

 

Paying Fees

As of February, 2009, we are no longer reimbursing for tournament expenses. Teams wishing to participate in tournaments should consider fund raising or having each family chip in to cover tournament expenses.

 

Schedules

Check the tournament web site before contacting the Tournament Organizer to ask about schedule availability. Don't be surprised if the tournament schedule isn't distributed until a couple of weeks before the event. It can sometimes be delayed due to last-minute field issues.

 

Check-In

Tournament check-in usually happens on the Friday evening before the event. You will need all of your team credentials in good order at that time. See below for advice on organizing team credentials. Anyone can check-in your team, coach or parent volunteer.

Most well-run tournaments will give you tournament brochures and pins during check-in.

 

At the Tournament

Team check-in usually happens half an hour before the game. A Field Marshal or other volunteer usually takes care of this, not a referee. Don't forget to get your player passes after your game is over! I recommend assigning a parent to Player Pass Retrieval Duty. Having someone else help remember this important detail may come in handy while you are celebrating your victory in the finals.

Noteworthy Tournaments

Bay Oaks Labor Day Classic
One of our local clubs, the Bay Oaks, hosts a tournament each Labor Day weekend. This event is for U12 and U14 Class 3 boys and girls teams. The Bay Oaks are very accepting of JLYSSL Class 3 teams interested in this event. Check their website for more information.

 

JLYSSL End-of-Season Tournament
Our parent league, JLYSSL, holds a tournament for all U10, U12, and U14 Class 4 teams. This tournament is usually scheduled the weekend before Thanksgiving. There are no fees for this event, but there are entry requirements:
  • To help run the tournament, each team needs to provide one volunteer to help with the event itself.
  • Teams must have fulfilled their referee requirement during the regular season.
  • Teams must be in good standing with the league.
Registration usually happens around the first week of November. If you don't hear anything about the tournament before then, check the JLYSSL website for information. Sometimes the announcements get eaten by spam filters. Application instructions will be included in the tournament announcement.

 

Founder's Cup - Class 4
The Founder's Cup is a statewide (actually for the purposes of soccer, our state is Northern California) tournament attracting teams from all over the state. This is a Class 4 tournament for the U12, U14, U16, and U19 age groups. It is, simply put, a big deal. And a blast! And a great way to cap off a season. Obviously it is for the most part intended for top teams in gold and silver flights, but it is open to all who wish to play. If you have high ambitions for your squad, either now or in the future, this is a great way to test yourself against the best in the state; and the truth is, our league offers some of the best competition in the state. If you do well in JLYSSL, you can do well in the Founder's Cup.

The application deadline for U12 and U14 teams varies but is usually around Nov. 1. For U16 and U19 teams, the deadline is closer to Jan. The latest information about this event can be found on the CYSA North website.

 

Association Cup - Class 3
The Association Cup is similar to the Founder's Cup, except that this tournament is for Class 3 teams. This tournament uses age-pure flights: U11, U12, U13, U14, U15, U16, and U19 age groups.

The application deadline varies but is usually around Nov. 1 for all age groups. The latest information about this event can be found on the CYSA North website.

 

Organizing The Binder

 

Note that these guidelines are very important for both the Founder's Cup or Association Cup tournaments.

  1. A binder. Kinda self explanatory, but some coaches just show up with a bunch of stuff!

  2. The official roster is in the front in a sheet protector. The roster sheet must have the district stamp. It cannot have any markings on it. If a coach has drawn on it, crossed things out, made notes, etc., they need to get a new signed roster.

  3. Behind the roster, also in sheet protectors, is the paperwork for all adds, drops, transfers. This should be in date order not in alphabetical order.

  4. The coaching credentials go after this.

  5. Next comes the player information. The 1601 should be on the left when you open the binder with the birth certificate on the right. This way the checker does not have to flip pages when they are looking at the paperwork. All of this should also be in sheet protectors.

  6. The 1601 needs to be signed by the parents/guardians. The header must be filled out with all of the league, district and team information.

  7. The birth certificate must be legible. If it is not, then a new one must be found before the tournament. If it needed a translation, the translation goes behind the birth certificate. Put a yellow sticky on it to turn the page over for the translation.

  8. The player passes and the coaches passes.

    1. The player passes should be put on a ring so that passes don't get inadvertently lost. If one gets lost at tournament there is no chance of recovery in that short of time frame. That player will not be able to play until a new pass is obtained.

    2. The passes should be in the same order as the roster sheet, which may not be in alphabetical order due to adds and transfers.

    3. Check that the pass has the district stamp across the photo. Check that the league stamp is on the pass. Check that it is the correct season.

    4. Now is the time to be sure that the pass is full face with nothing on the head and no sunglasses. This includes the photo of the coaches! If there is head coverings of a religious nature, then by law it is allowed, but not all checkers will be aware of this. If you find a pass like this the coach should contact CYSA to have a copy of their rules in their notebook to avoid a problem.

  9. Game card stickers. You should have at least four for each tournament you plan to enter and another 10 or so for regular season games.

Printable version
 
Anonymous Create an account or Log in