Rosters

1. Why do we need a certified OYSA roster?

We need a certified roster from your club so 1) we know your club has put the team together and 2) the age and other information about the players are verified.

2. If we have a late applicant who is on the roster but has not received their player card yet, can they play?

Oregon Youth Soccer requires player cards at all tournaments. We honor their rules. If you have a late applicant, you must be very proactive with your club registrar to do what it takes to get a player card. It might mean driving to the OYSA office in Beaverton to hand carry paperwork one day and picking it up another day. 

3. Why do we need player cards, and why do they need to be laminated?

Player cards are mandated by OYSA. Player cards are best evidence that a player has been registered with OYSA and liability concerns have been covered.
-We use the word “laminated”; in reality, the cards need to be covered in a way that the photo cannot be taken off. Clear contact paper also works as well, just not as pretty. If your team is playing in multiple recreational tournaments, laminating holds up better than contact paper, so is worthy of consideration.  

4. Why can’t we have substitutions or guest players if they are truly recreational players?

Not all recreational players are equal. After 20 plus years of running this tournament, we have found that often coaches “select” guest players who “augment” the existing team. This is sad but true, and guest players often create more problems than they solve. We know that teams have players with Sunday conflicts. Please keep in mind that your team is not the only one, and the other team is probably shy a few players too. 

5. Can we combine teams or put together a team of players from our rec league?

Unfortunately, no. This tournament is successful in part because we work hard to provide a positive tournament experience for recreational league players. Combining teams often results in placing more competitive players together to create a ”tournament team” that might have an advantage. Nobody wants to lose 10 to 0, and if all teams are truly recreational league teams, that is unlikely to happen.

6. Can a girl be on a boys’ team?

Yes. If your club has placed a girl on a boy’s league team, she can play and the team will be placed on a boy’s division. 

7. What if we don’t know our level, A, B or C?

We don’t know either. This is the one hardest parts of the tournament we face. It is difficult for coaches, as we ask you to rate your team before you have played any games or maybe even before you have had seen all the players that are on your roster. It is particularly difficult process for the U9-U10 teams. We have to use the honor system for coaches to rate their level of play, which is not an exact science. One should consider if the team plays just in the fall, or plays in several seasons. How many new (to soccer) players do you have? How many returning players do you have? How well did your team play in its last season? This tournament is for the kids; you should want them to have a chance to play different teams and to have a challenge, but not too much of a challenge. If this helps any, over the last couple of years, we have noticed a trend that, aside from Canby teams (where we enter all our teams), often it is the middle level and up teams that play in this tournament. There are exceptions, of course.
On our side of things we do several things to determine playing levels. Returning teams have a track record and we have a pretty good idea where you belong. New teams are an unknown quantity and sometimes, every once in a while, as hard as it seems to believe, coaches will under guess their playing level so they will assure a 1^st place award. Go figure. We do the best we can to sort those teams out. Teams who overpower other teams the first year in our tournament may not be accepted the following year. We hate 10-0 games.  

8. What if we have a player that is in the same grade as the team, but is older than the cut-off date?

Some leagues/clubs sort players by grade and some use the OYSA age chart. Our rules use the OYSA age chart, but we allow players sorted by grade. Please keep in mind the roster can be protested and games can be forfeited, although fishing is not allowed. The protesting coach must identify the player they are contesting, so if your older player scores several goals, seems to dominate on the field or appears larger and older than the rest of the team, you might have to forfeit, but this is uncommon. We go by the honor system, which generally keeps coaches honest, and suggest that you choose wisely. Having said that, we honor an eighth grade waiver for true U15 players placed on an U14 team and is enrolled in eighth grade.  

Referees:

1. Why don’t you have adult referees?

Our referee scheduler has access to all the referees in the state and sends out an availability form to referees in the area. The supply of referees is rather limited, some are more dependable than others. Our referee scheduler uses referees she 1) knows will show up and 2) can handle the games they have been assigned. Another factor is that the more experienced referees often chose to referee in classic games. Keep in mind this is a recreational tournament where recreational players and recreational coaches participate, and we use recreational referees. Many of them are young, are doing their best and are learning just like the players, and we ask that you keep that in perspective; your young soccer player may become a referee when they are in Jr. High and you would not like adults yelling at them. We ask you to step back and take a big picture look at this issue. If you have a favorite referee, how do you think that referee got so smart? It happened because they were allowed to grow as a referee in previous years. Statistics show that 40% of first year referees do not return for their second year. That means that next year, new referees have to be found and they are just as inexperienced as the one you yelled at last year. 

2. Where are your referees from?

They are not necessarily from Canby. Canby has a pool of referees we use in the recreational league we participate in and we use them for the tournament, plus the other referees who fill out availability forms. In Canby, we train our referees, starting out as an assistant referees, and then, as they gain confidence, advance to center refereeing. Referees in the tournament have had prior experience as a center referee.  

3. What if I disagree with a referee’s call, what is the protocol for protesting?

Per FIFA, (the international referee committee where all referee rules reside) the referee is in charge of the game. Whatever they call (or don’t call), no matter what, stands. Calls cannot be protested; it is not allowed at any level of soccer. If the referee is not calling things that you think need to be called, the captains from your team may request to talk to the referee at half time. Please see a Field Coordinator to arrange this meeting, and a Field Coordinator must be present during the talk. The request must be an understandable request (example: please call fouls tighter, the game is getting out of control or, pay more attention to offside offences). Remember, the youth referees are doing the best they can, and the more you can put them at ease, the better job they will do for you. 

4. Whom do I speak with if I am having a problem?

Please speak with a field coordinator if there are any issues you feel need to be addressed. The field coordinator will resolve the issue or contact the tournament director for assistance. The Tournament Director’s decisions are final.

Other:

1. If I have a team that has been together for many years, and the kids are invited to remain on the same team year after year, does that qualify us as recreational, and not select?

Some leagues let coaches pick players, and keep the same team year after year, and other leagues place players on teams randomly. This does not exactly level the playing field, and mostly we hate 10 to 0 games. We look at rosters and teams scores from other tournaments; we look at previous year’s results; we will place you in the A category if we feel you are not really a B. If there is the likelihood that your team will have 10-0 games, we suggest that you play up a year. Some coaches only want to win, others want the kids to be challenged, learn, and have fun. We prefer the later.

2. What if I have league games that weekend?

Please send in your league schedule with your registration. We do everything we can to schedule tournament games around league games. That’s why the scheduling process takes a couple of weeks. We can’t always guarantee we can accommodate your league games, but we usually can. Note that there is a scheduling request deadline on the application. 

3. What if I forgot to inform you that we have league games scheduled for that weekend?

Scheduling is very complicated and time consuming due to working around league games. Once the schedule is posted, and parents get the times and dates of their games, it is impossible to rework the schedule. You will have to decide which game you want to play, and it is polite to notify all parties if you are not going to show up to a tournament or league game. 

4. What if I have players absent and do not have enough players or have no subs?

You must play without subs or forfeit the game. If the other coach is willing to take a player out, or there is another possible solution, it must be approved by the Tournament Director.

5.     Is it a good strategy to score as many goals as possible?

Yes and no. We use a 10 point system to determine awards (see rules for details). The first objective, of course, is to win the game and if both of you are scoring lots of goals, of course, you need to score more than the other team to win*. There are points given for goals scored, up to 3 goals per game. If you are handily winning your game 3-0, any additional goals your team scores do not count towards anything, even when breaking a tie. We hate 10-0 games; it is demoralizing for the other team and unnecessary. You are the coach, their mentor, so please demonstrate some sportsmanship in our tournament. If that does not inspire you, your behavior will determine if we accept your application in following years.

*Example of a game over three goals that works: Team A’s final score: 7. Team B’s final score: 5. Team A wins the game and receives 6 points for the win and 3 additional points for the first three goals, totaling 9 points. Team B receives 0 points for losing the game and 3 points for the first 3 goals scored, totaling 3 points