Travel Team
Guidelines
Playing Time
Rules
At
Travel teams require
a significantly higher time commitment than recreation teams. When playing at this level it is expected that
players attend all games and practices. Playing
travel soccer is a 2 season commitment, Fall and
Spring, there are 10 games in each season with the possibility of playing in at
least 1 tournament and many coaches offer indoor training between the seasons.
Coaches need to have
a balance between player development & fielding a competitive team. Playing time will be influenced by practice
attendance, practice performance & attitude, in addition to game attendance.
As such, coaches may reduce playing time
for attitude, performance or attendance reasons. In all instances, if a coach decides to take
this course of action, they should advise the parents prior to the game of
their reasoning.
It is our goal to
ensure that when a player is selected for a travel team they have sufficient
ability to play and contribute to the success of the team. Through dedication to weekly practices, all
players should be able to earn the opportunity to actively participate in each
and every game. However, we realize
that players mature physically and emotionally at differing rates and for this
reason we have different guidelines for player participation for the various
age groups.
Our playing time
rules reflect the objectives of our Recreation and Travel Teams.
All recreation
players should receive 75% playing time in each game.
Travel team
playing rules
Div. 6 U8 50 minute games
All players should receive 50% playing time over the course of the season. This equates to 25 minutes of each game.
Div. 5 U9 & U10 60 minute games
All players should receive 50% playing time over the course of the season, or an average of 30 minutes per game.
Div. 4 U11
& U12 70 minute game
All players in teams in flights 1 through 3 should receive 25% playing time over the course of the season, or an average of 17.5 minutes a game.
All players in teams in other flights should receive 33% playing time over the course of the season, or an average of 23 minutes per game.
Div. 3 U13
& U14 80 minute game
All players in teams in flights 1 through 3 should receive 25% playing time over the course of the season, or an average of 20 minutes a game.
All players in teams in other flights should receive 33% playing time over the course of the season, or an average of 27 minutes per game.
Div. 2 U15 & 16 90 minute games
There is no playing time requirement for this division.
Div. 1 U17 & 18 90 minute games
There is no playing time requirement for this division.
If a team changes
flights between the fall and spring seasons, the playtime rules in the spring
season will apply for the new flight.
In addition to these
rules there is the opportunity for travel team coaches of up to and including
U12 teams, to take players on their roster as “developmental players”; i.e., a
player who is less experienced and less skillful than the majority of the
team. There is a maximum of 2
“developmental player” positions on a team and the coach must advise parents at
selection time that their child is being offered a “developmental player”
position. For these positions, there is
no required playing time and it is likely that the child will receive less
playing time than other players.
However, the coach feels that the child has potential and will benefit
from the higher level of training, the ability to play at a higher flight and
the opportunity to play with better players.
This enables a parent & child, if they would not normally have made
the roster of a travel team, to choose between the opportunity of developing in
a travel soccer team or receiving more playing time in recreation soccer. If a child is offered and accepts a
developmental player position, both the coach and a parent must sign the
developmental playing form, indicating that they understand and agree to these
different playing time rules. Because of
the potential for less playing time, developmental travel players will also be
allowed to play in a recreational team, to get more game experience, should
they decide to do so. At the end of the
fall season, coaches must report back on the progress of developmental players
and indicate whether they will be a developmental player for the spring season.
While we provide
guidelines for coaches to follow, we are aware that there can be instances when
these are not followed. We encourage
parents to firstly discuss their concerns with the coach. However, in instances when a coach does not
appear to be following the club guidelines we request parents to follow up with
the director of coaches to resolve the situation. All concerns of this nature should be
addressed via email.
Revised and Approved by the
Board of Directors June
2008