Valley United Soccer Club

Each coach needs to have a way to track play time by player, because the Valley United bylaws set parameters for minimum play time. 

For U09/10 players: equal play time for each player in every game.

For U11+ players: play no less than 50% of each game.  Exceptions:

1. For unexcused absences or poor behavior that have been brought to the player's attention, the coach may take play time away from the player.
2. When competitve situation demands it, some players can go below 50% play time ONLY IF those players get at least 10 minutes per half AND the time shortfall is made up in a future game.  This cannot be done to a player more than 3 times in a season.

MYSA Rules Manual page 34 states: “A player will be allowed to wear a cast only if, in the opinion of the referee, it is well-padded and will not constitute a risk of injury to the player or others.”  Many Valley United moms/dads have found that the simplest padding is often bubble wrap bound by ACE bandages.  Before a game, as soon as the center ref has arrived, have him/her inspect the padding.  An early inspection of the padding gives the player’s dad/mom a bit of time to make adjustments if the center ref isn’t satisfied with the padding.

No one's perfect, but if you observe that the ref for one of your home games does not understand a FIFA or MYSA rule, please let our Director of Coaching know.  Send an email, give the specific MYSA game number, and cite the rule number about which the ref needs training.

If your game had an unusual behavior issue by coach, parent, player, or ref, please report that IMMEDIATELY with a telephone call to either the Director of Coaching, or the Boys or Girls Director (as appropriate).  Such a phone call is mandatory if a referee asks a coach or parent to leave the game, but even if the behavior did not lead to ejection, please consider making the phone call.  It is our desire to correct behavior issues quickly while an incident is still fresh in everyone's memory.

Sometimes your regular players will be absent from a game due to other activities or injury.  If you expect that to be the case, you can usually supplement your roster with guest players.

For MYSA league games, you can have up to 3 guest players.  A guest must be from a lower-ranked team within Valley United.  A U14C3 player can be a guest for a U14C2 team.  A U13C1 player can be a guest for a U14C3 team.  A U12C2-Friedel player cannot guest for the U12C2-Ahmed team.  A premier player can only be a guest for an older premier team.  For the exact MYSA language about playups, see page 25 of the MYSA Policies & Rules Manual

For tournament games, you need to check the rules of the tournament.  Some tournaments allow up to 6 guests.  Sometimes they will let you take players from the same competitive level (e.g. a U12C2-Friedel player can guest for U12C2-Ahmed), and they might even let you bring guests from another club.  They never let one player be on two teams in the same tournament, however.

Here's the procedure to follow when you need guests:

1. You contact the guest's coach, and request approval for the player you have in mind.  Be open-minded to suggestions from the guest's coach about other players who might effectively meet your need.  Valley United encourages coaches to help fellow coaches by saying yes to guest requests. 
2. You contact the guest's parents, to get the guest to commit.  Valley United encourages players to be helpful to other teams, and to say yes to guest requests unless it creates a significant burden.
3. Your manager contacts the guest's manager to obtain the guest's player pass, copy of the medical form, and copy of the birth certificate.
4. Your manager confirms that the guests player number isn't duplicated on your team.  If it is a dupe, either the guest wears a borrowed set of jerseys, or you use red duct tape to add a 1 to the players jersey.