By Steven Adams | October 5, 2015
NorCal Premier Soccer has announced its implementation plan for the U.S. Soccer mandates regarding birth year registration and small-sided game formats. The NorCal Premier Board of Directors approved the plan earlier this week in accordance with the recent U.S. Soccer mandates, the recent implementation plan from US Club Soccer, and extensive feedback from member clubs.
- NorCal Premier competitions will transition from scholastic year based (Aug. 1 – July 31) age groups to calendar year (Jan. 1 – Dec. 31) based age groups in 2016. Birth year 2002 and younger age groups will transition prior to spring 2016 competitions, while birth year 2001 and older age groups will transition by Aug. 1, 2016
- NorCal Premier competitions will begin transitioning to the U.S. Soccer small-sided mandates in our spring 2016 competitions, and be fully compliant with the small-sided mandates by fall 2016.
The split transition timeline for implementation of birth year registration reflects the reality of the majority of Northern California’s team formation windows, as well as NorCal Premier’s competition calendar. This means that 2002 and younger divisions will begin playing in birth year divisions for the spring 2016 league. Meanwhile 2001 and older divisions will remain on scholastic year age groups through the State Cup finals weekend in May.
Due to the early team formation timeline of younger teams (U13 and below) NorCal Premier has always adjusted the playing format for teams in the spring to reflect their fall playing formats. For example, U11 teams in spring season have played 11v11, while U12 teams have played with a size 5 ball, etc. For the same reasons the playing formats for the spring league 2016 will be adjusted so that teams are playing in their fall playing formats.
Details for both the spring and fall 2016 league formats can be found below in the age group matrices. Please keep in mind the following key points as you prepare your club for this transition:
- Field Sizes/ Goal Sizes: NorCal Premier has received indication from U.S. Soccer that there will be a common sense and flexible approach to field and goal sizes. In the coming weeks U.S. Soccer will release ranges for all field sizes, and NorCal Premier will update our field ranges in accordance with the U.S. Soccer recommendations. U.S. Soccer and NorCal will continue to allow the use of 7×21 goals in both 7v7 and 9v9 game formats
- Referees: Due to U.S. Soccer’s decision to eliminate the two referee system, all games must either have a one or three referee systems. NorCal will continue with our current requirement of 1 referee for small-sided games.
Finally, at each of the RAC meetings in which we discussed the coming changes, we spoke about a change to our global calendar of competitions. While there was overwhelming support for making a change to our calendar, we felt strongly that this was not the time to make further changes. The issue of changing our calendar will be examined in more detail by our Rules and Competitions Committee, which will make a recommendation to the board in the coming months.
Resources:
U.S. Soccer Press Release – http://www.ussoccer.com/stories/2015/08/24/18/07/150824-coaching-player-development-initiatives-rel
US Club Soccer Press Release – http://usclubsoccer.org/2015/09/15/us-club-soccer-announces-implementation-plan-for-u-s-soccers-recent-coaching-initiatives/
NorCal Premier Spring 2016 Age Group Matrix
| Birth Year | Age Group | # of Players | Roster Size | Game Length | Field Size1 | Goal Size2 | Ball Size | # of Referees |
| Born in 2007 | U8 | 7v7 | 14 | 2 x 25 min | TBA | 6.5 x 18.5 | 4 | 1 |
| Born in 2006 | U9 | 7v7 | 14 | 2 x 25 min | TBA | 6.5 x 18.5 | 4 | 1 |
| Born in 2005 | U10 | 9v9 | 16 | 2 x 30 min | TBA | 6.5 x 18.5 | 4 | 1 |
| Born in 2004 | U11 | 9v9 | 16 | 2 x 30 min | TBA | 6.5 x 18.5 | 4 | 1 |
| Born in 2003 | U12 | 11v11 | 18 | 2 x 35 min | TBA | 8 x 24 | 5 | 3 |
| Born in 2002 | U13 | 11v11 | 18 | 2 x 35 min | TBA | 8 x 24 | 5 | 3 |
| 2001/20023 | U14 | 11v11 | 18 | 2 x 35 min | TBA | 8 x 24 | 5 | 3 |
| 2000/20013 | U15 | 11v11 | 18 | 2 x 40 min | TBA | 8 x 24 | 5 | 3 |
| 1999/20003 | U16 | 11v11 | 18 | 2 x 40 min | TBA | 8 x 24 | 5 | 3 |
| 1998/19993 | U17 | 11v11 | 18 | 2 x 45 min | TBA | 8 x 24 | 5 | 3 |
| 1996/1997/19983 | U19 | 11v11 | 18 | 2 x 45 min | TBA | 8 x 24 | 5 | 3 |
1 – The use of cones to form fields for all small sided formats will be allowed
2 – NorCal will continue to allow the use of 7×21 goals in both 7v7 and 9v9 game formats
3 – U14 and older ages will remain on scholastic year registration in the spring of 2016
NorCal Premier Fall 2016 Age Group Matrix
| Birth Year | Age Group | # of Players | Roster Size | Game Length | Field Size1 | Goal Size2 | Ball Size | # of Referees |
| Born in 2008 | U8 | 4v4 | 123 | 3 x 15 min | TBA | 4 x 6 | 3 | |
| Born in 2007 | U9 | 7v7 | 14 | 2 x 25 min | TBA | 6.5 x 18.5 | 4 | 1 |
| Born in 2006 | U10 | 7v7 | 14 | 2 x 25 min | TBA | 6.5 x 18.5 | 4 | 1 |
| Born in 2005 | U11 | 9v9 | 16 | 2 x 30 min | TBA | 6.5 x 18.5 | 4 | 1 |
| Born in 2004 | U12 | 9v9 | 16 | 2 x 30 min | TBA | 6.5 x 18.5 | 4 | 1 |
| Born in 2003 | U13 | 11v11 | 18 | 2 x 35 min | TBA | 8 x 24 | 5 | 3 |
| Born in 2002 | U14 | 11v11 | 18 | 2 x 40 min | TBA | 8 x 24 | 5 | 3 |
| Born in 2001 | U15 | 11v11 | 18 | 2 x 40 min | TBA | 8 x 24 | 5 | 3 |
| Born in 2000 | U16 | 11v11 | 18 | 2 x 40 min | TBA | 8 x 24 | 5 | 3 |
| Born in 98 or 99 | U17/18 | 11v11 | 18 | 2 x 45 min | TBA | 8 x 24 | 5 | 3 |
| Born in 96 or 97 | U20 | 11v11 | 18 | 2 x 45 min | TBA | 8 x 24 | 5 | 3 |
| Open | Adult | 11v11 | 18 | 2 x 45 min | TBA | 8 x 24 | 5 | 3 |
1 – The use of cones to form fields for all small sided formats will be allowed
2 – NorCal will continue to allow the use of 7×21 goals in both 7v7 and 9v9 game formats
3 – 4v4 game format will require a dual field format, where teams play two games at once