Dear Coach / Manager:

 

Here are the simple and easy instructions for getting ready for the MSSL U23 REGIONAL LEAGUE 2007 SUMMER SEASON!

 

Our fourth year is clearly ready to be our strongest season yet, with 22 mens and 10 womens teams getting ready to play! (And possibly a few more late registrations in the wings!)

 

1)  ONLINE REGISTRATION

 

If you have not yet registered with the league, go to the website at www.socceragency.net/maps

 

Click on the MSSL icon which will take you to

http://www.socceragency.net/maps/U23_MSSL/2007/homepage.htm

 

Click on the first button that states APPLY NOW which will bring you to our online application. We need you in our database for communication and messaging purposes.

 

2)  LEAGUE AND USASA FEES

 

Forward League Registration Fees of either $910 or $1060 (see below) made payable to MSSL U23 League, to:

            Jan Yager, MSSL Registrar

            15 Shadyside Avenue

            Summit NJ  07901

 

This amount breaks out as follows:

            $485    MSSL League registration Fee for 2007

            $125    USASA Team Registration Fee

            $300    20 Player Passes at $15 each (add’l passes can be added during the season)

            Optional:

            $150    Entry fee for 2007 USASA Region One Cup qualifying (more info below)

 

If you have already remitted the $485 League Registration Fee to our Kendall Park offices, deduct that from the total you remit to Jan.

 

If you already have USASA player passes from another source (for example, a different adult league), reduce the player registration cost to $5 per player; USASA does nonetheless require the additional amount for dual registration.

 

Remember, USASA is the US Adult Soccer Association, the primary governing body for all non-professional play beyond the U19 level in the United States. MSSL is a sanctioned Regional League, chartered in the northeastern Region One of USASA.

 

For budgeting purposes, you should also take into account the following costs:  

            Ref Fees which will typically cost each team about $70 per game for a three-man system

Facility Fees which averaged about $15 per game last year, to defray any costs incurred

by hosts at central sites

            U23 and / or U20 Regional Cup competition

            Uniform Costs 

            Trainer Fees, if any

 

3)  REGISTERING PLAYERS

 

Contact MSSL Registrar Jan Yager at MSSLadmin@comcast.net as soon as possible.

Jan will provide you with information and passwords for the new USASA online player registration functions on their website. (Jan’s number is 908-277-4116, but most contact should be by email.)

 

The initial information you need to provide Jan will be:

            Club and Team Name

            Gender

            U23 or U20 team

            Contact Name

            Contact Phone Numbers

            Contact Email Address

 

The online registration process will require you to input for each player:

            Player Name

            Player Address

            Player Phone Number  

Player Email Address

Player Date of Birth

Additionally, each player will have to provide you with:

Passport-sized Photograph

Proof of Birthdate (Copy of Drivers License, Passport or Birth Certificate)

           

Plus, for each team:   

            Coach Name, Address, Phone Numbers, Email Address

            Manager Name, Address, Phone Numbers, Email Address

 

4)  TEAM UNIFORMS

 

MSSL requires identical jerseys that are individually numbered for each player on the field. Tee shirts are acceptable. Players must have same color shorts and same color socks, but these need not be identical.

 

5)  SCHEDULING

 

The normal MSSL play-date involves two seventy-minute games at one of several central sites designated for that Sunday. Occasionally, scheduling may involve only one ninety-minute game for the weekend. 

 

MSSL will schedule games for the following Sundays:

            June 3

            June 10

            June 17

            June 24

            July 8

            July 15

            July 22

            July 29

 

Note that July 15 is the date of the playoff rounds for teams that qualified for the U23 Regionals (July 14 will be group play at this two-day tournament). We will adjust the schedules for qualifying teams.

 

Similarly, July 22 will be the date for the MSSL Cup Championship playoffs, and July 29 will see the playoff rounds of the U20 Regionals. On all three weekends, regular season games will continue to be scheduled for non-participating teams.

 

Please advise Director Bohdan Porytko at MSSLsoccer@aol.com by Tuesday May 29 as to the following:

            Which dates your team requests NOT to participate in league games

Which dates your club would be able to host games, and how many fields (1 to 4?)

would be available

            Whether your team intends to enter U23 Region One Cup qualifying

            Whether your team intends to attend the U20 Region One Cup tournament

 

Note: By mutual agreement, teams may also agree to schedule an additional match-up on a date other than Sunday; advise me at MSSLsoccer@aol.com, and I will place the game on the calendar and ensure that referees are assigned.

 

6)  REFEREE ASSIGNMENTS

 

Once the schedule is set for the weekend, referees will be assigned by MSSL Head Assignor Bob Mykulak (bobmykulak@yahoo.com). Teams that withdraw from the following weekend’s games after 6:00 PM on Monday will be subject to Referee fees incurred. In general, teams that cannot meet their game obligations will be dropped from the schedule and their games re-assigned.

 

7)  OPENING WEEKEND

 

Our Season Opening Date for games is Sunday June 3. Teams ready to go will be scheduled for games. Try to get your team registered and ready for this kickoff weekend, the summer is short, and every weekend precious.

 

This year for a change of pace, we will not be opening the season at Fort Dix as in the past. We have the base available several times in July, so we will keep that venue for central site games available as an option for a bit later in the season.

 

Teams ready and able to host games on June 3, please advise me at MSSLsoccer@aol.com as quickly as possible.

 

8)  USASA REGION ONE CHAMPIONSHIPS FOR U23 and U20

 

Very Important! The deadline for declaring for the USASA Region One U23 Championship is May 31. The Regional Champion gets a partially-subsidized trip to the four-team USASA National Championships late in July. To declare, you need to include an additional $150 Entry Fee with the fees you remit to Registrar Jan Yager, and to advise MSSLsoccer@aol.com ASAP.

 

MSSL teams that enter the U23 competition will be seeded after June 24’s league games are completed, and required to play off on Wednesday June 27 and / or Wednesday July 4 if necessary for the Regional Finals slots allocated to MSSL. Last year we had eight MSSL teams enter Regionals competition, and four were accepted to the 16-team finals in mid-July.

 

We encourage MSSL teams to take advantage of this opportunity to compete for this significant adult soccer crown. MSSL representatives have made the semi-finals and finals of the U23 Regional Championships in recent years.

 

The USASA U23 Region One Cup finals will be in Pennsylvania on July 15-16 this year.

 

There is also a  USASA Region One U20 Championship at stake, to be held on July 28-29 in New Jersey. Alas, there is no National Championship (at the moment) to move on to after winning the Regionals. Teams can apply for this event later on in the season.

 

Note that teams can strip out overage players to be eligible for U20 and U23 championship play. To be eligible for U23 competition, a player must be born after August 1, 1983; for U20, after August 1, 1986.

 

9)  MSSL CUP

 

The league championship MSSL Cup will be decided on July 22. The top six team records as of July 15 will be invited to participate in a one day showdown: two group games and a final.

 

Note: Teams not qualifying for MSSL Cup will still be scheduled for regular season games on July 22, as well as all teams on the following weekend of July 29.

 

· Teams play their regular season scheduled games

· Rosters are frozen as of July 6 for MSSL Cup purposes

· Teams declare whether they want to be considered for the U20 Mens or the U23 Mens or the U23 Womens MSSL Cup by July 12

· Among the declarants, six teams are picked in each division. Top four point totals (3 for win, 1 for tie) after games of July 15 qualify, plus two additional "Commissioner's Picks" (allowing some discretion to include teams that showed well in fewer games, or against tougher/older competition, etc.)

· U20 MSSL Cup participants can utilize up to three overage players that were on their roster as of July 6 (unlike the the U20 Regional Cup which permits NO overage players)

· No overage players allowed for the U23 MSSL Cup

· Teams are divided into three-team groups and play two group games. Winners of the two groups meet in a final.

 

 

10)  CONFERENCE CALL WEDNESDAY MAY 30

 

To handle last minute issues and questions, and to organize the first several weekends of play, we will hold a league-wide conference call Wednesday May 30 at 8:30 PM.

 

To join us, call 877-236-1209, then enter the conference code number, which is 11, when prompted. 

 

**********

 

Just follow the steps above, and we’ll get you ready to play in no time. Any further questions, let me or Jan know.

 

Bohdan E. Porytko

Director

973-998-9731

MSSLsoccer@aol.com