LEAGUE MANAGEMENT GUIDE - Ontario Soccer Association

Who is going to run this league? Do we need to hire staff as this will need to be budgeted for?The league may be run by the District Association where a staff member is employed in the office. Additionaltasks have also been picked up by the District Technical Directors. We strongly recommend that an experiencedAdministrator oversees the running of the league with appropriate input to ensure LTPD compliance.We don’t have enough teams at a particular age group to play in our District, what can we do?There are four possible options for you and these need to be discussed actively with the District Association. 1. Youcan request the ability to Play Out of your District; 2. See if there is potential for your District League to work with aneighbouring District to offer specific age groups; 3. Play up in the lowest tier of a higher age division or 4. Play downan age group in the highest tier of a lower age group.How many fields are Clubs going to need to accommodate so many players?There are excellent examples of efficient field use. For example, multiple micro and mini pitches can beaccommodated on one full-sized field. Remember that festival formats on weekends will require most space. Outsideof the festival format they’re not on weekends so little will change.How do we know we have the technical criteria aligned with LTPD principles?Technical Directors and Club Head Coaches in Clubs will be well aware of LTPD implementation across Ontario. ADistrict Association can create a Technical Committee to lead the technical requirements of the league.Where do players go after U12?This is a very common question and requires a detailed explanation. Up to U12 the focus has been on development,giving each child the maximum opportunity to grow as a player. The majority of players will then move into thecompetitive stream that will take them through to adult leagues and beyond. Others will move into the OPDLenvironment. More information on this environment will be coming shortly.How many Leagues can a District Association sanction?District Associations should work on the assumption that each age group (U8-U12) is provided for with a male andfemale division of 1-3 tiers each. It is then at the District Associations’ discretion whether the District should be splitdue to geographic size. In such a situation for example a U12 Northern Tier 1,2 and 3 and U12 Southern Tier 1,2, and3. Appropriate competition weekends may allow these Clubs to cross over during the season.How many players can we have on our roster at each game?As per the Development Matrix the following is required:U8: Maximum of 10U9/U10: Ideal 9, maximum of 12U11/U12: Ideal 12, maximum of 16When would we hold try outs?We now refer to try outs as “Ongoing Identification and Monitoring”. Stand-alone events are no longer required. If theindoor season is used for development purposes then players can be pooled, developed and assessed through thewinter months. As the outdoor season approaches the Club will have been able to monitor player progress and ability.Can a player play up and on their own team on the same day?Provided that they do not exceed the maximum time identified within the matrices for their age. For example, if aplayer is U8 (30-45minutes max.) they can play up to the U9 team and on their own team on the same day as longas their playing time does not exceed the time outline for U8. They cannot play up to the U9 playing time of 45-70minutes.13