LEAGUE MANAGEMENT GUIDE - Ontario Soccer Association

Defining a LeagueThe new league model at each age group from U8 to U12 will provide tiers for ability levels and movement withinthose tiers. It is important that we see these realigned leagues not as systems of promotion/relegation. In fact, a briefreview of league definitions doesn’t refer to promotion/relegation;‘An association of sports teams that establishes rules of play, decides questions of membership in the league, andorganizes matches between the member teams’.Webster Dictionary‘A group of athletic teams organized to promote mutual interests and to compete chiefly among themselves’Dictionary.comThe new league model encompasses those players previously described as Competitive, Rep, Select or All Starplayers who would compete in inter-club competition. By bringing these players together in a development-focusedenvironment we can provide them with every opportunity to achieve their ambitions in soccer and ensure a lifelonglove for the game. Inter-club competition will still exist but the environment will be player and not team focused.Clubs will group players together of a similar ability based on their Tactical, Technical, Physical and Emotional capacityat any given time. The technical leader within the Club (Technical Director, Club Head Coach, etc.) must have thetechnical oversight to ensure player development and enjoyment are the key focus of any player movement and thiswill be assisted by ongoing evaluation of the players in collaboration with Club coaches. Through regular contact withthe Club’s technical leader a coach is then empowered to ensure developing players aren’t left unchallenged.Note:Inter-club recreational leagues provided for Clubs that cannot sustain an in-house league are not the focus of thisguide, but could be reflected with a suitable division in a District league, for example.‘If you have played soccer long enough youhave been the team that was much better thanthe opposition and lost. You have also beenthe team that was outplayed by the oppositionand won. The won-loss record does notaccurately show how the game was played,how players performed or how well the coachprepared the team to play the game’Sam Snow, Director of Coaching, US Youth Soccer, 20125