1Q04Forum

Regional Directors Forum

To meet the ever increasing needs of the elite players and teams in Region I we have begun a series of Regional Leagues. The Premier League and supporting Regional Leagues play in the Spring and the Directors League plays in the summer.

Spring Leagues

The Region I Premier League is for the top sixteen teams through out the Region in the U14 to U18 age groups for both girls and boys. The competition is designed to allow the very best teams in Region I to play each other in a League format. Teams will play their games observing the National Championship requirements of an 18 player [22 players for U17 and U18] frozen roster and no guest players.

Each age group is divided in two divisions, North and South, and each team plays every opponent in their division once. The top two teams in each division will play the semi-final and championship matches on Mother’s Day weekend. The winner of each age group receives the wildcard slot in the Region I National Championships. In the event that the Premier League is also a State National Champion, the second place team in the Premier League will receive the wildcard bid and so on down to the sixth place team.

With only sixteen positions available in any age group through out the Region, entry into the league is competitive. Each year, selection of the 16 teams becomes more difficult. We have established a promotion/relegation system to assure that the best 16 teams are selected for the league. An automatic bids for the Premier League will be given to:

The semi-finalists of the previous year’s Regional Championship (four teams)

The top four teams in each of the North and South divisions from the previous year’s Premier League play (eight teams).

Each of the three Sub-Regional leagues champions (three teams).

Therefore 15 of the 16 bids may be earned by teams playing regional competition.

Teams that receive an automatic bid must demonstrate continuity of roster from the previous year to the current year. To demonstrate continuity of roster, a minimum of 51% of the players from the team's previous year roster that is on file with the Premier League must be on the team's current roster. The League will verify the roster of all teams receiving an automatic bid. Any team that receives an automatic bid and does not meet the continuity of roster requirement will be fined $2000 and will be automatically removed from the league.

Only teams that receive an automatic bid must demonstrate continuity of roster. This requirement does not apply to any other team that is applying to play in the Premier League. A team that may have earned an automatic bid but cannot demonstrate continuity of roster may apply to play in the Premier League by forfeiting their automatic bid. They will then be considered with all of teams that apply for the league.

Region I has Sub-Regional leagues for the U13 to U18 age groups for both boys and girls. These leagues are intended for teams below the level of the Region I Premier League. Teams that were not accepted into the Premier League and teams that are able to play at the level of their state cup Finalists, semi-Finalists, and quarter-Finalists will be able to find additional competition here. These leagues will be limited to a specific geographic area of Region I.

Two sub-region leagues will operate in the Spring:

The Colonial/WAPS Regional League for teams from Eastern Pennsylvania (EPYSA), Virginia (VYSA), Maryland (MSYSA), Delaware (DYSA), Southern New Jersey (NJYS), New York West (NYSYSA), Pennsylvania West (PAW), and West Virginia (WVSA)

The Northeast Regional League for teams from Connecticut (CJSA), Vermont (VSA), New Hampshire (NHSA), Maine (SM), Massachusetts (MYSA), Rhode Island (SRI), Eastern New York (ENYYSA), and Northern New Jersey (NJYS)

These leagues will not be playing for a wildcard bid to the Regional Championships.

Summer League

The Region I Summer League an opportunity for teams to continue to compete in high level regional competition through out the summer for boys and girls teams in the U13 through U18 age groups.

The league is limited to the top 16 teams through out the Region. Within the flight, two sections, based on geography, will be formed in an effort to reduce travel. Each team will play seven games, once against each team in their section. Games will generally be played on weekends and there generally would be two (2) games each weekend day. The season will run from Mid-Jun through July.

Each team will be allowed a pool of up to 25 players. There will be a flexible add and drop policy. Teams will be allowed to multiple roster within same club organization (i.e. a U16 player can play on the U16 team and the U17 team at the same time). Only 18 players will dress for each match. There will be no roster freeze date. All players must be registered with their State Association to be play in the league.

These programs have been designed to meet the needs of the elite team and players. They provide the opportunity to play other elite teams in a league format rather than a tournament format. I believe that these programs will provide challenging matches for these teams.

Thanks,

Bob

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