NCSL Board Meeting
May 1, 2017
Westin Tysons Corner

 

The meeting was called to order at 7:36 p.m.

I.             Roll Call

Roll call indicated that the following clubs were not in attendance: A3, BAYS, Bethesda Soccer Club, Cugini Soccer Club, Culpepper Soccer Club, Epic Soccer Club (Eastern Panhandle), Fauquier Soccer Club, Front Royal Soccer Association, Fort Washington, Hagerstown Soccer Club, Maryland Rush, Maryland United FC (Freestate), Pasadena Soccer Club, Soccer Association of Columbia, Warrenton Youth Soccer Club.

Arundel Soccer Association made a motion to approve the minutes of the March 23, 2017 meeting. Takoma Park Soccer Club seconded. All were in favor and the motion passed.

II.           Reports

Maureen Dalbec – NCSL Commissioner: No report.

Mike Basileo – Maryland Registrar: No report.

Carol Coulter – Virginia Registrar: No report

Kathleen Sessions – NCSL Administrator: Kathleen has the Fall 2017 packages ready for club reps this evening. Fee forms will be emailed tomorrow. Richard noted that all fines must be paid before a club can submit Fall registration materials.

Alan Paez – NCSL Rules & Discipline: Alan asked club reps to remind teams that club pass players must have a US Soccer pass and be registered as a player with the club for which they are guesting. Their name needs to be added to the roster for the game. He asked reps to remind teams that parents, players, and coaches should maintain cool heads at games. There have been recent instances where referees were yelled at on the field after the game.

Carol Montoya – NCSL Secretary: No report.

Anne Maynes – NCSL Treasurer: No report.

Eric Popiel – NCSL Vice President: No report.

Richard Smith – President: Richard reiterated that he has been selected to be one of six commissioner for the Region 1 Eastern Regional League. He is the only representative from this area. The league is discussing changes in the way it operates and Richard is on the subcommittee addressing the issue. He invited any comments from club who have Region 1 teams.

Richard reiterated the importance of club pass players being properly registered and for teams to be properly registered with their league and state association. He asked club reps to encourage teams to make sure referees check player cards to avoid any liabilities associated with improperly or unregistered players.

Generally, Richard is seeing good referee coverage for games. The referee community has been doing a good job offering classes and mentoring young referees. NCSL can arrange/sponsor a class in Virginia whenever needed. In Maryland, the league will do its best to do the same.

There were many flex scheduling requests this year, likely more than ever before. Referee assignors are expressing frustration. He asked club reps to look at schedules as far ahead as possible and get in requests early (even before the Tuesday, 5:00pm deadline). He noted that in the future the deadline will be moved earlier to accommodate referee assignments.

A suggestion was made to allow teams to request an entire Sunday as a bye, and not just a full day Saturday. Richard noted that NCSL is a Sunday league. He also noted that divisions with odd numbers or fewer teams than a full division have scheduling issues because of bye weeks and more-than-typical Saturday games. In an eight-Sunday season like Spring 2017, each team has a Saturday game regardless. The league has tried in the past to address the heaviest spring break Sunday, but with so many spring break schedules, this is difficult.

It was also noted that late Presidents Cup and State Cup schedules compounded the rescheduling issues. Richard said NCSL will continue to work with the state associations to address these schedules. He expressed hope that following a full year with both boys and girls teams and the new birth year teams, that schedules may be ready for release for the Fall 2017 season.

III.          New Business

Player Development Initiatives: Information about US Soccer Player Development Initiatives was circulated prior to the meeting. Two pressing issues are roster sizes for the U11 and U12 age groups, and the build out line.

Currently, U11 and U12 NCSL teams play 8v8. US Soccer is increasing the maximum number of players on the field to 9v9. NCSL currently allows a maximum of 14 players on U11 and U12 rosters. US Soccer is increasing roster sizes to a maximum of 16 players.

Richard reviewed the current NCSL rules for field and goal dimensions and the sizes allowed as the result of US Soccer Player Development Initiatives. There are changes proposed for both U11/U12 fields and U9/10 fields, some of which can be addressed by modifying the allowed size ranges for NCSL games. As written, adhering strictly to US Soccer guidelines would mean different fields would have to be used for U9/10 and U11/U12.

Richard explained the U9/U10 Build-Out Line, which is a line behind which the opposing team must retreat when a goalkeeper has the ball in hand and for goal kicks until the ball is in play. The attacking team would not be in an offside position if they are behind the Build-Out Line.

In response to a question over whether the Build-Out Line should be used as a retreat point and as an offline point can be decided separately, Richard noted that US Soccer is making the Build-Out Line mandatory.

In response to a question about the consequences of not adapting the new rules, Richard noted that US Soccer is mandating these changes, but if the Board wants to take a principled stand in disagreement, it can. It is possible that a state association could require the change as well, and the league could risk being put in bad standing for not making the changes. This would impact teams that use NCSL as a qualifying league to play State Cup.

There was discussion about the rationale for the decision and possible penalties from US Soccer for noncompliance.

Calvert Soccer Association made a motion to adopt a change to NCSL policy, starting in Fall 2017, to change U11 and U12 to 9v9. Chantilly Youth Association seconded. Discussion ensued. The vote was called and the motion passed.

Calvert Soccer Association made a motion to adopt a change to NCSL policy, starting in Fall 2017, to increase the maximum roster size for U11 and U12 to 16 players. Southwestern Youth Association seconded. Discussion ensued, including a clarification that league fees would not change, but in the future the VYSA pass-through might increase since that is a per-player fee. The vote was called and the motion passed.

Prince William Soccer Club made a motion to adopt the US Soccer U11/U12 Field Goal Dimensions as presented (below), but that a game would not be forfeited as long as the field meets the proposed NCSL modification as noted below. La Plata seconded. The vote was called and the motion passed.

 

US Soccer Mandate

NCSL Accepted Measurement/Range

Width

45-55 yards

45-60 yards

Length

70-80 yards

70-85 yards

Penalty area

14 yards

14 yards

Goal area

5 yards

5-6 yards

Penalty spot

10 yards

10 yards

Penalty radius

8 yards

8 yards

Goals

Recommend 6.5x18.5, but 7x21 max

6x18 or 7x21

Prince William Soccer Club made a motion to adopt the US Soccer U9/U10 Field Goal Dimensions as presented (below), but that a game would not be forfeited as long as the field meets the proposed NCSL modification as noted below. La Plata seconded. The vote was called and the motion passed.

 

US Soccer Mandate

NCSL Accepted Measurement/Range

Width

35-45 yards

35-50 yards

Length

55-65 yards

55-75 yards

Penalty area

12 yards

12-14 yards

Goal area

4 yards

4-6 yards

Penalty spot

10 yards

10 yards

Penalty radius

8 yards

8 yards

Goals

6.5x18.5 max

6.5x18.5 max

A motion was made to accept the Build-Out Line as a line behind which the opposing team must retreat when a goalkeeper has the ball in hand and for goal kicks until the ball is in play, allowing that field will be deemed out of compliance if a club is unable to line a field as described, and allowing cones to be used. There was no second and the motion failed.

A motion was to accept the Build-Out Line as a line behind which the opposing team must retreat when a goalkeeper has the ball in hand and for goal kicks until the ball is in play; and behind which the attacking team would not be in an offside position, also allowing that no field will be deemed out of compliance if a home team or club is unable to line a field as described, and allowing cones to be used to mark the line. Chantilly Soccer Club seconded. Discussion ensued, including clarification that the rule will be mandatory although the mechanism for marking the line will not be mandated. A roll call vote was requested and the motion passed.

Alexandria Soccer Association made a motion to adopt the U9/U10 Punting/Drop-Kick Restrictions so that if a goalkeeper punts or drop kicks the ball a “do-over” would be allowed. Freedom Soccer Club seconded. A roll call vote was requested and the motion failed.

Prince William Soccer made a motion to adopt the U9/U10 Punting/Drop-Kick Restrictions so that if a goalkeeper punts or drop kicks the ball, an indirect free kick will be awarded to the opposing team from the spot of the offense; if the punt or drop kick occurs within the goal area, the indirect free kick will be taken on the goal area line parallel to the goal line at the nearest point to where the offense occurred. Laurel Soccer Club seconded. A roll call vote was requested and the motion passed.

The meeting adjourned at 9:01 p.m.