Ep. 18 USSF Youth RULES
Preface notes
- Delay in the release of this podcast talk (COVID)
- USSF Rules that are added or changed from the main Laws of the Game for youth soccer
- Not going to go over them all, just ones I think need to be brought up
- Show notes will be on webpage socceraperspectiveforparents.com
- If wanting to follow along go to notes and link will be there so you can go to the Laws of the game
- Rule about hitting ref and doing getting a drop ball
USSF Youth Soccer Rules
- Rule 101: Definitions
- Has a bunch of definitions in here that they think are important for the rules.
- I will pull out a couple I think are of value
- USYSA – United States Youth Soccer Association, Inc. (largest youth affiliate and member of U.S. Soccer, which governs soccer in the US, it’s not the only member though)
- Youth player – an individual who is an amateur player and who has not reached 20 years of age prior to December 31 for the current seasonal year
- Guest player – a registered player participating in a competition for a team to which the player is not rostered for purposes of league play
- Player – a youth player registered in accordance with USYSA and State Association rules
- Classic league – an interclub league in which –
- the use of tryouts, invitations, recruiting, or any similar process to roster players selectively to any team based on talent or ability, is permitted; and
- one or more league rules restrict the way players may be rostered to participating teams
- Premier league – an interclub league in which no rule restricts the way players may be rostered to participating teams, except for rules that –
- Define and prohibit unethical recruiting behavior; or
- Limit the participation of players previously rostered to another team
- Recreational League – an intraclub league in which –
- the use of tryouts, invitations, recruiting, or any similar process to roster players to any team based on talent or ability is prohibited.
- the club administering the league accepts as participants in the league any eligible youths (subject to reasonable terms of registration);
- a system or rostering players is used to establish a fair or balanced distribution of player talent among all teams participating; and
- league rules require each player must play at least one-half of each game except for reasons of injury, illness, or discipline
- Recreational plus league – an interclub or intraclub league in which –
- The use of tryouts, invitations, recruiting or any similar process to roster players selectively to any team based on talent or ability is prohibited;
- The club or clubs administering the league accept as participants in the league all eligible youths (subject to reasonable terms or registration); and
- The league does not otherwise meet the definition of a recreational league
- Tournament team – a team that includes guest players and is put together for the sole purpose of playing in a tournament or other approved non-league competition
- Note – Intraclub vs interclub – they don’t have this in the definitions which I think they should. The difference between the two if you don’t know is that interclub is competitions between teams in different clubs and intraclub is competition between teams within the club
- Guest player – a registered player participating in a competition for a team to which the player is not rostered for purposes of league play
- Rule 103 – Gender of Teams
- Two types of team genders
- Teams with only females are girls’ teams (no boys)
- All other teams are boys’ teams (girls can play on these teams)
- Rule 104 – Age Groups
- Compromised of youth players who are of age on or before the last day of December of current year
- 19 years of age and under
- 18 years of age and under
- 17 years of age and under
- 16 years of age and under
- 15 years of age and under
- 14 years of age and under
- 13 years of age and under
- 12 years of age and under
- 11 years of age and under
- 10 years of age and under
- 8 years of age and under
- 6 years of age and under
- Rule 105 – State Variances
- Says that States can make changes to Rules 104 (Age Groups) and 205 (Roster Limitations)
- Rule 302 – Substitutions
- Except as provided by USYSA or its State Associations, substitutions shall be unlimited except where specified otherwise in the rules and regulations for a special competition
- Substitutions may be made, with the consent of the referee, at any stoppage in play
- Rule 303 – Length of games, overtime periods, and ball specifications
- Section 1(a) gives the length of the game, overtime periods, ball size, ball circumference, and ball weight for all age groups, breaking them down in groups to make it easier. Find link with rules for the whole graph they have in show notes on webpage
- Game Length
- Ages 17-19 – two 45’ halves
- Ages 15-16 – two 40’ halves
- Ages 13-14 – two 35’ halves
- Ages 11-12 – two 30’ halves
- Age 10 – two 25’ halves
- Age 8 – 4 – 12’ quarters
- Ages 6 and under – 4- 6’ quarters
- Overtime Periods
- Ages 15-19 – two 15’ halves
- Ages 11-14 – two 10’ halves
- Ages 10 and under – None
- Ball Size
- Ages 13-19 - #5, 27- 28 in., and 14-16 oz.
- Ages 10-12 - #4, 25-26 in., and 11-13 oz.
- Ages 8 and under - #3, 23-24 in., 11-12 oz.
- Number of players
- Ages 13-19 – 11
- Ages 11-12 – No more than 11, 8 strongly recommended
- Age 10 and under – No more than 7, 6 strongly recommended
- Age 8 and under– No more than 5, 4 strongly recommended
- Age 6 and under – No more than 4, 3 strongly recommended
- Section 1(b) says that in the case of a tie Penalty kicks will be used to determine the winner
- Section 2(a) gives the same information as above for just ages 10 and under for some reason.
- Section 2(b) says that ties will stand and there will be no pks to determine a winner.
- Rule 305 – Heading
- Section 1 list all the things this rule is mandatory for
- Section 2 says that it is not mandatory for USYSA, but they encourage all State Associations to follow the rule
- Section 3
- Players 10 and under cannot head the ball directly out of the air and cannot practice it in any organized team setting. If they do an indirect free kick is award to the opposing team. If it is in the penalty area, then the ball is moved outside the penalty area and an indirect free kick is given to the opposing team.
- Players ages 11 and 12 can head the ball in a game and practice, but coaches must monitor kids to make sure they don’t head the ball more than 25 times per week.
- Players ages 13 and up have no restrictions on heading the ball at any time.
Things of note
- Couldn’t fit Highschool and College rules into this podcast so I will get it in the next one.
- Show notes are at webpage
- Link will be there as well for Laws of the Game to download
- Got an email up if you have any questions, comments, concerns soccerforparentspodcast@gmail.com
Online Sources