Website Manager

American Youth Soccer Organization Providing world class youth soccer programs that enrich children's lives.

AYSO Region 0144 - South Irvine, California

Introduction

Parents of AYSO players,
The Regional Registrar, Regional Webmaster, and Regional Commissioner often times get asked the same questions tens - if not hundreds - of times each season.  Consequently, we put this page together to provide you answers for these commonly asked questions.

Frequently Asked Questions

Table of Contents

Practice & Game Locations & Schedules

The most common question we receive are related to the locations and times for practices and games. Unfortunately, this is not an easy question to answer since there are a large number of things which will impact the answer. The starting point needs to be a discussion about how practices and games are organized by division. The following table provides a very high-level view of the practice and game formats for each division.

A few notes before the table:

  • All fields allocated to Region 144 for practices and games are in "south Irvine" where "south Irvine" means any school or city park field located in the city of Irvine south of Irvine Center Drive (not Irvine Boulevard).
  • All games are scheduled for Saturday (except Playground/4U which can be held during the week).

     

DivisionPracticesGames
Playground (4U):Playground does not utilize the concept of practices or games. It's a playground like experience delivered by parents and supervised by a trained AYSO Soccer Camps coach.
Details on the Playground program can be found by clicking HERE.
Schoolyard (5U):The Schoolyard program is delivered jamboree style. Training is introduced at the beginning of the session followed by about 20-minutes of short-sided games.
Details on the Schoolyard program can be found by clicking HERE.
6U:Practices will be one 1-⁢hour session per week.Games are four 5-minute quarters with a 5-minute half time break plus a 2-minute substitution break between the 1st & 2nd quarters and 3rd & 4th quarters. Games are scheduled for each hour and are usually scheduled throughout the morning.
8U:One 1-hour practice per week.Games are four 10-minute quarters with a 5-minute half time break plus a 2-minute substitution break between the 1st & 2nd quarters and 3rd & 4th quarters. Games are scheduled for each hour and are usually scheduled throughout the day (some games will be scheduled for the early afternoon.
10U:Two 1-hour practices per week.Games are two 25-minute halves (running clock) with a substitution at a normal stop of play approximately halfway through each half and a 5-minute half time break. Games are scheduled to start every 1 hour and 15 minutes and are scheduled throughout the day (some games may be scheduled for late afternoon).
12U:Two 1-hour practices per week.Games are two 30-minute halves (running clock) with a substitution at a normal stop of play approximately halfway through each half and a 5-minute half time break. Games are scheduled to start every 1 hour and 30 minutes and are scheduled throughout the day. Teams in the 12U division may have to travel to neighboring Regions to play away games.
14U:Two 1-hour practices per week.Games are two 35-minute halves (running clock) with a substitution at a normal stop of play approximately halfway through each half and a 5-minute half time break. Games are scheduled to start every 1 hour and 30 minutes and are scheduled throughout the day. Teams in the 14U division will travel to neighboring Regions to play away games.

Practices

The city of Irvine gives our Region fields on Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday, and Thursday for practices. And, only a few of these fields have lights which allow later practices. Each division commissioner is given a set of practice slots and the coaches choose from the available slots. For example, the boys 8U and girls 8U division commissioners with 12 and 8 teams respectively might be given San Leandro - an unlit park - on all four days (Monday through Thursday) from 4:30 PM until dusk. The division commissioners work with the coaches and begin assigning teams to the available slots.

Thus, your child's practice slot depends upon:

  • What fields the city allocates to us (for Fall, we receive the field allocations in early August);
  • How many teams we have in each division; and.
  • The coach's selection for day(s) of the week and time slot.

You will know the day(s) of the week and time for your child's team after the team has been formed and the coach notifies you what slot they have selected. Unfortunately, there is no way we can place your child on a team based on convenient practice time, day of the week, or field location. In most cases, the team is formed well before the practice time, day of the week, and field are selected.

Games

The city of Irvine gives our Region just enough fields on Saturday to accommodate all of the Core Program and Extra Program games. Furthermore, the city of Irvine wants the Region to fully utilize the fields for the entire day and not just in the morning. We do need to schedule games into the afternoon for 8U, 10U, 12U, and 14U divisions. The 6U games and Schoolyard (5U) jamboree are scheduled for Saturday mornings as much as possible.

We will not receive the field allocations until early August and won't build the schedules until we have coaches for all of the teams. Schedules are usually released about two weeks prior to the start of the season (which is September 9, 2017 for the 2017-2018 Membership Year). The end of the season will vary depending upon division. We try to schedule between 8 and 10 weeks of games.

The 8U division will have a large number of teams and we will do our best to balance them as much as possible. Yet, there will be naturally strong and/or weak teams in this division. The goal is to schedule a 3-game set to evaluate each team's level of play. Then, we will re-form the pools to try have teams of similar levels together and schedule the remainder of the season.

The 10U, 12U and 14U divisions will have 3 weekends of playoffs. Thus, they will have a 7-week regular season followed by a 3-week playoff. Details on the playoff structure can be found under 'Playoff Policies and Protocols' under 'About 144' on this website.

The 12U and 14U divisions will have away games played in other Regions in Area Q. The other Regions in Area Q are: Corona del Mar (Region 57), Tustin (Region 96), Newport Beach (Region 97), Costa Mesa (Region 120), North Irvine (Region 213), and Yorba Linda (Region 1398).

When and how will I find out the team my child is on?

The answer to this question changed now that we are using Blue Sombrero. We will turn on a page called "Team Central" when teams are getting formed. You will be able to see each child's team details when you log into your Blue Sombrero account.

We expect to turn Team Central on and sharing the details of teams formed so far around the third week of August (two weeks after registration closes).

How do I submit friend or coach requests?

Please submit requests for friends to be on the same team or for your child to play for a specific coach directly to the division commissioner. A list of the current division commissioners and their email address are listed under 'About 144' and 'Regional Board & Staff" (CLICK HERE).

Here are some things to keep in mind when submitting friend and/or coach requests:

  • To prevent problems, requests for your child to play with another child must be reciprocal. In other words, the division commissioner also needs to receive a request for their child to play with yours in addition to your request to have your child play with theirs.
  • Friend requests should include identification of important volunteers for the team. All teams in the 8U, 10U, 12U, and 14U divisions need to have at least one coach and one or more certified referees. Friend requests should include some indication that someone directly related to all players in the request will be a coach or referee. Here are some general guidelines:
    • 8U Divisions Recommendation: The 8U divisions only have 6 players on the roster. Consequently, one in six players needs to be an adult coach and two of the players needs to come with an adult or youth (12-years an older) certified and active as a referee. In summary, one in three players needs to include someone who will be the team coach or an active referee.
    • 10U Divisions Recommendations: The 10U division have 9 (or 10) players on the roster. In addition to a coach, each team should have a minimum of three (3) certified and active referees. In summary, one in three players needs to include someone who will be the team coach or an active referee.
    • 12U & 14U Divisions Recommendations: The U12 division has 12 players on the roster and the U14 division has 14 (or 15) players on the roster. In addition to a coach, each team should have a minimum of three (3) referees active and certified to the proper level (Intermediate Referee for 12U and Advanced Referee for 14U) referees.
    • Copy the Regional Coach Administrator on all requests which identify someone who will be the coach for the team.
    • Copy the Regional Referee Administrator on all requests which identify someone who will be an active and certified referee for the team.

Refund Policy

The refund policy and protocol is defined in detail in the Regional governing documents available HERE. In general:

  • The AYSO National Fee ($17.50 for the 2017-2018 Membership Year) is not refundable.
  • We will issue a full refund of the Program Fee if: 1) We are unable to place your child on a team; or, 2) You submit the request eight (8) or more weeks from the start of the season.

Player Transfer Requests

From time-to-time, we receive requests from parents to transfer their child to another team (after the teams have been formed). Although we would like to accommodate requests for transfers, they are not always easy to do in a way which is fair for everyone involved. Thus, we have a published policy & protocol posted in the Regional governing documents section on this website. In general:

  • Transfers require 4 approvals: 1) Both coaches must approve (2 approvals); 2) A parent or guardian of the player switching teams; and, 3) The Regional Commissioner. No transfer if any of the four individuals declines.
  • Transfers in the 10U, 12U, and 14U divisions are extremely difficult to approve due to the team balancing. We need to find a player of a similar rating on the other team who is willing to transfer between teams to maintain the team balance.
  • No transfers within one week of the start of the season or any time after the first game of the season.

Winter Season

The Winter Season in AYSO Region 144 is renowned since the primary objective is to offer an opportunity to play the game of soccer purely for the fun of it and with friends. Here are some answers to frequently asked questions about the Winter Season:

  • When and where are practices and games? - The Winter season does not include weekday practices. A brief warm-up and training session is followed by a small-sided game on Saturdays for all divisions. By small-sided games, we mean that games are played 4 versus 4 or 5 versus 5 (depending upon division) on small fields, with no goal keepers, and small portable goals.
  • Registration says the 12U and 14U divisions are co-ed? Will boys and girls be on the same team? - Yes. The 12U and 14U divisions are co-ed for two reasons: 1) not enough players to form gender-specific divisions, and 2) we have learned that it is fun and creates fabulous friendships.
  • Are referees required? - No. The Winter season is small-sided games and the "official" for the match can be a referee or it can be any registered volunteer with the AYSO Safe Haven certification and Concussion training (like all AYSO coaches).
  • Can I request friends play together? Or a specific coach? - In most cases, the answer is yes. The division commissioner should get an email from both sides of the request. For example, if you want your child to play with another child, then both you and the parent/guardian of the child should send the same request to the division commissioner.

National Partners

Site Links

Contact Us

AYSO Region 144 - South Irvine, California

PO Box 14726 
Irvine, California 92623

Email Us: [email protected]
Copyright © 2024 Region 144  |  Privacy Statement |  Terms Of Use |  License Agreement |  Children's Privacy Policy  Login