6316 Tryouts

1. Rationale

a. This policy is established to provide a consistent, fair, and equitable system for forming Competition Teams, allowing players to properly evaluate and explore their options, and committing players to Teams.

b. This policy shall apply to any Team participating the next Seasonal Year in any Competition League administered by UYSA, including the SCL, IRL, and X-league, but not district leagues.

2. Timing

a. A Team or Organizational Member may, at any time, advertise tryout dates and information for the next Seasonal Year.

b. Prior to the second weekend in May, a representative of a Team or Organizational Member may not initiate contact with a player in another Organizational Member with the intent to promote tryouts for the next Seasonal Year.

c. On or after the Monday before Memorial Day, tryouts may be held by or for a Team that will compete the next Seasonal Year in the U-9 and U-10 age groups of X-league.

d. After Memorial Day, tryouts may be held by or for a Team that will compete the next Seasonal Year in the U11 and U12 age groups of the X-league, the SCL, the IRL, or the PL.

e. On or after the Monday following the last Saturday of spring league play, tryouts may be held for a team that competes in the SU-IRL. Any player attending try-outs for the SU-IRL may only receive offers from and register with teams competing in the SU-IRL.

f. Any Team containing players selected through tryouts held before the applicable deadline, will not be permitted to register for the next season in a Competition League administered by UYSA.

3. Advertisement

a. As used in this section, advertisements include, but are not limited to, promotions through television, radio, newspapers, flyers, direct mailings, email, or online postings.

b. Any advertisement must disclose the following information: (1) Name of the Organizational Member or independent team conducting the tryouts; and (2) The Organizational Member’s affiliation with UYSA.

c. Advertisements must not be misleading as to participation costs, coach qualifications, or level of play.

4. Process

a. At tryouts, a player or his/her guardian may be required to sign appropriate liability releases and pay a reasonable tryout fee, but shall not be required to sign documentation requiring a commitment to join a Team or pay Team and/or Organizational Member fees. 15 Updated February 2018

b. Unless the player is eighteen (18) or older, an offer to a player to participate on a Team must be made to the player’s guardian in writing, which includes email, text, or website posting.

c. An offer must include the following:

(1) The date of the offer;

(2) The name, age group, and level of the Team for whom the offer is made (notice of the level of Team made is not necessary for X-league teams);

(3) The time period in which the player has to respond to the offer, which may not be less than 48 hours.

d. An offer is considered accepted, and a player is considered registered to a Team, at the occurrence of the earliest of the following on or after the registration opening date specified in policy 7325:

(1) When the player completes the registration process in SOMS by or with the written authorization of the player’s parents or guardian in accordance with the policies and procedures set forth in Section 7 of UYSA’s policies and procedures; or

(2) Upon delivery to a Team official of an executed Player Registration Form along with all waivers and acknowledgments and State Registration Fees, unless covered by a fee waiver.

e. Once an offer is accepted, the player is deemed committed to the Team for the Seasonal Year, subject to the release rules set forth in the registration policies, Section 7.

f. In the recruitment process, a Team, Organizational Member, or representative thereof may not make any representation that they know or should know is contrary to UYSA policy or actual fact.

Explanatory Note: A Try- out may be considered to be any event regardless of the name, and not limited to: open session, ID camp, meet and greet, open or training session. This would include any event where a single player or group of players performs or participates in any soccer skills or trainings, or where a player(s) is tested, evaluated, examined, auditioned for, or anything like unto to it to ascertain their potential, abilities, effectiveness, value, function, quality, etc., in any environment where skills may be seen by coaches or staff and evaluated in any manner. This is exclusive of regularly scheduled games or participation in a tournament. This applies whether or not there is a registration or sign-in or sign up for the event.

g. Players seeking additional trainings outside of their current team, club or OM may be excluded as a try-out provided the following criteria is followed:

(1) Current coach(es) must be notified in writing

(2) Must be given an written evaluation of skills and abilities and recommendations for improvement in writing by the clinician at the end of the training session(s)

(3) Must not take place during the regularly scheduled Fall or Spring season

(4) If the training sessions are conducted by or with a different OM team or club than the player is registered with, the player may not transfer to the OM club or team during the current seasonal year.