# How much rest between games is required in a tournament?



## socalkdg (Dec 4, 2017)

How much rest between games is required in a tournament?   Or is there such rule?


----------



## coachrefparent (Dec 4, 2017)

Never heard of such a blanket rule. I am sure every tournament has some internal guideline they shoot for.


----------



## MWN (Dec 4, 2017)

Referees are given 10 to 15 minutes
DA/ECNL tournaments have a 1 game/day requirement, so 20 hours.
All others tend to try to give at least 1 game (1hr to 1.5 hrs) or more before another game.  Those that do, tend to shorten the game times when playing multiple games per day.


----------



## boomer (Dec 4, 2017)

MWN said:


> Referees are given 10 to 15 minutes
> DA/ECNL tournaments have a 1 game/day requirement, so 20 hours.
> All others tend to try to give at least 1 game (1hr to 1.5 hrs) or more before another game.  Those that do, tend to shorten the game times when playing multiple games per day.


Expansion...DA is one game per day, max two games over a three day period. Makes for a long tournament if DA teams are to play three games or more.


----------



## BigSoccer (Dec 4, 2017)

No rule but as much as possible including sleep.


----------



## mirage (Dec 4, 2017)

I don't think the OP was asking about DA rules.  The DA rules is 3 games over 4 days - no more than 2 consecutive days without a day off.  Thats why Surf Cup starts on Friday and ends on Monday for DA games.

Back to the original question, I believe all tournaments try to provide at least an hour between the games.  Aggressive scheduling tournaments (e.g., West Coast Classic) that have three games on Sunday still provide at least an hour (for those that make it to the finals).

That said, my kid has been on a team when the schedule came out, there was less than an hour between the games to accommodate coaching conflict.  We complained and was reschedule to provide us with a longer break.

One of the worst scheduling is the last game of the day and the first game of the next day.  Our younger son's club's tournament this past summer scheduled us 8.00pm start on Sat, then the first game on Sun at 8.00am.  In actual time, the game ended at 9.45 pm because they fell back on the schedule throughout the day by 30 min or so.  By the time the coach let them go, it was just after 10pm.  So the kids got home around 11pm and shower and bed, only to wakeup at 6AM to be back on the field at 7am.


----------



## jrcaesar (Dec 4, 2017)

mirage said:


> One of the worst scheduling is the last game of the day and the first game of the next day. Our younger son's club's tournament this past summer scheduled us 8.00pm start on Sat, then the first game on Sun at 8.00am. In actual time, the game ended at 9.45 pm because they fell back on the schedule throughout the day by 30 min or so. By the time the coach let them go, it was just after 10pm. So the kids got home around 11pm and shower and bed, only to wakeup at 6AM to be back on the field at 7am.


This is arguably preferable to having an 8:00am and then a 2:00pm on a random Saturday in Norco or Lancaster.


----------



## socalkdg (Dec 4, 2017)

We have 1 hour between games this Saturday was why I asked.   Wonder if the kids will be tired, or if they might be sharper the 2nd game.   2005 Girls.   The more difficult game is the first one at least.


----------



## mirage (Dec 4, 2017)

socalkdg said:


> We have 1 hour between games this Saturday was why I asked.   Wonder if the kids will be tired, or if they might be sharper the 2nd game.   2005 Girls.   The more difficult game is the first one at least.


What typically happens is that if the 2nd game is the 2nd game for both teams, then really doesn't matter too much if one team has had bit longer rest time.

But if the 2nd game is the 1st game for the opponent, then the outcome of your 1st game and the intensity will affect the 2nd game.  Chances are that, in this case, your team will show the effect of having played another game in the 2nd half more or if you fall behind early, some of the players will quit sooner.


----------



## mirage (Dec 4, 2017)

jrcaesar said:


> This is arguably preferable to having an 8:00am and then a 2:00pm on a random Saturday in Norco or Lancaster.


Depends on how close you are.  In my example from this past summer, if it was Lancaster, we would spend the night there so its the same.  If Silverlakes, then adds bit of time but usually the venue is the same for a club tournament.


----------



## Kicker4Life (Dec 4, 2017)

socalkdg said:


> We have 1 hour between games this Saturday was why I asked.   Wonder if the kids will be tired, or if they might be sharper the 2nd game.   2005 Girls.   The more difficult game is the first one at least.


They did the same to my ‘06’s team.  However the schedule recently updated and they gave us 2 hours instead of 30min.


----------



## Simisoccerfan (Dec 4, 2017)

A shorter recovery time works for the u-littles but as kids get older they need recovery time.  I much prefer the showcase format of one game a day even if it means an additional day of driving or hotel.  By the time kids are 15 they should not be playing multiple games a day.  The should be playing every game at 100% and given the time to recover.


----------



## ElGringo49 (Dec 4, 2017)

One of the worse tournament scheduling I’ve seen was at the AC Brea Tournament where a team from Corona had the 1st game at 8am and their 2nd game at 6pm. That is just too long of a break....


----------



## Eagle33 (Dec 5, 2017)

Tournaments do care about whether everyone sent payment, their own team coaches have no conflict and favorable schedule, and other coaches have no conflict (or they will not come back next year). Everything else is up to a scheduler. Some do great job and some don't. Least of the tournament concern is well being of the players. They don't care if it's too hot or too windy, or field is awful or your games is back-to-back. 
I've seen it all over the years and have been to many tournaments including out of state and DA showcases.
Of course DA showcases by far the most organized events of them all. 
Surf Cup is the best out of non-DA tournaments.


----------



## Not_that_Serious (Dec 5, 2017)

no rule but food intake, and what you eat is very important. i think it should be mandated that there should be a minimum of 2 hours between matches - and id push for 3-4 hours.

read this:
http://www.scienceofsocceronline.com/2015/04/fast-food-as-recovery-meal.html


----------



## Not_that_Serious (Dec 5, 2017)

forgot one. good info, a bit long but worth the read - especially for female athletes:
https://search.proquest.com/openview/d8e8efa3e775c148188183fd209bfdec/1.pdf?pq-origsite=gscholar&cbl=18750&diss=y


----------



## socalkdg (Dec 6, 2017)

Kicker4Life said:


> They did the same to my ‘06’s team.  However the schedule recently updated and they gave us 2 hours instead of 30min.


The tournament must have saw my post, now we have about 25 minutes between games instead of 1 hour.


----------



## Not_that_Serious (Dec 6, 2017)

socalkdg said:


> The tournament must have saw my post, now we have about 25 minutes between games instead of 1 hour.


unless you had a pro roster it is physically impossible...even pros cant go two games in that time frame. physical/bio demands proven with the links i posted. call someone and hammer into them. thats a recipe for injury. as it is, youd basically have to run over to the next game and kick the ball off.  #stupidity


----------

