# How can SoCal league improve?



## Curious (Mar 22, 2022)

I know it is very unlikely that these suggestions will get back to the SoCal league but I guess I’m an optimist and hope the league can make some changes to improve after this greatly expanded year.

I would like to see the rules change so that players can not play down from a higher flight to a lower flight, as this obviously puts large clubs at an advantage over smaller clubs and results in standings that don’t reflect the true abilities of the teams.


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## timbuck (Mar 22, 2022)

Hopefully the "2 games per day allowed" rule was only for covid purposes and that goes away next year.
I agree-  Players in SoCal League should only be "SoCal League" players.  No dual rostering ecnl/ga/dpl players. Im ok with a SoCal League player from Discovery or F1 playing down if a team is short players.  It's not ok for the closed "elite" league players.

I'd also find a way to end the season in the Fall for everyone.  These spring games are silly for HS aged players.

State Cup-  Dunno what to do here.  I dont think the new format of games during league play worked all that great (as evidenced by over 200 teams dropping).  Have it the weeks between Thanksgiving and Christmas (for middle school and younger teams) and start the new year fresh. For HS aged teams- Skip it all together.  Maybe hold a tournament or 2, but don't make it mandatory.


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## rainbow_unicorn (Mar 23, 2022)

No State Cup.  Use league standings instead and let the winners of each sub regional division have playoff games to determine "state cup" winner.


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## Eagle33 (Mar 23, 2022)

rainbow_unicorn said:


> No State Cup.  Use league standings instead and let the winners of each sub regional division have playoff games to determine "state cup" winner.


Absolutely. For those who really looking for a State Cup fix, can play Cal South State Cup as before.


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## espola (Mar 23, 2022)

Eagle33 said:


> Absolutely. For those who really looking for a State Cup fix, can play Cal South State Cup as before.


Maybe ---

3.  Team Eligibility

3.1. The team must have competed in a Cal South approved Fall League or Sanctioned Cal South event using Cal South approved player passes for the seasonal year.



			https://calsouth.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/12/2022_CS_State_Cup_Rules_V2.pdf
		



3.1. The team must have competed in a Cal South approved Fall League, Regional League or Sanctioned Cal South Event , using Cal South approved player passes for the seasonal year with the exception of 19U boys and girls.  



			https://calsouth.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/12/2022_CS_National_Cup_Rules_V2.pdf


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## JabroniBeater805 (Mar 23, 2022)

espola said:


> Maybe ---
> 
> 3.  Team Eligibility
> 
> ...


That was waived last year. Anyone who competed under any USYS or US Club Soccer league was allowed in. Let's see if they allow this to be the case this year.


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## espola (Mar 23, 2022)

JabroniBeater805 said:


> That was waived last year. Anyone who competed under any USYS or US Club Soccer league was allowed in. Let's see if they allow this to be the case this year.


Anyone?  Was there a formal announcement?


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## fiveforetee (Mar 23, 2022)

A team at my DD's club missed out on the opportunity for a piece of a league championship after two teams they were supposed play against decided not to play their games since they didn't have enough players return after the conclusion of their HS season. The teams that could not field a team should be penalized and handed a forfeit, IMO.

Oh, and let's not have all these last second, day of games, schedule changes. Please and thank you!


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## GT45 (Mar 23, 2022)

Play the full league season in the fall. Play State Cup in the spring (no fall state cup games). This way teams know if they are folding for spring and do not sign up for state cup. It is hard on older rosters after the high school season, due to injuries or players quitting.


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## rainbow_unicorn (Mar 24, 2022)

Establish a tryout period/window and have league games/state cup completed before tryout window begins (date varies by age group).


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## JabroniBeater805 (Mar 24, 2022)

espola said:


> Anyone?  Was there a formal announcement?


I thought there was but I can't find it. I specifically remember a social media post about it.


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## espola (Mar 24, 2022)

JabroniBeater805 said:


> I thought there was but I can't find it. I specifically remember a social media post about it.


Was it some sort of accommodation to the fact that many league games were canceled due to the covid shutdowns?


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## JabroniBeater805 (Mar 24, 2022)

espola said:


> Was it some sort of accommodation to the fact that many league games were canceled due to the covid shutdowns?


I think it was due the fact that there weren't enough teams to do fill 3 flights for the youngers.


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## espola (Mar 24, 2022)

JabroniBeater805 said:


> I think it was due the fact that there weren't enough teams to do fill 3 flights for the youngers.


That makes sense, especially in light of the pre-existing exception for U19 teams.  There are still U19 brackets in the playing leagues, but many players have gone off to college and are not available to play for their local clubs until late spring when the U19 National Cup games are played.


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## Curious (Mar 27, 2022)

I’ll also add it would be great if we could do away with all the driving required for Discovery games.  Depending on where the team is based it can be onerous.  I’d suggest one weekend a month the games be at the regional fields, Silverlakes, SoCal/Oceanside etc and the others be just home and away as with the other flights.


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## timbuck (Mar 28, 2022)

Curious said:


> I’ll also add it would be great if we could do away with all the driving required for Discovery games.  Depending on where the team is based it can be onerous.  I’d suggest one weekend a month the games be at the regional fields, Silverlakes, SoCal/Oceanside etc and the others be just home and away as with the other flights.


My goodness-  YES!!!!
Half of our games at home and half of our games away is better than driving to all games in Oceanside/Del Mar/Norco


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## Mosafie (Mar 29, 2022)

One game per weekend.


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## oh canada (Mar 29, 2022)

Mosafie said:


> One game per weekend.


Yes! The first league to take the BOLD step to only play one game per week in the pursuit of player health will find it to be a MAJOR attraction for MANY families. Are there forward thinkers/risk-takers out there in charge?


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## KJR (Apr 7, 2022)

Unable to log into Demosphere for hours; preparing for a two hour drive to Norco tomorrow for a game that has been rescheduled/re-seeded several times over the last couple of days; advocating for a player who wants to join our club but whose team refuses to release her... I've got a list of suggestions that is getting longer and getting close to boiling over.


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## SoccerFan4Life (Apr 8, 2022)

KJR said:


> Unable to log into Demosphere for hours; preparing for a two hour drive to Norco tomorrow for a game that has been rescheduled/re-seeded several times over the last couple of days; advocating for a player who wants to join our club but whose team refuses to release her... I've got a list of suggestions that is getting longer and getting close to boiling over.


Spring league 2 games every weekend including on Mother’s Day at 4pm.   Socal at first had a posting to allow guest players with us club cards. Two days ago they changed it to no guest players period.  Keep in mind the spring league doesn’t keep track of scores or standings.   Have no clue why guest players are not allowed.


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## KJR (Apr 8, 2022)

SoccerFan4Life said:


> Spring league 2 games every weekend including on Mother’s Day at 4pm.   Socal at first had a posting to allow guest players with us club cards. Two days ago they changed it to no guest players period.  Keep in mind the spring league doesn’t keep track of scores or standings.   Have no clue why guest players are not allowed.


We've done the ten hour days for a 12-0 game with one ref with no complaint. We've had scheduling issues that we've accepted--new league structure, growing pains, etc. And being in the middle of a city, with field space scarce (even scarcer because of Covid), we've appreciated the league's patience when we've had to scramble for permits. 

When one of our younger players is racially abused by another player (and parents) at a game, it's reported to the league, and the league just...never responds? When a player from a larger club has satisfied every bylaw to be released but is denied because her coach wants to punish her for wanting to leave? And the league sides with that coach? 

It's hard to run a league; I get that. Everyone complains, there are lots of plates to spin. That's why I don't run a league. But I do think that player safety and well-being are the most important thing--the thing you _absolutely_ have to get right. So yes, let's make the brackets more competitive and change the State Cup schedule and all the other good suggestions that I'm sure the league is already working on. But if SOCAL needs more staff and infrastructure to make the soccer experience as safe and healthy as possible for the kids then I'd recommend that first.


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## crush (Apr 8, 2022)

KJR said:


> We've done the ten hour days for a 12-0 game with one ref with no complaint. We've had scheduling issues that we've accepted--new league structure, growing pains, etc. And being in the middle of a city, with field space scarce (even scarcer because of Covid), we've appreciated the league's patience when we've had to scramble for permits.
> 
> When one of our younger players is racially abused by another player (and parents) at a game, it's reported to the league, and the league just...never responds? When a player from a larger club has satisfied every bylaw to be released but is denied because her coach wants to punish her for wanting to leave? And the league sides with that coach?
> 
> It's hard to run a league; I get that. Everyone complains, there are lots of plates to spin. That's why I don't run a league. But I do think that player safety and well-being are the most important thing--the thing you _absolutely_ have to get right. So yes, let's make the brackets more competitive and change the State Cup schedule and all the other good suggestions that I'm sure the league is already working on. But if SOCAL needs more staff and infrastructure to make the soccer experience as safe and healthy as possible for the kids then I'd recommend that first.


This hits home from years ago.  Trying to get permission to leave still has me pissed off and still to this day throws me for a loop.  After they say, "No, you can;t leave" and "Good luck getting your players card to go score goals for my competition" is the hardest thing a parent can go through.  I went to bat for my child and went to the man.  After some back and forth, I got her released.  We need a simple and fair way to leave a club is my point.  Yes, coach and old club are now pissed off because the goals are going away.  Yes, the new team is happy and loves you but the guy who holds all the cards, that guy pisses me off and that guy needs to get the boot.  Way to much control and they know everyone so basically they have you by the balls in some places.


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## Great8 (Apr 9, 2022)

Curious said:


> I’ll also add it would be great if we could do away with all the driving required for Discovery games.  Depending on where the team is based it can be onerous.  I’d suggest one weekend a month the games be at the regional fields, Silverlakes, SoCal/Oceanside etc and the others be just home and away as with the other flights.


This is a fantastic idea! One weekend a month at the regional fields with home and aways in between seems like the perfect compromise.  There is no real benefit to having families haul out to norco/oceanside every weekend other than the guaranteed field availability.  It's costly, time consuming, and all that freeway time increases the chances of an accident somewhere.  Not to mention the drain  on family and friends time/homework time, especially for the older kids.  We are losing girls because having every game at silverlakes just isn't worth it.


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## crush (Apr 9, 2022)

Great8 said:


> This is a fantastic idea! One weekend a month at the regional fields with home and aways in between seems like the perfect compromise.  There is no real benefit to having families haul out to norco/oceanside every weekend other than the guaranteed field availability.  It's costly, time consuming, and all that freeway time increases the chances of an accident somewhere.  Not to mention the drain  on family and friends time/homework time, especially for the older kids.  We are losing girls because having every game at silverlakes just isn't worth it.


We need to go local and play local somehow.  I know many 2022s who have officially hung up their cleats because of what your talking about.  To play soccer at a high level right now is full time job and college is no joke.  We played out in Norco a few Sundays a go.  Left our place by Leisure World around 8:15 and got back around 3pm.  The worse drive for the older girls is going to Del Mar for a 11am game on a Saturday or Sunday from South OC.  I hate to say it but to get nice fields, you need to suck it up.  I still think were all smart enough to have local nice fields so the kids can play and stay local if we tried.  I believe that can happen but lot's has to change.


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