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MYSA - AJAX

Adult League Rules

General:

The purpose of this adult soccer league is to promote and support adult soccer play in a friendly and family-like environment in the Modesto area. FIFA and USSF rules govern MYSA-Ajax play, except as amended by these rules.

It is the intent of MYSA-Ajax to:

•Promote the game of soccer in a spirit of teamwork, fair play and sportsmanship.

•Provide coherent competition among area players and soccer teams.

•Develop and foster interest in soccer in the greater Modesto area.

These rules are broken into four major areas

•Participation in MYSA-Ajax

•League Operations

•Scoring and points calculations

•Deviations from FIFA and USSF rules

Participation in MYSA-Ajax:

Players and coaches joining MYSA-Ajax must follow any additional guidelines found within these MYSA-Ajax rules.

ROSTER:

All teams are required to provide a team roster at the beginning of the season.  All players are required to get registered for each team they play for and sign a waiver. Registered players must provide a picture proof of age to the league register prior to the designated date.  Unregistered players on a team will be the cause of a forfeit to the team in question and a penalty of minus 3 pts. from their standings.  After the 6th game of the season there shall be NO changes in the team rosters.

ROSTER SIZES:

8 v 8 teams can carry a minimum of 10 players with a maximum of 16 players.

11 v 11 teams can carry a minimum of 14 players with a maximum of 22 players.

LEAGUE FEES:

Payment is due in full before any team is scheduled for the season. Bounced checks will require cash payment, and a $25.00 return check charge in addition to the amount of the NSF check. Returned checks will not be re-deposited. There is a $100 late fee for teams that do not pay by the deadline.

CROSSOVERS:

A player will be allowed to switch teams only one (1) time during a season with previous approval from the Adult League Coordinator.  All requests must be submitted in writing and approved by the league director prior to the switch occurring.  Players are allowed to play in different divisions during the same season as long as they fulfill the age requirements.

PLAYER RESPONSIBILITIES:

Yellow cards carry to the next game. A player will receive a one (1) game suspension upon receiving their fourth (4) yellow cards in any one season. A red card issued is expected to carry at least an automatic 1-game suspension minimum.  A suspended player may not be reinstated prior to the incident being reviewed by the leagues disciplinary review committee—all committee decisions are final.  A $25 fine will be levied for all red card violations and deducted from the team’s red card deposit. The team manager is responsible for collecting the fine from the individual player. The team’s red card deposit must be brought back to a $50 balance prior to the next league game. Accumulation of two red cards in the same season will result in suspension from the league for six months, dated from the date of the last card that causes the suspension.

MANAGERS MEETING:

The league will conduct one mandatory managers’ meeting every season.  Each team is required to be present at this meeting for the entire meeting.  A team can be represented by somebody other than its manager.

SEASONS:

MYSA-Ajax will run four seasons per year with eight regular season games and an end of league year playoff the final two weeks of each league year.  The fall season will run from September through November. The winter season runs from December to February. The spring season will run from March to the end of May and the summer league will run from June to the end of August. The All-Star game will take place in late February.

TEAM DIVISION PLACEMENT:

Teams will be placed in divisions based on level of experience and past participation in the league.  In the given case that there are 2 divisions in the same age group, the winner of the lower division will be moved up to the upper division and the team that ends in last place of the upper division will be moved down to the lower division.  MYSA-Ajax reserves the right to change, alter or combine divisions at any time for scheduling or competitive purposes.

Leagues:

MYSA-Ajax shall offer an 8 v 8 open coed leagues, 11 v 11 men’s open league, 11 v 11 men’s over 30 league, and a 11 v 11 men’s over 35 league.  Other leagues may be established at the Adult League Coordinators discretion.

8 v 8 Coed Open League:

Each 8 v 8 coed team must field at least three female players at all times.  If a team is unable to field a female player, they must play down one player for each female player not fielded.

Playoffs:

At the end of the regular season, the top four teams will advance to the play-offs.  For divisions with eight teams four teams will advance to playoffs. with six teams two teams will advance.

SCHEDULE CHANGES:

Once a season schedule is published to the MYSA-Ajax web site, no changes will be made unless an unexpected logistical problem arises. The only other exception is weather related changes.  If this is the case, all managers will be notified of the change(s) electronically.  Weather and field availability permitting, all teams will play an eight match series each season plus play-offs.

MAKEUP GAMES AND CANCELLATIONS:

A match is considered official once the 1st half has been completed.  If play must be halted after the start of play, but before the half is complete, the MYSA-Ajax adult league scheduler will make every attempt to reschedule the shortened game. However, if field, weather or other situations preclude timely rescheduling, the game may not be replayed. If this occurs, the score standing will be used as the final score of the game.  If a play-off game is approved to be rescheduled, the requesting team will be required to pay for the referee fee, plus the field rental fee and the lights cost if game is played under the lights. Regular season games cannot be rescheduled.

FORFEIT:

Failure to have a minimum amount of players’ show-up (7 for 11 v 11 and 6 for 8 v 8) will result in a forfeit for that team. Referees will allow a five-minute grace period from the posted start time to field a team. The team that wins by default will add maximum points to their division standings (3 points).  A forfeit fee of $100 (the cost of the referees) will be levied against any team who forfeits due to a lack of participation.

PLAYER CONDUCT:

Players are responsible for fair, sportsmanlike and polite behavior at all times.  No fighting will be tolerated. Foul, vile or vulgar language will not be used on the field either toward other players or to yourself in general.  Referees are instructed to card offenders.   Any fight will result in an immediate one-year suspension without a refund to whoever throws the first punch.  All other individuals who get involved in a fight will be also suspended for at least six months. Referee abuse will not be tolerated. Assault includes the following acts committed upon a referee: hitting, kicking, punching, choking, spitting at, or on, grabbing, stepping on, or running into a referee; the act of kicking or throwing any object at a referee that could inflict injury, damaging the referee’s uniform or personal property. Referee abuse is also defined as a verbal attack or physical approach that implies or threatens physical harm to a referee or the referee’s property or equipment.  Verbal threats are remarks that carry the implied or direct threat of physical harm. Threats such as: "I’ll get you after the game" or "You won't get out of here in one piece" shall be deemed referee abuse. Commission of any of the preceding acts will carry a 6 month to one-year suspension as determined by the MYSA-Ajax adult league disciplinary review committee—all committee decisions are final.

REFEREES:

All decisions made by the referees assigned to MYSA-Ajax matches are final. USSF and referees in training are contracted to referee league games. No appeals will be accepted pertaining to decisions by the referee. No player or individual shall enter the field of play without the referee's express permission except during substitutions.

REFUNDS:

Once entered on the schedule, refunds are subject to the League Coordinator's approval.

UNIFORMS:

All teams are required to wear matching uniforms in order to play.  Matching jerseys or matching T-shirts are required and must be numbered.  Shorts and socks do not necessarily need to be of the same brand name or style but have to be of the same color (or very similar such as navy blue & black).  Clashing colors will not be allowed such as wearing green instead of red or orange instead of royal blue).  Teams are expected to fulfill this requirement no later than game 2.  Numbered pennies or training bibs are acceptable. A referee shall disallow a player from the field of play until he or she is wearing his or her team matching colors. If player refuses to change then he shall not be allowed to play.

OPEN DIVISIONS:

These leagues are open to players of all ages and skill levels.

GRIEVANCE POLICY/PROTEST:

A grievance/protest is a complaint with a suggested resolution. The only matters that are grievable/protestable are treatment of players by coaches, actions of spectators, or any clear violation of the MYSA-Ajax rules that has escaped the attention of the Adult League Coordinator. Any grievance/protest shall be filed in writing, with a $50 nonrefundable protest fee, to the league within three days of the action under protest. Upon receipt, the League management will review the relevant facts and render a determination in writing to the protestor within seven days. The following items, while not exclusive, are not grievable/protestable:

•MYSA-Ajax rules

•Referee decisions

•Decisions regarding suspensions

SCORING AND POINT CALCULATIONS:

Games played will be awarded points based on the following system:

Win- 3 points for winning team

Tie- 1 point for both teams

Loss- 0 points to the losing team

DEVIATIONS FROM FIFA AND USSF LAWS OF THE GAME:

Unless otherwise indicated here, all Laws of the Game as prescribed in FIFA’s sanctioning bodies’ rulebooks will apply to all MYSA-Ajax matches.

Slide tackling is prohibited in all 8 v 8, 11 v 11 over 30 & 35 leagues.

Law 1: The Field of Play.  Local conditions may mandate use of non-standard or sub-optimal fields.

Law 3: The Number of Players.  Free-substitutions are permitted for both teams during most dead-ball situation with previous referee approval.

Law 7: Duration of the Match.  If weather or field conditions mandate, and with the concurrence of both involved coaches, matches may be shortened from the normal 45 minute halves with a 10 minute halftime (11 v 11) or 27.5 minute halves with a 5 minute halftime (8 v 8).

SEASON POINT TIE-BRACKERS:

In case of point ties, the tie will be broken in this order:

1.Goal difference

2.Goals for

3.Goals against

4.Head-to-head competition

5.Least amount of red-cards received

6.Coin toss.

During play-offs, ties will be broken as follows:

During the quarter-finals, the lower ranked team MUST win the game to move on.  In case of a tie, the higher ranked team will qualify to the next round. There is NO overtime.

During semi-finals, teams will go straight to PK’s in case of a tie.

During final games, the teams will play two (2) ten-minute “golden-goal” over time halves (11 v 11), or (1) ten-minute “golden-goal” overtime halve (8 v 8) no half-time allowed.  If there is no winner, teams will go to penalty kicks. If for any reason, lights are being used and they go off and the game is tied, the game will be rescheduled and decided by PK’s. Only players on the field at the time of the outage may participate in the PK’s.

* If there is any disagreement with regards to the above rules, it will be the Adult League Coordinators responsibility to interpret such rules to the parties affected.  The Adult League Coordinator shall have the final word on any rule interpretation issue.


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Contact

MYSA - AJAX
Office Hours: Mon-Thurs 10 am-5 pm & Fri 10 am-4:30 pm, 3509 Coffee Rd Suite D8 P.O. Box 577229
Modesto, California 95357

Phone: 209-236-1800
Email: [email protected]

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