Far West Regional League – Desert Premier Soccer Division
U12- U14 Applications for the 2015 Season
The Desert Premier Soccer Division of the Far West Regional League is intended for elite teams from six US Youth Soccer Region IV states. The winner of the Desert Premier Soccer Division is guaranteed a wild card into the prestigious Far West Regionals in Boise, Idaho during the third week of June, 2015. That wild card will be awarded to the highest placing finisher in the Premier Division of the DPSD that does not qualify to the FWR through their State Cup competitions.
The Desert Premier Soccer Division is comprised of elite teams from Nevada, Utah, Colorado, New Mexico, Arizona and Hawaii. This document is designed to give elite clubs, and their best teams, an overview of the competitive model that the FWRL Desert Premier Soccer Division will use to award the wild card to the Far West Regionals in Boise.
The league will have competition in age-gender groups from U12 to U18. See the specific announcement that pertains to your age group.
Applications will open April 10 and close June 10.
The DPSD will host competition at two levels:
1) The 10-team Premier Division consisting of the six state association State Cup Champions, the previous year DPSD champion, any National League teams and remaining teams based on a merit system as described in Appendix A below. This division will be capped at 10 teams. These are the teams that compete for the FWRL DPSD wild card.
2) The 6-team First Division consisting of the six state association State Cup runners-up, supplemented as in Appendix A below. This division will be capped at 6 teams. The winner of the First Division will automatically qualify for DPSD Premier for the 2015-16 season.
U12, U13 and U14 Competition
Qualifying teams: The U12 to U14 groups, both boys and girls, will qualify for the DPSD through State Cup competitions in their home state association.
· Premier: The State Cup champion from each of the six states, the previous year’s DPSD champion and any national league teams will qualify to participate in the DPSD. Each age/gender group will be capped at 10 teams. Remaining spots in the 10-team groups will be filled by nominations from the respective state associations. If multiple teams are nominated, the vacancies will be filled as in Appendix A.
· First Division: The State Cup runner up from each of the six states will qualify to play in the First Division. Any vacancies will be filled as in Appendix A.
· If in the opinion of the Trustees, no nominated team meets the quality requirements of the DPSD, then vacancies do not have to be filled.
Format: Once the eligible teams are determined, round robin play will determine the champion and winner of the FWR wild card.
Premier Division play dates:
· All U12-U14 boys will play a 3-game weekend in Park City, Utah on September 19 to 21.
· All U12-U14 girls will play a 3-game weekend in Denver, Colorado on October 3 to 5.
· All U12-14, both boys and girls, will play a two or three game weekend in Las Vegas, Nevada from Oct 31 to Nov 2.
· All U12-14 teams will play a two or three game weekend in Casa Grande, Arizona on April 10-12, 2015.
· The remainder of the schedule will be completed with local games and local hosting. Not all teams will be able to host, but the FWRL will make attempts to make travel as fair as possible.
First Division play dates:
· All U12-U14 teams, both boys and girls, will play a two or three game weekend in Las Vegas, Nevada on October 31 – Nov 2.
· All U12-14, both boys and girls, will play a two or three game weekend in Casa Grande, Arizona on March 28-29, 2015.
Cost:
· Premier: $1000 per year which covers all costs except referee fees, which will be paid at the fields by the teams.
· First Division: $575 per team which covers all costs except referee fees, which will be paid at the fields by the teams.
Registration
Register at http://regioniv.usyouthsoccer.org/regional_league/. Select Desert Premier Soccer Division and the “Register Now” button. If you are from an ADG state, please follow the instructions on the top left hand side of the page. If you are not from an ADG state, you will have to create an account. Those instructions are on the lower left hand side of the page.
Our goal is to make as fair a schedule as possible for teams from every state association that can participate. Please do not sign up for the league if you cannot meet all of the required dates above that apply to your team.
Travel
We make every effort to consider travel costs in scheduling. The highest priority for scheduling will be competitive fairness, but cost control for teams will be a very important consideration. That being said, the FWRL is a regional league. You must be prepared to travel two or three weekends to participate in this league. Travel is mandatory, and the penalty for failure to meet your schedule is severe. Do not take this commitment lightly.
Friday games
The Desert Premier Division is committed to creating a quality competitive environment and, as such, will schedule one game per day whenever possible. On most three-game weekends, we will play a full schedule for U13 and U14 on Fridays. In most circumstances, the U12s will play 2 games on Saturday and one on Sunday.
Referees
The FWRL handles the selection and assignment of referees, but the teams are responsible for payment at each game. Referee fees per game are $100 for U12, U13, 14. Each team is responsible for one-half of the fee, to be paid in cash to the center referee before the game begins. A few small bills (ones and fives) are always welcome as the referees have to divide the fee into three parts.
Hosting Far West Regional League Games
The Far West Regional League Desert Premier Soccer Division will host the consolidated weekends, but teams are expected to pay for any fields for locally played games. Please note that college coach attendance is a very high priority for the FWRL, and that priority is best accomplished by multiple fields in one location. This is the reason that we have consolidated venues in Phoenix and Las Vegas.
Appendix A – Selection of Teams for DPSD
After the automatic qualifiers for DPSD are determined and have accepted spots, a committee of nuetral members, not associated with DPSD states, will determine teams to fill each bracket based on the following:
1) The DPSD runner-up from the previous season will be placed in Premier.
2) Remaining spots in DPSD Premier will be awarded using a merit system, based in order on performance in US Youth Soccer national events (NCS and National League), then US Youth Soccer regional events (FWR and FWRL) and performance in state association State Cup.
3) Remaining spots in DPSD First Division will be awarded by the same committee using the same criteria, from remaining applicants.