Teams are formed in boys and girls divisions in Under 10 through Under 19. The number teams offered will depend heavily on the number of coaches, players and referees that sign up. Access to field permits plays a key part in the determination of the number of teams as well. Recently we have had three boy snd one girls team in U16 & U19, and at least two teams in all gender divisions for U14, U12 and U10.
There are two parts for registration. The first is to to complete a player application to get on the tryout list. Applications typically open in October and tryouts are in November. If your player is placed on a team, you will then pay a fee to the team treasurer and register in Sports Connect. Fees are typically due in December and the team will inform you about how to register in Sports Connect. We want everyone to play and make every effort to create enough teams for all players who apply on time and try out, but this is dependent on having enough coach and referee volunteers. Please see Other Spring Programs below for more details.
To be eligible to participate in the Select program, a player must participate in the Fall primary season and participate in at least 70% of the regulation games. Exceptions may be allowed in case of injury. In addition, a player must be older than the minimum age cutoff for the Under-10 division. Under-8 age eligible players are not allowed to participate in the Spring Select program even if they played up in the Under-10 division in the fall.
Region 45 has a standard procedure for the selection process that all of the teams will follow. The Head Coaches will be determined by mid-October so they can scout players that have filled out the online application and recruit others to sign up who have not applied. In U14 and below, there will be at least 2 scheduled tryouts from which players must attend at least one. It is highly recommended that interested players attend all tryout sessions if possible. After scouting players and seeing some or all of them at the tryout sessions, the coaches and evaluators from each division will meet to setup teams ensuting every team has at least two certified coaches and three certified referees. Players not selected will be notified first that they have been placed on the wait list. After that, the players selected will be notified by the Coach. No players will be told they have made a team until the end of the process.
Players may tryout in the same Division age group as they participated in during the Fall season, or tryout with their age group if different. This applies only to kids that ""played up"" a Division last Fall. The age/division rules are still being evaluated and this could change in the future to only allow kids to try out for select in the Division they played in the Fall season. AYSO National Guidelines mandate that All Stars (Different from Select) come from the Division they played in the primary season. At this time, Select does not fall under these guidelines but could in the future. The Region 45 Board makes this determination.
Other Spring AYSO Programs For those players who do not make a team during the tryout process or are interested in a less intense spring soccer experience, there are several AYSO regions that offer Spring Rec (a recreational program). AYSO Region 45 currently only offers U8 Spring Rec but several adjacent regions do offer U10 thru U14 Spring Rec programs including:
Even if your child plays the spring in Sunnyvale or Cupertino, you can always register for our Fall 2023 program, especially if you live in Mnt View or Los Altos, since your child friends will likely be playing in our region if you are from that area.
This map shows where the various AYSO regions are located in this part of the bay area.
The fall season is the primary season for all of AYSO. Therefore, please confirm with these regions that they do actually plan to field teams in the spring for the division your child is in. If they don't have enough players, they may not field a team and cancel that division.
Forming a new team in AYSO45
AYSO45 tries hard to place all players who sign up in time and meet eligibility onto a spring select team. If your child is not placed and you are willing to form a team and coach, AYSO45 can help you create a new team. If there are not enough players, you can recruit additional players usually from friends of the players you start with. This is what we call a spring select "development team" and this team will likely play rec teams from local regions and possibly a local tournament and/or the PCSSL spring league. You will also need to be or get coach certified for the division you are coaching. A spring rec team is simpler to coach than a spring select team as there is no travel tournaments. Therefore, this is a viable option for the spring and many development teams have been formed this way in prior years and worked out well for everyone involved.
Before starting a new team, please email [email protected] and get approval from the spring select coordinator.
The following rules apply to be a Select coach:
To be eligible to Head coach a Select team, the coach must be a registered coach in the Region 45 AYSO program and have coached a team in the current Fall season. Preference will be given to coaches that coached on a fall team in the same division that they are applying to coach for spring select.
All Select Coaches must be Safe Haven certified and have completed CDC Concussion Awareness training.
Coaches must complete the on-line Select Coach Application form before the deadline.
Coaches must be AYSO Coach Certified to at least the level they are requesting to coach and preferably above.
U10 - U10 Coach Certification
U12 - U12 Coach Certification
U14 - Intermediate Coach Certification
U16/U19 - Advanced Coach Certification
Coaches must have a good track record of following the six AYSO Philosophies.
Sometimes, there will be more applicants for coaches than there will be coaching spots available. The Select Committee often has a difficult time in deciding on which coaches to accept which is a nice problem to have so we encourage all interested coaches to apply.
Registration Fee and Costs We are mandated to follow AYSO National's rules and regulations which state that a region's secondary season will be self funding. A player registration fee will be charged, for which the exact dollar figure has not yet been determined, but it will likely be in the range of $400 and will cover entry in four tournaments, field fees and will fund a small scholarships program. This registration fee is necessary because all of the spring tournaments require a check to come directly from the region and collecting this money up front will keep book keeping for our Treasurer as clean as possible. The registration fee will be charged for 10 players for U10, 12 players for U12 and 15 players for U14 and above. If a team opts to play in more than 4 touraments, they will need to collect this additional money and work with the treasurer to cover the costs. If a team does not get accepted to 4 tournaments, then we will work to reimburse costs for a missed tournament.
All other expenses including uniforms, sweatshirts, play in other leagues (PCSSL, indoor soccer, etc), lodging, transportation and such will need to be paid for by the team.
Practice and Other League Logistics At least three players need to be selected to each team whose parents are certified referees or will become certified referees and are willing to referee in the tournaments in the spring. Several tournaments only accept applications that include a referee team. Teams may solicit referees who do not have a child playing on the team but the team must be willing to incur travel costs including lodging for that referee. Two players must be selected whose parent is willing to assist with coaching. All other parents must be willing to volunteer in some capacity with their team from team treasurer to field setup and snack coordination.
Most Select Teams play in the Pacific Coast Spring Soccer League (PCSSL). Games are all within driving distance but may be up to an hour away. Other Select Teams may participate in an indoor league. Costs incurred for playing in these leagues is NOT included in the registration fee and are paid directly by each team from funds collected by each player.
Most Select teams play in 3-6 tournaments through the end of May or possibly into June. The Spring Select Player Registration fee covers the Team entry fee for 4 events. If a team participates in more than 4 events additional funds will be collected from the players by the team and deposited with the Region 45 Spring Select Account to cover the additional costs. If a team participates in less than 4 Tournaments they will recieve a refund for the missed event. each year a cost per player to cover the 4 events will be calculated.
The Region hopes to have enough volunteers to offer a second or development team in each age division in under 10 through under 14. This team will focus on skills development, play in the PCSSL league, and attend fewer tournaments. Concentration would be on on attending the more local events. Fees would be adjusted to the number of tournaments attended. The recommendation of the spring select committee is that the development teams attend no more than one to three tournaments.
Provided below is a partial list of Tournaments Region 45 teams have attended in past years.
The Coach’s Role in Select Balancing the AYSO Principles and a Higher Level of Competition The single most important thing to remember is that Select is not “win-at-all-costs”! Every Select coach must recognize and abide by AYSO’s key principles of Everyone Plays, Positive Coaching and Good Sportsmanship! The coach must always balance the desire to win versus the needs of the players to also have fun and be treated well as kids. Remember always they are children and not miniature professional athletes.
Developing Skills and Having Fun Long after the game scores are forgotten, the players will still retain the skills that they were taught in this program. Skill development, good character through a positive sports experience, and having FUN are the primary things the coach wants to develop in the players. If the players do not have fun, chances are they won’t apply to participate again.
Managing Parents & Their Expectations Many parents bring challenging expectations to travel sports. The coach’s role is to help manage those expectations to be reasonable. The coach should try to avoid a mentality where the parents see themselves – and the coach – as helping push along their child’s budding “sports career”. Managing these expectations will prevent many problems down the road in handling over-involved parents.
Key Things the Coach Must Adhere To All Select teams are required to play every player at least one half of the game. The Region 45 AYSO Select Committee encourages teams to play every player at least three quarters of the game, as we require in our Fall season. Try to balance play time as much as possible as it makes for happier players and better team chemistry.
Positive Coaching is just as important an AYSO principle in Select as in the Fall season. A coach will get the best results, and happiest kids and parents, if he or she practices positive coaching. Constructive criticism is always okay and a necessary part of coaching at this level, but the coach should never verbally abuse or berate players. Remember that these are children!
This AYSO principle is also key in Select. While Select games may tend to have more aggressive play at times than in the Fall season, the coach must avoid any tendency to play “dirty” even if the other guy seems to be pushing the limit. Coaches must remember that they are a role model to the kids, and the kids will key on what they see the coach do and how the coach behaves.
Balancing Winning with Skill Development and Fun No coach, even in the Fall season, probably ever walks onto a soccer field intending to lose a match. Nevertheless, you are better off to have a .500 season but have well-treated and happy players, than be undefeated at the expense of the kids and their having fun.
Representing Mountain View/Los Altos Region 45 at Other Towns Whenever a team travels to another community and plays a match, the coach must remember that he/she and the team and parents are representing Region 45 AYSO. What they do reflects on the entire organization. Coaches must always maintain good decorum at all times.