February 3rd/4th Master Re-Scheduling Notice

Weekly Re-scheduling for: February 3/4 weekend

Attached is the master list of games to be played this coming weekend, February 3 and 4. The attached master re-scheduling notice is three pages long and includes the complete list of games that are to be played in every division. In addition there is important information further below in this memo about the Provincial/Coastal B Cup playdowns that are now under way as well as information about the determining of league champions.

MASTER RE-SCHEDULING NOTICE: Re-scheduling February 3/4 2018

These re-scheduling notices will be sent out from the LISA office on a weekly basis for the rest of the Lower Island season and will hopefully be distributed on the Monday or Tuesday of each week. However, if there are delays it might not be sent out until Wednesday as, in order to do the re-scheduling, results from games played the previous weekend, especially the “B” Cup matches, need to be known – and if league or cup games were not played that needs to be known as well.

So it is important that you report to your score recorder on time. It is the responsibility of both teams to report all their games (league and cup) to their score recorder. If you did not play your scheduled game then both teams still must report to their score recorder and you need to include why you did not play.

Re-scheduling is done on a weekly basis in order to accommodate the Coastal/Provincial B Cup and LISA Cup playdowns as those matches have priority over league games, both in scheduling and in field assignments. Teams playing in the Coastal/Provincial B Cup or LISA Cup will not be available for league play that weekend so schedules have to be revised in order to compensate for their absence.

Re-scheduling is also done for teams when the last date on their league schedule has passed and their District Cup playdowns have yet to start. LISA will continue to schedule games for those leagues on a weekly basis until their District Cup playdowns begin.

In addition, re-scheduling is sometimes done in order to play some outstanding games.

Once the pairing for teams in one game is changed that impacts the match-up of teams in other games which then leads to those pairings being changed.

When LISA re-schedules one of your games for the upcoming weekend you play that game instead of the game listed on your original schedule. The game that was originally scheduled for that day then becomes an outstanding game.

Make sure you check the League Play section of the LISA website to confirm all the games you have played have been posted. Please note that games are identified by the date for which they are listed on your original schedule. So if you are checking for scores for outstanding games they will be posted alongside their original date not the date on which they were actually played.

In order to make up any outstanding league game “on your own time” (i.e. outside of the standard weekend time for which LISA schedules) both teams must agree upon the re-scheduling. One team can not schedule the game and try to force the other team into playing it then.

If you have made arrangements to make up an outstanding game then both teams need to inform LISA (through your score recorder or the district scheduler) as far in advance as possible. By doing so hopefully we will be able to avoid the double-booking of games such as when two teams agree to play an outstanding game, for example, on a Wednesday evening and then receive their weekly re-scheduling notice listing that game to be played that coming weekend.

If the weekly re-scheduling notice lists your game as one to be played “in advance” of the date for which it was originally scheduled your score will be posted alongside the date for which that game was originally scheduled, not the date on which you played that game. Please note that only LISA can re-schedule games to be played “in advance” of their original date. If two teams want to play a league game prior to the date for which it is listed on their schedule those teams must apply for and receive LISA approval in order to do so.

At this time of the season communication between teams, their opponents and their clubs is very important. Do not assume everybody will receive the re-scheduling notice that is emailed out every week. Teams should contact their opposition far enough in advance to confirm their games for each weekend.

PROVINCIAL/COASTAL B CUP

The Lower Island playdowns in the Provincial/Coastal B Cup continue this weekend with the semi-final rounds.The draw grids are posted on the LISA website. In the drop-down box for the COMPETITIONS tab, go to “Cups” and select “Provincial Cup – A, B and Coastal Cups.” Those draw grids will be updated with results after each weekend of play.

The Lower Island finals are scheduled for the weekend of February 17/18.

Please note that February 10/11 is the Family Day long weekend and league games (including important games that could help determine league champions) are scheduled to be played that weekend. However if there are outstanding B Cup matches they will be scheduled for the February 10/11 weekend instead of the league games for those teams.

The winners of the Lower Island playdowns will go on to represent the Lower Island district in the inter-district Coastal B Cup playdowns. The first inter-district match for the Lower Island reps will be against the Upper Island reps the weekend of February 24/25.

The hosting agreement between the Upper and Lower Island districts is as follows:  the Upper Island hosts the U13, U15 and U17 divisions for both boys and girls and the Lower Island hosts the U14, U16 and U18 divisions for both boys and girls. (The Upper Island usually plays its B Cup matches on Sundays so if your team is playing away in the Upper Island expect to be playing on the Sunday.)

The start time for matches between the Upper and Lower Island can not be before 12 noon (unless both teams are in agreement) and any Lower Island home match involving Powell River needs to take into account their ferry schedule and travel plans. Powell River teams playing in the Lower Island sometimes want to travel to the Lower Island and return home the same day. And sometimes they want to travel here the day before and want to play the following morning.

For those who are interested the Upper Island B Cup playdown grids are posted on the Upper Island website.

The winners of the matches between the Lower Island reps and the Upper Island reps (sometimes referred to as the “Island qualifiers”) will represent the Vancouver Island/Powell River region at their provincial tournaments in July. In addition these winners continue on with the Coastal B Cup playdowns advancing to the quarter-final rounds where they will play Lower Mainland teams. The quarter-finals of the Coastal B Cup are set for the weekend of April 14/15.

NEW THIS SEASON:  The losers of the Island qualifiers (known as the “Vancouver Island/Powell River runners-up”) will also continue on with the Coastal B Cup playdowns advancing to the quarter-final rounds April 14/15 where they will play Lower Mainland teams. If the Island runner-up wins the Coastal Cup final that team also qualifies for the provincial tournament as the “first place Coastal B Cup” team.

NOTE:  There will be NO Upper Island B Cup rep in Girls U13 and Boys U13. Therefore in the Girls U13 division and the Boys U13 division the winner of the Lower Island playdowns will win the “first place Vancouver Island/Powell River” berth for their provincial tournament in July. This “first place Vancouver Island/Powell River” team will continue on into the quarter-finals of the Coastal B Cup where it will play a Lower Mainland team.

In addition, in the Girls U13 division and the Boys U13 division the team that loses the Lower Island final is not eliminated from the Coastal B Cup. Since there will be no Upper Island U13 Girls or U13 Boys B Cup rep the loser of the Lower Island final will become the “Vancouver Island/Powell River runner-up” and continue on into the quarter-finals of the Coastal B Cup where it will play a Lower Mainland team. The “Vancouver Island/Powell River runner-up” can also qualify for the provincial tournament by winning the Coastal B Cup final.

While the B Cup competition is under way teams will play their B Cup match instead of the league game that was originally scheduled for them that weekend. The league game will then become an outstanding game and can be made up by agreement of both teams involved.

By BC Soccer rules, B Cup matches have priority over all other youth games in regards to scheduling and fields. If any B Cup match can not be played because fields are closed (both the designated home club and the visiting club do not have an open field on which the match can be played) the re-scheduling of that match is up to LISA. Note that LISA can re-schedule an outstanding cup match, or a cup match that needs to be re-played because of a successful protest, for any time, any day.

There must be a winner in all B Cup matches

If the two teams are tied on goals at the end of regulation time the teams will play two equal halves of extra time as per the duration for their age division. From U13 up to and including U16 that is 2 x 10-minute halves. For U17 and U18 that is 2 x 15-minute halves. The full length of the extra time will be played no matter how many goals are scored during the two extra-time halves.

If the score is tied at the conclusion of the full extra time session the outcome of the match will be decided by kicks from the penalty spot, as per FIFA rules.

In order to be eligible for the B Cup a team’s head coach must have completed the Soccer for Life coaching course, or a higher level course (C Licence, B Provincial, B National, A Licence). There are no exceptions.

A player is eligible once his/her registration has been validated by the district association’s registrar and has been received by B.C. Soccer. A player must also have played in at least one league game before playing in a regional qualifying or Provincial Cup match.

Players must be registered as a youth or transferred to a team at least seven days prior to taking part in that team’s regional qualifying or Provincial Cup match.

One member of the team officials (i.e. coaches/managers listed on your official registration form) must be the same gender as the players on the team. This team official must be present on the bench and in the changing rooms.

B CUP SCORE REPORTING

BOTH teams must report the score for their B Cup match to their score recorder. During the Lower Island playdowns report your score to the score recorder listed on your draw grid (that score recorder is the same person as on your Gold schedule).

For the Island qualifier (Lower Island vs. Upper Island) the Lower Island rep is to report the score to the Lower Island district scheduler (Brian Davis ag9@telus.net  or 250-598-6274) by 5 p.m. or as soon as possible thereafter for traveling teams. You must also report if your match is not played and provide the reason why.

For the Coastal B Cup quarter-finals, semi-finals and finals both teams are responsible for sending the result to their Coastal B Cup coordinator by email or phone within one hour of the end of the match. (The one-hour deadline is according to the Coastal Cup rules, however elsewhere on the Coastal Cup website it says by 6 p.m.) The coordinators for the Boys Coastal B Cup and Girls Coastal B Cup are listed on the 2018 Coastal Cup website:  http://www.bccoastalcup.com/   (see Forms & Rules, Duties of the B Cup Coach). In addition, Lower Island teams must report to the Lower Island district scheduler (contact data listed above).

Teams that enter the B Cup must follow through with all commitments associated with the Provincial and Coastal B Cup competitions – that could include travel and accommodations if your team advances through the various rounds of the competition.

DETERMINING LEAGUE CHAMPIONS

The rules for determining league champions are posted on the LISA website. In the drop-down box for the ABOUT tab go to “Rules” and click on “LISA Rules and Regulations.” (See Chapter 3, rule 303 Determining League Winners.)

The team that is declared the league champion is not always the team with the most points at the end of the league season. Because of field closures and league play being interrupted by cup competitions (Provincial/Coastal B Cup, LISA Cup) teams do not always play the same number of games against the same opponents. In addition the reason for outstanding games can vary. So when it comes to determining the league champions LISA applies the rules mentioned above.

As noted in the rules, league winners are determined by “completed rounds.” That is why the schedules are drawn up on a round-by-round basis – teams are scheduled to play all their opponents once (which constitutes a “round”) before they are scheduled to play any opponent a second time.

The first definition of a “completed round” is as expected:  all the games scheduled for that round have been played. LISA’s rules also define a “completed round” as one in which a team has mathematically clinched first place. In other words, no team could catch the first-place team even if they won all their un-played games in that round.

Continuing with the rules to determine a league champion, the first time two teams play each other it is their Round 1 game. The second time they play each other it is their Round 2 game, and so on. It does not matter where the game was played (i.e. which team was home or which team was visitor).

For instance, if two teams played each other during Round 1 as listed on their schedule, missed playing during Round 2 because the field was closed, and then played each other during the Round 3 dates on their schedule, in order to determine the league champion the result from the game played during Round 3 would officially be considered their Round 2 result.

Another part of the rule that sometimes has to be taken into consideration:  a team can be eliminated from winning the league title during a round that does not meet the definition of “complete.”

For instance, after two complete rounds the Maroon Team is in first place but during Round 3 the Maroon Team starts losing games. At the end of league play Round 3 can not be classified as “complete” as no team has mathematically clinched first place. However after losing Round 3 games the Maroons can no longer mathematically end up in first place. So even though the Maroons were in first place at the end of the last completed round they can not be declared the league champion as they had played themselves out of contention.

If in applying LISA’s rules for determining league champions two (or more) teams end up tied for first place they will play a tiebreaker match in cup format (i.e. extra time and a FIFA penalty shootout, if needed) with the winning team capturing the league title. No other tiebreakers (e.g. head-to-head, goal differential, winning percentage etc.)  are used to determine a league champion.

For more information see Chapter 3 on the Rules and Regulations page on the LISA website.

GOLD LEAGUE CHAMPIONS

The Vancouver Island champion is determined by the Island Invitational Cup which features the Lower Island Gold league champion vs. the Upper Island winner. The 54th edition of Island Cup, also known as the Tournament of Champions, will be hosted by the Upper Island district April 28/29 in Powell River.

The Vancouver Island Invitational Cup is not part of the Provincial/Coastal B Cup or associated with it in any way. It is a separate competition. The winner of the Island Cup does not advance to any other competition.

Please note that there will be Island Cup finals in both Girls U17 and Girls U18 as well as for both Boys U17 and Boys U18 so, even though U17 and U18 teams play in the same league and there will only be one league champion recognized, two teams – one U17 and one U18 – will represent the Lower Island in the Island Invitational Cup. One of those reps will be the U18/17 Gold league champion and the other will be the highest-finishing team (based upon LISA’s rules for determining league champions) in the other age group.

In the U13 division for both boys and girls the Island Invitational Cup will be 8 v 8 (not 11-a-side).

Gold league champions, Island Invitational Cup reps and the Lower Island B Cup reps are not eligible for the Lower Island District Cup.

SILVER AND BRONZE LEAGUE CHAMPIONS

Silver and Bronze league champions are promoted for the Lower Island District Cup competition. The Bronze league champion competes in the Silver District Cup and the Silver league champion competes in the Gold District Cup. This “promotion” is for the District Cup competition only; it does not mean that those teams are automatically promoted for league play the following season.