Form Teams
Forming teams in eAYSO is useful because you can ensure that everyone gets assigned to a team, no one gets assigned to two teams; you can track who is coaching and assistant coaching, and you can easily view ratings while you're doing so. You will also get fewer phone calls from parents because they can find out who the coach is by logging in to eAYSO, pressing the Parents button, then "See player ID, Team assignments and Team Coach information". It also makes collecting and posting ratings at the end of the season much easier. Help is available in eAYSO (choose Help, then Teams). There are various methods of creating teams. First, you'll need to know some of the rules about team formation
- Team names shall bear no resemblance to a religion, race, ethnicity or nationality.
- Every effort shall be made to balance team strengths within each age division.
- The only team member(s) a head coach may specify be on his/her team is his/her own child or children.
The following are the recommended team sizes:
| Age Division |
Players per team on field |
Maximum no. of team members |
Minimum no. of team members |
|---|---|---|---|
| U-19 | 11-a-side | 18 | 12 |
| U-14 | 11-a-side | 15 | 12 |
| U-12 | 9-a-side | 12 | 9 |
| U-10 | 7-a-side | 10 | 7 |
| U-8 | 5-a-side (No goalkeepers) |
7 | 5 |
Before coaches can be assigned, they need to be registered - encourage all your coaches to register in eAYSO early so that you can make the assignments
Remember that balanced teams are essential to AYSO. Following is a great example of a response to a request for a particular team:
Sam is on the team coached by Bill. I'm sorry he's not on the team with the teammate he requested. He is on the team with at least one--maybe two--players who requested him, so he won't be without friends. When I made the team, I honored teammate requests to the best of my ability. But I also needed to balance the teams based on coaches' ratings of the players from the fall. Sam was given the highest possible rating, and as I recall, his teammate request was for one of only two other 8th grade boys who had that rating. I couldn't put two of the three best players in the league on the same team, especially in spring with only four teams, and with co-ed rosters which makes for an even wider range of ability than in the fall. Last spring two of the best players in the league were on the same team, and that team not only went undefeated, it never won by less than three goals; meanwhile another team never won a game. That was no fun for anybody. As I said, when I couldn't put Sam with the teammate he requested, I did keep an eye out for players who requested him, and at least one player who did is on his team. I'm sure he'll have fun making new friends too.
eAYSO steps
- Do Region -> Balance Teams, then select the Division and Team Gender, and the Players Per Team. Leave the Select Groupings Below alone - the defaults are okay. Press the Create Teams button. Now all the teams are created, and players are put on teams trying to balance based upon ratings and age, taking into account those who said that they are willing to coach on the player forms and also submitted a volunteer form.
- Make manual adjustments to the teams with Region -> Add/Move Player to Team.
- On the left side, enter the Division and Gender. Select a team.
- On the right side, select where you want to move the player(s) (either another team or Unassigned - if you just want to do all team assignments manually).
- Select the players you want to move (or Select all).
- Press the >> button.
- Assign coaches / assistant coaches and team parents with Region-> Add/Move Player to Team.
- On the left side, enter the Division and Gender, and select a team.
- Choose the coaches, assistant coaches and team parents from the drop-down list (green are okay, other colors mean they registered in prior seasons, but not this one) - have the volunteer register this season and contact the CVPA to make sure the volunteer is assigned to Team Coach or Assistant Coach or Team Parent as necessary.