TOURNAMENT TEAMS
What is a Tournament Team
A Tournament team is a team that’s sole purpose is to attend tournaments outside of regular league
play, the travel portion is for those teams that travel to attend tournaments.
Rationale for regulations
Since the introduction of Division soccer at the house level, and the subsequent steps of Kelowna United
and BC Soccer Premier League, the need to have a tournament team to provide stronger competition is
diminished to almost nil. As such, COYSA is recommending that the clubs follow the mandate as defined
below. Secondly, we need to ensure that all players are covered through our insurance and not putting
either themselves or the team/club or district at risk. Thirdly, BC Soccer rules dictate that a player may
only play for one team, this document outlines how that player may move teams for a tournament.
Requirements
A tournament team may only be formed from an existing team under the COYSA umbrella. That team
must be registered within COYSA and be a member team within one of the clubs of COYSA. The
tournament team must adhere to the following;
1. The proposed team must first have club permission to entertain and/or plan towards the
development of a tournament team.
2. The team shall not impact regular team play or schedule.
3. The coach must be the coach of the current team and carded as such.
a. (Ensure coach is appropriately CRC’d))
4. The coach and any assistant coach must have all requirements of coaching within COYSA
satisfied. ID Card, Risk Management etc.
a. (as above)
5. An alternate assistant coach or coach may join the team on a temporary basis, but must be in
good standing with COYSA and the club and have all requirements intact. (ID Card, Risk
Management etc.)
a. (as above)
6. The team must consist of the players on the registered team. It cannot be formed from a
selection process for the sole purpose of the tournament.
a. (This is the responsibility of the clubs to form select teams to ensure a measure of
fairness to the players)
7. Any players added to the team to make up a shortfall must be permitted as per the following:
a. For a regular season game or playoffs follow BC Soccer rules regarding player permits.
i. (This should not apply to tournament teams, but more for a permanent transfer)
b. For a non-results type tournament (has no bearing on standings) players may be
permitted for that tournament only.
i. (This should be focused on filling a team and not displacing current players)
8.
9.
10.
11.
c. Any player permitted cannot be moved down in age or league level (i.e. Select to Div. A,
Div. A to house).
i. (This is standard practice)
d. A player may be permitted up/or across in age or league level (House to Div. A, Div. A to
Select).
i. This is standard practice
e. Both coaches must be in agreement of permit and documentation provided (i.e. email)
and ID cards provided by releasing coach.
i. Notification and acceptance must be in place
f. Club must be in agreement of any players permitted to tournament team.
i. Notification
g. Player must play for their own team (house, Select, Div. A) if both teams are attending
the same tournament.
i. Ensures that if a conflict arise, the players “Home” team takes precedence
h. Maximum players allowed to permit would be four
The team must only play in sanctioned tournaments and have appropriate documentation if
traveling out of province/country.
a. BC Soccer rule
The team may be formed from a collection of players on different house teams only if there is
not an existing division A team in that grouping.
a. This will only be permitted if the club supports the team in writing
i. This is to permit teams to be formed in age groups were there is not a
competitive house component, i.e. U10 or U18
The team must have club permission to perform any sort of fundraising.
a. (The club is responsible for the actions of the team, it would be prudent for the club to
require a list of planned fundraising activities)
The club is the approver of the team; COYSA recognizes the team only after approval from the
club.
Consequences
Failure to adhere to these regulations could result in the following:
1. Any player playing on a team without the appropriate permit documents will be at risk of
suspension.
2. Any coach who forms a team without the written support of the club will be suspended as
per BC Soccer discipline guidelines.
3. Any team who plays ineligible players may be subject to BC Soccer guidelines for discipline
with the potential of being suspended from their regular team play.
4. If a team plays in a tournament as a non-sanctioned team, the players will not be covered
for insurance and will have to forfeit each game.
5. Teams playing in a non-sanctioned event will be at risk of insurance loss, and potential
further discipline as per BC Soccer guidelines.