Far West Regional League – Desert Premier Soccer Division
Applications for the 2014 Season
The new Desert Premier Soccer Division of the Far West Regional League will open
competition this fall. The winner of the new Desert Premier Soccer Division is
guaranteed a wild card into the prestigious Far West Regionals in Albuquerque,
New Mexico during the third week of June, 2014. That wild card will be awarded to
the highest placing finisher in 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 the southern states
of US Youth Soccer’s Region IV. 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
Albuquerque.
The FWRL - DPSD is open to teams from Arizona, Utah, Colorado, New Mexico and
Southern Nevada. The league will have competition in age-gender groups from U12 to
U18.
U15 to U18 Competition
Qualifying teams: The U15 to U18 groups, both boys and girls, will qualify for the
DPSD through State Cup competitions in their home state association. The State Cup
champion and runner-up from each of the five states will qualify to participate in the
DPSD. Each age/gender group will be capped at 10 teams. In the event that a champion
or finalist from any state elects not to participate in the DPSD, then any of the five state
associations may nominate a team to fill that vacancy. If multiple teams are nominated,
the FWRL Trustees will determine the team(s) that fills vacancies in the 10-team
age/gender group. If in the opinion of the Trustees, no nominated team meets the quality
requirements of the DPSD, then the vacancy does 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.
Play dates: The competition will be held at two 3-game weekends – the first on Nov 2224 in Phoenix and the second on February 21-23 in Las Vegas.
The other three games will be in scheduled based on the needs of the individual agegender groups. Utah boys will host Arizona boys September 28-29 in Park City, Utah.
Colorado girls will host Arizona girls in Denver, Colorado on October 19 and 20. Games
involving the teams from states that play fall high school will be played on a single twogame weekend April 6, 7, 2014. The U15 to 18 girls will play in Mesquite, Nevada. The
U15-18 boys will play in Albuquerque, New Mexico.
The remaining games will involve a single instate game (which will be scheduled at the
convenience of the teams).
Cost: $1000 per year which covers all costs except referee fees, which will be paid at the
fields by the teams.
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. The State Cup
champion and runner-up from each of the five states will qualify to participate in the
DPSD. Each age/gender group will be capped at 10 teams. In the event that a champion
or finalist from any state elects not to participate in the DPSD, then any of the five state
associations may nominate a team to fill that vacancy. If multiple teams are nominated,
the FWRL Trustees will determine the team(s) that fills vacancies in the 10-team
age/gender group. If in the opinion of the Trustees, no nominated team meets the quality
requirements of the DPSD, then the vacancy does 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.
Play dates: The U12-U14 teams have more flexibility in playing schedule than the high
school ages, but these schedules will follow the U15-18 schedules where possible. All
teams will participate in the Las Vegas weekend on February 23-25.
All U12-U14 boys will play in Utah (probably Park City) on September 28 and 29. All
U12-U14 girls will play in Denver, Colorado on October 19 and 20. Note that the U12
competition will be played on the Las Vegas and fall weekends, since there will only
be 8 teams.
The final U13-14 weekend, for both boys and girls, will be at the Casa Grande Sports
Complex on April 5, 6, 2014.
Cost: $1000 per year 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.
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;
$110 for U15, 16; and $130 for U17, 18. 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.