FALL 2007 Season
July 19, 2007

This instruction sheet covers the NJYS and MCYSA policies and procedures with respect to carding players.  It also attempts to answer many of the more common questions which come up during the course of the season.  

WHO:

1. Each club is required to select one Primary Carding Contact (PCC) and an Alternate Carding Contact (ACC) who will be responsible for reviewing packets and all other carding paperwork before it is submitted to a league official.  The league does not care what position these persons hold within the club.  That choice is entirely up to the club. However, before any team will be carded, the names, street addresses, email addresses and phone numbers of both the PCC and the ACC must be submitted via email to the League Registrar (LR).

2. The ACC is an emergency backup.  99% of carding transactions should be handled by the PCC.

3. The PCC will be the only persons in the club who communicates with the club’s District Commissioner (DC) or the LR. 

4. All communication of the PCC with the club DC and the LR must be by email only.  Absolutely no phone calls are allowed.  Emergencies do not exist.  Proper team planning in advance eliminates all cases of alleged emergencies.

5. DCs and the LR will not deal with coaches, parents, team managers, etc.   Clubs will notify their members that if there is a question concerning carding, the PCC is the individual to be contacted. 

6. DCs and the LR have a responsibility to train the PCCs, representing the 70+ clubs, so that they are knowledgeable about the carding process. However, PCCs should not expect their DC or the LR to act as the font of all knowledge for their club.  PCCs need to take the initiative and look up the answers in the handbooks referenced below before emailing their DC or the LR.  If the answer can’t be located in either of the handbooks, the DC and the LR will be happy to help.

7. DCs and the LR cannot and will not train 700 coaches, 1400 assistant coaches, 700 team managers, 20,000 parents, 40,000 grandparents, etc.

8. The PCC is the person who will be contacted when paperwork is completed and ready for pickup or with information indicating that mistakes have been made that must be corrected.

9. All PCCs and ACCs must read the MCYSA handbook located at http://www.mcysa.org/HandBook/HB.htm and the State handbook located at http://www.njyouthsoccer.com/regforms/CoachesHandbook.PDF.  All coaches and team managers are encouraged to read these documents.  Almost all questions can be answered by reading the above documents. 

WHEN:

1. During a normal week the deadline for carding a player for Sunday is 9:00pm on Thursday evening.  There are no exceptions. It is strongly suggested that the PCC send your DC or the LR an email advising that paperwork is coming.

2. The final date for paperwork to be in the hands of the club’s DC for the start of the season on September 9^th is August 30^th.  Since DCs operate on a strict first come, first served basis, it is highly recommended that paperwork be in their hands well before that date. All paperwork for Labor Day tournaments must be in the hands of the DC by August 22^nd.

3. Do not wait to card a team because players are on vacation.  Card the team early and ad players later using a player/coach status form.

HOW:

1. The DC and the LR do not care who physically delivers and picks up the paperwork.  However, no one should ever ring the doorbell to let the DC or the LR know that something is being dropped off or for any other reason unless the DC or LR specifically instructs the PCC to do so.

2. Directions to DC and LR – get the address from the league web page and use a search engine for directions.  No one should ask a DC or the LR for directions to their house, even via email.

3. Whoever drops off paperwork should place it in an envelope in the location the DC or the LR has designated and which the PCC has conveyed to them.  If it's raining or if rain is in the forecast, put the paperwork in a waterproof bag.  The DC or LR will email the PCC when the paperwork can be picked up.  Do not ask the DC or LR to contact the coach when the paperwork is ready for pickup.

4. The MCYSA is league 12.  Whenever a form asks for ‘league,” write 12, not MCYSA.

5. The PCC should make it his/her business to find out their club’s number.

6. Club initials cannot be used.  There are many clubs with the same initials.  The full club name must be used.

7. Every team must have a unique name.  This is a state and MCYSA requirement.  Examples of invalid names are "North Hatfield 86/87" or " North Hatfield U09." Age cannot be part of the team name.  Teams must have 'real' names that uniquely identify them.  Examples of valid names are  "North Hatfield Cougars" or "North Hatfield Wild Tigers."  If your club has a policy that all teams must be called “Cougars” that is fine but then each team must have an additional real name after “Cougars.”  Examples would be “North Hatfield Cougars Stars” or “North Hatfield Cougars Pumas.”

8. Never, ever use staples.

9. All submitted paperwork must be sorted by type.  That is to say - all the player passes in one group; all the medical release forms in one group; all the membership forms in one group; etc.  Each set of papers must be in the same order that the players are listed in on the team roster.  There are no exceptions to this.  The birthday on the birth certificate must be highlighted with a yellow highlighter.  Medical release forms must be notarized.  You must use a coach’s membership form for a coach, not a player membership form.  You must also submit a copy of the coach’s license which the DC will keep.  There are new forms this year.  Download them at the NJYS website at http://www.njyouthsoccer.com/regforms/regmain.htm.  Do not use old, outdated form.  They will be rejected.  Packets and paperwork not properly submitted, even if there are no other errors, will not be processed.

10. There can be absolutely no overwrites, cross outs or whiteouts on player passes.  This is not negotiable.  It is the state rule.  Begging, groveling and pleading that “you really don’t notice it” will only waste everyone’s time. 

11. Player passes must be signed by the player.  An eight year old can sign his/her name and your DC will expect you to make sure that they use their best efforts to sign, not print, their first and last names. 

12. The player must always be listed by the exact name on his/her birth certificate.  The name on both the player pass and the team roster, as well as the signature, must exactly match that name.  However, Chris is acceptable for Christopher as it is a shortened form of the name but Jackie is not acceptable for Jacqueline as the letters are changed.  Initials are never allowed. Nicknames cannot be used.  If a player goes by his/her middle name, the paperwork must use their first name.  Players who refuse to abide by these rules will not be carded.

13. Paste the photo over the words “Attach photo here.”   DCs will not glue photos to passes.

14. You cannot use polaroids or photos from old player passes. Digital photos are allowed as long as they are printed on premium photo stock paper.  No other paper is allowed.

15. DCs and the LR do not correct carding paperwork mistakes, errors or omissions.  They will email the PCC to pick up the paperwork so the team can correct the mistake.  That is why it is to everyone’s advantage for the club’s PCC to check every team’s paperwork in detail before it is dropped off.  This is also true for ads/drops to the roster later in the season.  All too often, PCCs think their teams have learned to do this simple paperwork yet it winds up with the DC or the LR in need of correction.  Please do not waste everyone’s time with incorrect and incomplete paperwork. 

SPECIFIC CARDING RULES and MISCELLANEOUS INFORMATION:

1. All transferred players, U11 and older, will sit three league games unless the transfer is within the same club or unless the player’s family moves 35 miles.  This does not apply to players on small-sided teams – U10 and below.  It is useless to call the DC or any other league official asking for an exemption.  There are none.  This is a state rule.

2. Separate forms must be used for ads and drops.  A player cannot be dropped from one team and then added to a different team on the same player/coach status form, even if the transfer is within the same club.  The reason is that each team involved needs its own pink roster form for its records, especially for tournaments.

3. Player releases must be signed by the player being released.  Generally, a team cannot drop a player without his/her consent.

4. U17-U19 teams may have 22 players on their rosters.

5. The age of a team is the age of the oldest player on the team.  A team with one U12 player is a U12 team and must be carded as such.

6. In the spring, teams will often play up.  A team on which the oldest player is a U17 will often play in a U19 flight.  The team must still be carded as a U17 team.  Teams cannot play up in state cup.

7. At this time, the state has not determined is U8 can play up to U10.

8. DCs do not have extra coach or player passes.  The LR does.  The cost is $10.  Email him if you need them.

9. DCs usually have player/coach status forms. They are free.  If your DC is out of them, email the LR.

10. Secondary paperwork can only be obtained from the state office.  Detailed directions on how to complete the paperwork are given in the secondary pass packet.  Secondary pass paperwork is treated like all other paperwork – it must be reviewed by the PCC before being dropped off.

11. The LR handles the signing of the secondary player status form as the secondary league official.  He is the only person who can sign that line of this form.  The PCC should arrange for the paperwork to be left in the LR’s milkbox, not mailbox, after everyone else, except the club’s DC, has signed off.  The paperwork than goes to the state office and then back to the DC for stamping and final signature.  If the LR is unavailable for an extended period of time, the league president will sign as the secondary league official.

12. Only the DC who originally carded a team can ad or drop players on that team.  PCCs cannot ask another DC to do them a favor.  If the DC who has carded your club will be away on vacation or otherwise unavailable for an extended period, he/she will have let the LR know.  Email the LR who will handle the transaction.

13. All U11 teams must maintain a majority of U11 players.  That means that U11 teams must always have one more U11 player than younger players.  A team with 8 U10s and 8 U11s is illegal.  Obviously, all other full-sided teams must have a majority of full-sided players.

14. U7 children may not play travel team soccer.

15. A full-sided team needs 11 primary players to be carded.  A small-sided team needs 8 primary players to be carded.

16. Hardship teams are permitted by the state.  Once a PCC has read the applicable provisions in the State Handbook, he/she should email the LR for directions.