Player Placement Process Registration

All candidates should pre-register via their family soccer account. On-site registrations will be accepted for new arrivals only if necessary.

Please pre-register for the highest level of program you are interested in participating with (not both program levels).  Players will be considered for all programs below the registered placement program, but will not be considered for those above.  The order of select programs is as follows:  (from highest to lowest)  SOCA Travel program (Elite, Blue, White, Red teams), Challenge Program.

Travel Age Group Rules

Important: All travel candidates must tryout in their birth date specific age-group. Please double-check your birth date with the tryout information below.

2024-25 Birth Year Age Groups
U9 – 2016       *Challenge Only
U10 – 2015      *Challenge Only
U11 – 2014
U12 – 2013
U13 – 2012
U14 – 2011
U15 – 2010
U16 – 2009
U17 – 2008
U18 – 2007
U19 – 2006

SOCA “Playing up” restrictions are as follows:

• Players are not permitted to play up below the U13 age group.
• Any players seeking to play up to at U13 and older age groups must have permission from the SOCA Director of Coaching.
• In order to form healthy team rosters in the Travel program most commonly at the High School age groups, players from multiple age groups may need to be combined within one team roster.  This is done with the supervision and permission of SOCA’s technical staff and coaching director.

Challenge Age Group Rules

Challenge Teams are formed in the following age groups for both boys and girls:

U10 – (2016, 2015 birth years)
U12 – (2014, 2013 birth years)
U15 – (2012, 2011, 2010 birth years)

Age groups in the Challenge program are multiple year groupings and naturally provide opportunities for players to play both with older and younger players as they progress through the program.  Players should not seek to play up age groups unless given permission specifically by the SOCA Challenge Program Coordinator.  No players may play down age groups in any select program.

Gender Rules

Girls are eligible to seek placement for boys programs. In the Travel Program girls must seek the approval of the Director of Coaching prior to attending player placement sessions for boys teams. In the Challenge Program, no approval is necessary. Girls seeking placement on boys teams must register on site on the day of the tryout. No online boys registration will be available for girls.

Attending placement sessions for the boys program does not qualify candidates for consideration in the girls program. Girls wishing to be considered for a girls team as well as a boys team, must attend both gender’s placements sessions. These candidates may attend both sessions but will only be offered placement in one gender’s program (boys first, girls second).

GoalKeeper Evaluations

Players interested in being evaluated as goalkeepers will be evaluated as such and may also be evaluated as a field player.  These evaluations will be done during the same times assigned for each age group.

Specific goalkeeper evaluations will be done for U11 and older players in the Travel Program.

In the Challenge program goalkeeper evaluations will be conducted at U12 and older. There are no specific evaluations conducted for goalkeepers at U10 Challenge. Players may declare their interest in playing goalkeeper and this will be utilized in U10 Challenge team formation, but all players will be evaluated as a field player during the these placement sessions.

Evaluators

Evaluators at player placement sessions are SOCA staff members, team coaches or other qualified soccer experts as selected by the club. The club includes knowledgeable, experienced and objective coaches to serve as evaluators during tryouts. During the tryout process, candidates will be assessed by multiple evaluators assuring a diversified and unbiased evaluation. For the Travel program, parent coaches are not used to evaluate their own children regardless of coaching level within the club.  In the Challenge program, Parent coaches will have limited input on their own child’s evaluation at most.

Placement Announcements

Player Placement Announcements will be posted in player’s SOCA Accounts.  Either the team you have been selected for, or a “Not Selected” message will appear at the top of your available programs list.  Please click on the team name to read more about the program.

Late and Mid-year Selections will be notified directly with instructions on how to join existing teams for the upcoming seasons.

For all placements, SOCA staff has the final say on player selections and team assignments.

Weather Reschedules

In case of inclement weather please check the SOCA website for cancellation and reschedule information.

Sessions will be rescheduled on a case by case basis to available dates and the new schedule will be posted online. Make-up sessions are only done on a program-wide basis and individual or personal sessions will not be arranged.