Competition Rules
Playoff Format U10-U12-U14 for Fall 2012
Pool Play
Pool play for U12 and U14 will begin October 27; U10 begins November 3. Pools will involve four games. Subject to weather, all pool play should be completed by the weekend before Thanksgiving (i.e., by November 17 and 18).
Boys Under 10 (32 teams)
Four groups of eight teams. Every team plays against four other teams in the group, starting Saturday November 3. There will be three Saturday games and one set of Sunday games on November 11.
The top four teams in each group will qualify for elimination play, with a round of 16 on Saturday December 1.
In the round of 16, the 1st place team with the most points plays the 4th place team with the lowest number of points, the remaining 1st place teams will play the 4th place teams with the fewest points, and so on. In all cases, a team will not play a team from its own group, at least in the round of 16 or the quarter finals.
The round of 8 on will take place on Sunday December 3, semifinals on Saturday December 8 and the championship game on Sunday December 9. Teams that do not qualify will play one final friendly game on either Saturday December 1.
Girls Under 10 (20 teams)
There are two groups of six teams and one group of eight teams. Every team plays against four of the other teams in the group. There will be one set of Sunday games on November 4.
The top four teams in the two groups of six and the top six teams in the group of eight and the next two teams with the highest number of points regardless of which group they belong to will qualify for elimination play, with a round of 16 on Saturday December 1, a round of 8 on Sunday December 2, semifinals on Saturday December 8 and the championship game on Sunday December 9. The four teams that do not qualify will play one final friendly game on Sunday afternoon of December 8.
Boys Under 12 (11 teams)
There will be a group of 6 – top four advance and a group of five – top three advance – and then the team from either pool with the greatest number of points not otherwise qualifying. In the group of 6, everyone plays four games on the four Saturdays starting October 27. In the group of 5, there will be five play dates, Saturday October 27, Sunday October 28 and three Saturdays in November, with each team having a bye on one of the dates.
On Saturday December 1, there will be quarter finals. Semifinals are on Saturday December 8 and the championship game on Sunday December 9. The other 8 teams will play a friendly on December 3. For the three teams that are eliminated - two will play a friendly game on December 1 and the winner will play the remaining team on December 8 (or Sunday afternoon December 2, depending on field availability).Girls Under 12 (10 teams)
There is a single pool of teams. All of the teams will play four games, which will be played on three Saturdays and one Sunday in November.
The top eight teams play quarterfinals on Saturday December 1, with semifinals on Saturday December 8 and the championship game on Sunday December 9. The 9th and 10th place teams will play a friendly on December 1.
Boys and Girls Under 14 (7 teams)
In both of these divisions, the seven teams play in a single pool. All of the teams will play four games, which will be played on the final Saturday in Ocotber and three Saturdays in November. Because there is an odd number of teams in the division, each Saturday, one of the teams will continue to play a friendly against an Area 1-P team. The four BU14 teams that have friendlies against Area 1-P teams will play each other on one Sunday in November. Same for the four GU14 teams. The Sunday dates have not yet been determined.
Following the pool games, we will hav quarter finals in which the 2nd place team plays the 7th place team, the 3rd place team plays the 6th place team and the 4th oplace team plays the 5th place team. The 1st place team gets a bye. The semifinals will be on Saturday December 8 and the championship game on Sunday December 9.
Last Two Weekends of the Season for Eliminated Teams
There will be no consolation brackets. There will be no third place games.
All teams which do not qualify for elimination play will play one more friendly game in the final two weekends of the season. These are currently scheduled for December 1 and 2.
Conclusion
Although the numbers of teams in the divisions require some variations in the details, the basic approach is the same for all divisions. Division directors may not vary these rules without consultation with the scheduler and approval of the Regional Commissioner.
The Region reserves the right to modify and curtail playoffs due to unforeseen factors, including weather, field availability and other circumstances. The overriding rule will be that all teams will have played the same number of games for points. It is, for example, possible that one team will have played four games, and another three. If we decide that games must be cancelled and that games that have been played will not count (for example, due to rainout occuring in the middle of the day), we can use any of the following approaches or others, as we see fit:
- We can eliminate an entire round of games. The round we eliminate need not be the last round.
- We can eliminate the number of games requiring the fewest games to be rescheduled or added.
- We can add games, change matchups and change game times.
Last updated September 1, 2012 at 12:05 pm