State Cup Manager Resources
Table of Contents
Click on a topic below to jump to its corresponding section below.
State Cup Admin Timeline
July 5th – Guaranteed Acceptance Ends
Week of July 8th – 1st Posting of Divisions
Week of July 22nd – 2nd Posting of Divisions
July 30th – Final Rankings Posted
August 6th – 1st Round Schedules Posted
August 22nd – Scheduling Deadline (1st game of Round 1)
September 3rd – Roster Freeze
Due to the complexity of the U9-U13 State Cup, timelines vary depending on age and division. A detailed calendar can be found HERE.
Scheduling Matches
The NorCal State Cup will consist of a combination of club-hosted and NorCal-hosted matches. Home teams are responsible for scheduling all club-hosted matches within the timeline provided by NorCal (see Admin Timeline Section). Prior to scheduling matches, please make sure you read the Match Scheduling Section of the NorCal Handbook.
Club-hosted State Cup matches are scheduled according to the NorCal State Cup Calendar. Your team’s schedule can be found in the Schedules/ Standings section of the NorCal State Cup page or in your team’s GotSport account. Please keep the following in mind as you schedule your State Cup matches:
- All team-to-team communication must be done through the GotSport Chat system, and team contacts are expected to respond within 48 hours.
- Once a match has been scheduled (date, time, and location input into GotSport) and the scheduling deadline has passed, the opponent must agree on any match detail changes (date, time, location) in writing.
- We encourage teams to work collaboratively to schedule matches at times that work for both team. However, all teams are expected to be available to play at any time on assigned match dates.
- Teams may swap home games, as long as both teams agree in writing. Once agreed, email jstoppelmann@norcalpremier.com with the game #, club, and team names.
- If your team has a TBD listed as an opponent, this is a placeholder match that NorCal will work to fill prior to the start of the Cup. Once filled your team will be notified so that you can schedule the match.
- All games must be completed by the assigned Game Date #3.
State Cup Rosters
The NorCal State Cup has specific roster rules for the duration of the competition, which are outlined in the State Cup Section of the NorCal Handbook. Prior to the roster freeze date, please make sure that you review the NorCal Handbook and the information below to ensure you are familiar with the specific roster rules of the NorCal State Cup.
State Cup Roster Rules: State Cup rosters are capped at 26 players and will be frozen on August 22nd. Once frozen, teams may only use players from their 26-Player roster. After the State Cup Roster Freeze, players may only be added to a team’s State Cup roster via the State Cup Emergency Add Process outlined below. Game-Day rosters are limited to 18 players for U13-U19 matches, 16 players for U11-U12 matches, and 14 players for U9-U10 matches.
Players may only compete for one team per age group in the NorCal State Cup. A club may place players on more than one 26-player team roster, but players may not play on two different teams in the same age group. Players may play in an older age group while competing in their actual age group, but once a player plays for a team in a specific age group, that player is “Cup Tied” to that team in that age group and may not play for any other team in that age group for the remainder of the State Cup.
Building State Cup Rosters: Update Coming
NorCal encourages each team to fully utilize its 26-player roster to ensure that each team has enough players for any unforeseen situations where you may not have enough players to complete. Teams may add:
- Players from a younger team within the club
- Players from the same age group whose team is not playing in State Cup
Prior to the roster freeze date on September 3rd, each coach or manager should check their roster by exporting a NorCal State Cup Game Card. Instructions for exporting a game card can be found HERE.
Player Add Requests: After the roster freeze deadline on August 22nd, teams may request to have players added to their State Cup Roster via the State Cup Player Add form. Teams may request players to be added with the following criteria:
Emergency Player Add
Players may be added to a frozen State Cup roster if a team does not have a goalkeeper due to a long term injury, or if the team does not have enough players to field a full team (less that 7 players for U9-U10, less than 9 players for U11-U12 and less than 11 players for U13). To mitigate this situation, we strongly recommend that all teams fully utilize their 26 player roster limit for each team competing in State Cup. In each case, emergency player adds will only be considered if a players shortage is a chronic issue. Players not being available for one game will not meet the emergency player add guidelines.
Player Moved From Outside Region
Players who move to your club after the roster freeze date from outside the region may be added to your State Cup roster during the 1st Round of State Cup. Each of these requests will be evaluated on a case by case basis and approved or denied based on the sole discretion of the NorCal State Cup staff.
Player Add Window
Following the completion of 1st Round matches, and prior to the 2nd Round, eligible players who are not cup tied may be added to a State Cup Roster via the State Cup Player Add Form. Teams in the U11-U13 State, Premier, and Platinum Divisions may request to add “Cup Tied” players whose teams have been eliminated from State Cup.
Players that are “Cup Tied” will not be added to rosters of any teams even if they meet the above guidelines.
Game Day
Prior to your team’s first Game Day, please read the following sections of the NorCal Handbook.
If there is an issue that may cause a game to end in a forfeit, PLAY THE GAME! Games should be played under protest rather than terminating games due to rosters or administrative issues. Teams wishing to protest the outcome of a match should fill out a Competition Committee Report following the game. If received by 3 pm on Monday, rulings will be issued by the following Thursday. Any reports received after 3 pm on Monday will be reviewed the following week. The Competition Committee DOES NOT govern or overrule on-field referee decisions, including Red Cards and Suspensions, regardless of video evidence.
Every team should make every effort to play every game regardless of the on-field situation. When in doubt play the game and the NorCal Competitions Committee will make a ruling after the fact.
