The NorCal State Cup has become the premier soccer event for youth soccer teams in Northern California.  This unique competition is a combination of both league-style and tournament-style play.

To have a successful experience in NorCal State Cup(s), there are several things you should pay attention to:

• Proper management of your team
• Team ranking at the beginning of the event
• Effective communication
• Correct roster size

Please read each of the following articles to familiarize yourself with the details of the Cup.

Registration

All eligible teams from clubs in good standing with NorCal Premier Soccer will be accepted.

It is important that you fill out the application completely. The following information is usually requested in the application:

• Age group for your team – this is based on birth year.
• The suggested level of ability (level of play).
• Links with your team history.

Payment is not necessary at the time you apply. You will be required to pay prior to the seeding process for final acceptance.

Levels of Play

The NorCal State Cup has 4 levels (divisions) of play: State/Premier, Gold, Sliver and Bronze for the U9-U10 age group.  There are 5 levels(divisions) of play for the U11-U13 age group: State/Premier, Platinum, Gold, Silver and Bronze. The creation of these divisions is based on the number of teams in each age group.

The level of play for the divisions is as follows (in order of level of experience and quality of play):

• State/Premier
• Platinum
• Gold
• Silver
• Bronze

The division names are just for reference in the State Cup competition and do not coincide with the League divisions.

Once teams have been placed in divisions (State/Premier, Platinum, Gold, Silver and Bronze) and the schedule has been created, teams will remain in that division for the remainder of the event.  However, NorCal State Cup consists of three rounds of games, and after each round there will be a re-ranking process.  Moving from the first round to the second round, divisions are divided into an upper and lower division.  In the third round, teams in each upper and lower division are further divided into groups of 8 (possible groups of 4) for the quarterfinals.

Rosters

Rosters for the NorCal State Cup are frozen prior to the first game.  A roster can carry up to 26 players and NorCal recommends that teams put enough players on their roster to deal with unforeseen events that may happen during the season.  Once rosters are frozen, the NorCal State Cup roster together with the player passes, become the official roster.  Any player that is not on the NorCal State Cup roster will not be able to play.

All players that are on your roster must be from your club and have a US Club Player Pass.  A player can only be on one roster per age group that is playing in NorCal State Cup.

NorCal State Cup players are “cup tied” for the duration of the event.  Once a player plays for a team, the player is “cup tied” to that team in that age group for the remainder of the event.

While rosters are frozen prior to the first game, the U11-U13 State/Premier division rosters do open in December prior to the start of the 2nd round.  At this time, players can be added from divisions of play that have finished.  Only players that have been a member of the club prior to the 1st round ending can be added.

The only instances where players may be added to the roster, after they have been frozen, are emergency situations.  After the freeze date, all players need to be approved by the NorCal State Cup Committee prior to the players being added to the roster.   An emergency might include:

• A keeper is severely injured and is out for most for the season.
• A manager added enough players to the roster prior to the freeze date, but had a number of injuries and now do not have enough players to field a team. If approved, a team would only be able to add 1 over the limit for the following: 11V11 roster could only be at 12, 9v9 roster could only be at 10 and 7v7 players could only be at 8.

Here are some suggestions on adding players to your roster:

• Add players from a younger age group within your club.
• Add players from another non-State Cup team within your club.
• Add at least one other goalkeeper from a younger team in your club.

Awards

Both teams playing in the Championship, regardless of the outcome of the game, in every division will receive a team trophy and medals for the players.