LEAGUE PURPOSE

Ensure the best possible competitive play among the soccer teams in Nebraska and bordering states, to promote opportunities for increased development of youth soccer players and teams, and to provide for an improved administrative structure, Nebraska State Soccer establishes the Nebraska Youth Soccer League for youth soccer players in Nebraska and bordering states.

Conferences

Blue Conference -  Level 1 and 2 teams that wish to play a 7-game season. Teams will be placed in divisions by ability and previous results. Register for Blue Conference at NYSL Blue Conference
Level 1-First Division, Second Division
Level 2- Third Division, Fourth Division

Red Conference -  Level 3 teams that wish to play a 7-game season. Teams will be placed in divisions by ability and previous results.
Level 3- 9U-14U, Fifth Division, Sixth Division, Seventh Division
Level 3-7U/8U Blue Jay Division, Husker Division, Maverick Division

Red Conference 7v7 -  Level 3 13U-15U teams that wish to play a 7-game season with smaller rosters. Teams will be placed in one division per age group as well as Boys and Girls divisions. All 7v7 teams should have 7v7 designated in their name. EXAMPLE: TEAM ABC 7v7

Registration

All teams must be registered by the registration deadlines. Please use the how-to guides page on the NYSL website for directions on registering your team. Every team must have two contacts listed on their application to register. All team contacts and registered team personnel are required to complete Risk Management through the state as they have rights to sensitive information for the team. 

Mandatory Primary Roster Rules

Teams that wish to participate with NYSL must meet a minimum primary player count. Primary players are players that are primarily rostered to your team, not secondary or club passed. Teams playing 7v7 must have 9 primary players. Teams playing 9v9 they must have 11 primary players. Teams playing 11v11 must have 13 primary players. If teams do not meet this requirement they will not be accepted into the league.
(Exception 7v7 Red Conference Divisions)

Roster Deadlines

Each team must have their teams fully formed and approved by the roster deadlines. These deadlines give the league directors time to ensure that all teams are valid and team staff are approved. Teams that do not have these in by the deadline will be subject to late fees. After league play has started teams can add new players or club pass players as needed.

Registration Fees

All fees are based on a 7-game season. If a team requests less than 7 games, they will still be charged the entire registration fee. All fees must be paid by April 1.  

	Blue Conference (7 games)	Red Conference (7 games)	Red Conference 7v7 (7 games)
7U/8U		$200
9U/10U	$500	$500
11U/12U	$690	$690
13U/14U	$945	$810	$585
15U/16U	$1000		$585

Late Registrations - All late registrations are subject to space available. Any registration received less than 14 days after the registration deadline is subject to an $100 late fee. Any registration received two weeks or more after the registration deadline will be subject to a $250 late fee.

Field Turf – We try scheduling on turf fields when possible as this allows us to play games during wet conditions. While there may be a field turf surcharge fee added to games played on these fields, the league will get team approval before scheduling games on turf fields with a surcharge.  These games will be billed after the season is complete and payment is due upon invoice. 

Level of Commitment Expected by Team

Any team looking to participate in NYSL must understand the level of commitment it takes to participate in a league that stretches across the state. All teams understand that this is a travel league and that teams may occasionally travel to participate in NYSL games. The determination of game sites is based in part due to home locations of teams within a division as well as field and referee availability.

Self-Schedule Meetings

All Blue Conference self-scheduling will be held via Microsoft Teams. Red Conference will use a hybrid of Blackout dates and Self Scheduling to complete the schedule, more details will be released closer to the dates below. Teams that do not attend the self-scheduling meetings will receive a $100 fine. Please get these dates on your schedule. 

Blue Conference Division 1 & 2 - February 22-23
Blue Conference Division 3 & 4 - March 1-2 
Meeting times by age and division will be released after registration closes. 

Team Availability

To ensure the best possible competitive play among the soccer teams in Nebraska and bordering states we need teams to have more availability during the self-scheduling process. We now ask all teams to have these many weekend dates open for league play during the self-scheduling process.
Blue Conference (9U-19U Division 1 and 2 ) - 15 Individual Weekend days 
Blue Conference (9U-19U Division 3 and 4) - 13 Individual weekend days
Red Conference (Level 3) 7U-14U - 10 Individual Weekend days
Red Conference (13U-19U 7v7) - 10 Individual Weekend days

Conflicts/Coaching Conflicts

We try to play as many games as possible on the primary days of play (weekends), teams need to be prepared to play on the secondary day of play (weekday) due to lack of fields and referees. Teams could be asked to play on a non-advertised day of play due to blackout dates, field availability and scheduling requirements.

As far as Coaching Conflicts, we will allow conflicts for up to two teams on any day. If coaching more than two teams, you must use blackout dates to make sure you do not have conflicts. Example, two teams play on Saturday and the other team(s) on Sunday. We cannot honor conflicts with teams in another league. Please fill out the league conflict form found at https://nssaoffice.wufoo.com/forms/p55w1qm0uhjegq/. 

7U/8U PLAY & REFEREES

NYSL will again be offering both 7U and 8U divisions for play. Due to the referee shortage NYSL will not be assigning referees for 7U/8U, teams can play without a referee in these age groups. If a team wants to use a volunteer referee, it will be the responsibility of the home team to schedule. If a team chooses to use a volunteer to referee a game, they must be a registered member of the team/club staff or approved member that has completed all Risk Management requirements. The fees for these age groups does not include referee fees, so if a team chooses to use a referee it will be only as a volunteer - NYSL will not be paying them.

After registration is closed, each club will be contacted and asked which division is the best fit for their teams. We will have multiple divisions of play based on team ability.
7U Format – 4 vs. 4 with no goalie
8U Format – 5 vs. 5 with no goalie