General Soccer League Information:

Welcome to the 7th season of CAN Soccer! We are excited to get underway with the season and we hope to have a great league of alumni chapters this year. Right now we are looking to slightly expand the league from last season. Schools will be encouraged to continue traditional rivalries and create new ones. All local alumni chapters already involved with CAN are welcome to apply for the season. The CAN Sports Chairs, Assistant Sports Chair, along with the appointed Soccer commissioners will review the applications based upon the guidelines spelled out below. Please note that meeting all of the guidelines does not guarantee a spot in the 2012 league as we will evaluate each application based on the strengths and weaknesses of what each team will bring to the league according to the space that we have available.

Chapter Consideration:

- Priority will be given to chapters that have a proven track record of successfully completing seasons in Soccer. "Successfully completing" a season takes in to account fulfillment of all requirements for the season (games, meetings, and reffing), sportsmanship, compliance with CAN rules, and participation in the post-season tournament.

- Secondary priority will be given to chapters that have a proven track record of successfully completing seasons in other CAN sports. "Successfully completing" a season takes in to account fulfillment of all requirements for the season (games, meetings, and field saving), sportsmanship, compliance with CAN rules, and participation in the post-season tournament.

- All teams must have the full support of the alumni chapter Board they represent and the chapter president will be notified of the team’s application into the league and s/he will need to verify the chapter's ability to sustain a team through promotions on the chapter website, mailings, newsletter, etc.

- Chapters that have consistently participated in CAN activities, attend monthly CAN meetings, and have shown a willingness to participate in events with other chapters will be given added consideration.

- All chapters are strongly encouraged to be member schools on the CAN Advisory Committee (AC). Participation on the AC will certainly be one of the considerations when teams are selected.  AC application can be found here:  http://www.dcalum.org/ACApplication.aspx

- Chapters must be able to field a team of approximately 20 people for the 11s league and 12 people for the 7s league as player participation will fluctuate during the summer (vacations, injuries, other commitments, etc.) History has shown that teams who have only the minimum number of players for each game do not succeed either competitively or socially.

- Once we have identified fields and the number of teams in the league, the cost will be determined. 7s teams should plan for $700 - $800 and 11s teams should plan for $1400-1500 due to potential turf field use.

- Each team MUST be able to play Saturdays and/or Sundays. We do not know which day (or combination of days) we will be playing just yet. We thank you in advance for your flexibility.

Team Requirements:

- All coaches are expected to be from the sponsor university and the head coach is required to be an alumnus of that school. The assistant coaches may be non-alumni.

- There will be an enforced 75% alumni rule this year for each game and the post-season tournament. The commissioners will collect rosters after each game. Spouses will be considered alumni to fulfill the 75% requirement. Falsifying the alumni status of a player will result in the forfeiture of ALL games played by that player. For more on the alumni rules please see the CAN rules document at: http://www.dcalum.org/s/20/resources/Sports/CAN%20Rules.doc

- Each team will be expected to participate in the post-season tournament.

- Teams will be expected to complete the full season of 8/9 games and all their associated responsibilities. We would like to increase the number of games this year, but the field space will dictate our ability to do so.

- Similar to last year, teams may be required to supply line judges for other games.  We are still looking at our reffing options for this year. If our budget can handle 2 on field refs this season we will not require the team-supplied line judges.

- Teams are required to have representatives attend all coaches' meetings, tournament planning meetings, and any other activity or requirement that is needed to run an all-volunteer league.

Application Process:

The application process this year will consist primarily of an online form filled out by an applicant designated by the alumni chapter. A follow-up email will be sent to the chapter President to confirm knowledge and support of the Soccer team. All chapters submitting an application agree to the requirements of the league and acknowledge the responsibilities that are expected of the coaches and players. Do NOT partially fill out an application and expect to update it later.

Teams will also be required to submit a $200 deposit this year with their applications. This $200 is a good faith deposit which will be applied to the full season fees. Universities who are denied entry in to the league will have their deposit refunded. After being accepted into the league, any team that leaves the league either voluntarily or due to the three strike rule will not be refunded their deposit.

Please be aware that the application WILL close at 5pm on Friday, February 24th. Any application not fully completed with president approval and $200 deposit submitted will not be considered. Please allow some time for your chapter president to respond! DO NOT EXPECT TO SUBMIT YOUR APPLICATION Monday AFTERNOON AND HAVE ALL THE NECESSARY REQUIREMENTS COMPLETED!!!

Approximate Timeline:

Feb 3 - Begin Applications

Feb 24 - Applications Close

March 2 – Team and divisions announced

March 7 (7pm, Location:  TBD) - Coaches Meeting

March 31/April 1 – Season Begins

TBD – Tournament rosters due

TBD – First rounds of the tournament

TBD – Remainder of the tournament

If you have any more specific questions about the application process or the requirements/expectations for the teams please feel free to email the commissioners or sports chairs (contact information can be found at: http://www.dcalum.org/Sport.aspx?id=5). I hope to see many of you out on the field soon.

Thanks,

Aaron Trus, CAN Co-Sports Chair

Nick Walkosak, CAN Co-Sports Chair

Brian Pacheco, CAN Assistant Sports Chair

Shirley Panek, Soccer Co-Commissioner