HUDSON INVITATIONAL TOURNAMENT

Coaches must present rosters, Player Passes, Permission to Travel, appropriate Medical Release Forms and all other required registration material 45 minutes prior to your first game at your assigned field.

Players may only play for one team per age division (if a particular age division has two (2) brackets, then a player may play for more than one team provided those teams are not in same bracket and the player has a valid travel pass for each team). All players and coaches must have passes. Coaches must have passes available at all games. Playing with an ineligible player will result in a forfeit of ALL games PLAYED. Up to 4 Guest Players allowed per team. A Guest Player Release form, stamped by the appropriate affiliated League of the player is required, along with Passes and appropriate medical release forms.

*Exceptions to the number of Guest Players may be granted by the Tournament Director.

Shirts must be numbered and coincide with the team roster. NO jewelry will be allowed. NO casts of any kind will be allowed. Goalkeepers may wear long pants. Shin guards are mandatory.

Intentional Heading the ball by U9, U10, and U11 players is prohibited. This is considered dangerous play and the restart by the referee will be an indirect free kick to the opposing team.

Players, coaches, and spectators are expected to act in a responsible and respectful manner. Abusive language and dissent will not be tolerated. Anyone involved in a fight will be ejected from the tournament. A player or coach receiving a red card will be ordered off the field and at a minimum sit out the next game. A coach or player receiving three (3) yellow cards during the tournament will also at a minimum sit out the next game. Any further carding of a coach or player previously suspended may result in ejection from the tournament. Suspended coaches and players are not permitted on the field or sidelines. Failure to adhere to this rule will result in their team forfeiting the game, and subject the individual or team to further disciplinary action.

EJECTED PLAYERS MAY NOT BE SUBSTITUTED.

ALCOHOLIC BEVERAGES, INCLUDING BEER ARE PROHIBITED. SMOKING IS STRONGLY DISCOURAGED. ONLY SERVICE ANIMALS ARE PERMITTED. Please make sure your players' families know this!

Game balls will be provided by the tournament. For ages U9 - U12 a size 4 ball will be used. All other age groups will use a size 5 ball.

All teams must be ready to play at the scheduled times. There is no grace period. Teams not ready to play will forfeit, and the opponent will be awarded a 1-0 win. Any team walking off the field prior to the end of the game will be disqualified from the remainder of the tournament. The balance of the games will be forfeits.

All teams and coaches must appear at the scheduled field and time regardless of conditions unless instructed otherwise by the Tournament Director.

The Tournament Director and Head Referee will determine all decisions with regard to stoppage of play, postponement of play and cancellation of play due to inclement weather and/or dangerous field conditions. Postponement of play due to dangerous weather conditions will follow standard FIFA rules. Any game which has reached HALF TIME, will be considered complete in the case of dangerous weather and postponement due to weather. Any games postponed during the first half of play due to dangerous weather will wait out the standard time allotted before resuming play.

The Tournament Director requires all Team Coaches, Managers and Contacts to update their CELL PHONE TEXT MESSAGING numbers ON THE REGISTRATION WEBSITE. In the case of Inclement weather, regular E-mails and Text Messages will go out with updates.

The Home team is the first team listed for the game. The Home team will:

1. Change shirts in the event of conflict; and
2. Attack on the opening kickoff; and
3. Have choice of sideline.

The Visiting Team is the second team listed for the game. The Visiting Team will:

1. Have a choice of the side they will defend in the first half; and
2. Have the choice of shirt color.

TEAMS WILL OCCUPY ONE SIDE OF THE FIELD. SPECTATORS WILL OCCUPY THE OPPOSITE SITE OF THE FIELD. FIELD CONDITIONS MAY REQUIRE A CHANGE WHICH WILL BE DETERMINED BY THE TOURNAMENT DIRECTOR.

All Matches are 50 minutes in length with a 5 minute rest period. It is the sole discretion of the referee in determining when such rest period shall occur, however, every attempt will be made to begin the rest period halfway through the 50 minute match length.

Any playoff match that is tied at the end of regulation play and is being used to determine the winner of a division shall be decided by penalty kicks (5 v. 5). Only players on the field at the end of regulation shall participate in penalty kicks.

U9 & U10 – Up to 14 on a Roster. 7 v 7 on the field

U11 & U12 – Up to 15 on a Roster. 9 v 9 on the field

U13-U19 – Up to 18 on a Roster. 11 v 11 on the field

Unlimited substitution with the referee’s permission are allowed.

For round robin and preliminary rounds the ranking will be determined by the total number of points earned. The team with the highest number of points will be ranked first, the second highest second, and so forth. Points will be earned as follows:

• Win = 3 points
• Tie = 1 point
• Loss = 0 points

If teams are tied, ties will be broken in the order listed below:

1. Winner of the head-to-head game. (If more than two teams are tied, this Tie Breaker is eliminated.)
2. Highest total goal differential with a maximum of three (3) goals per game.
3. Fewest goals against
4. Most Shut Outs
5. Penalty kicks

In the case of a three-way tie, after a determination has been made with respect to first place, second place will then be determined by using the same order listed above, starting with the first tie-breaker.

If due to registrations it is necessary to create a division with four (4) teams, the following special rules will apply:

Each team will play three (3) scheduled matches for points.

• After three (3) matches, the teams will be ranked using the point system above
• The third (3rd) and fourth (4th) place teams will play a consolation match, which may end in a tie.
• The first (1st) and second (2nd) place teams shall play a championship match. The winner of this match shall be the division champion regardless of points earned in the earlier matches. If, at the end of full time, the championship match is tied, the teams shall bypass overtime periods and go straight to kicks from the mark. All players shall be eligible to take kicks regardless of whether they were on the field of play at the end of the match. After five (5) kicks have been taken by both teams and no winner has emerged, all remaining eligible players on both teams (subject to the “reduce to equate numbers” requirement) must kick before the first five (5) players are allowed to kick a second time.

PASSES AND CREDENTIALS CAN AND MAY BE CHECKED RANDOMLY DURING THE TOURNAMENT.

Have your Player Passes, Coaches Passes and ALL Release forms with you at all times!

Schedules and rules listed may be changed by the Tournament Director. The Tournament Director will have final authority regarding rule interpretation and rule changes.

The Tournament Director reserves the right to decide all matters pertaining to the tournament. No appeals will be permitted.

The Hudson Valley Youth Soccer League takes no responsibility for injuries resulting from participation in the tournament.

Under no circumstances will the Tournament Director or Hudson Valley Youth Soccer League be responsible for any expenses, including tournament fees, incurred by any team due to, but not limited to, part or whole cancellation of the tournament.