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Team Formation
FC Thunder Recreational Teams are created according to the following process:
Setting Number of Teams
The Vice President (age group specific) sets the age brackets according to club rules and instructions from the Board of Directors. Together with the Commissioner (age group specific), the Vice President will set the number of teams in each bracket while considering the following:
- The minimally ideal roster sizes
- The number of fully registered players
- Target to roster an even number of team
'Fully Registered'
The Registrar will provide a list of all fully registered players to the appropriate Vice President, the Age Group Commissioner and the Director of Coaching. This list shall include full name, address, gender, age, special requests, friend request (U5-U6 only), school, practice night conflict and playing experience, if available.
In order to be considered ‘fully registered’,each of the following must be accomplished:
- Online registration process is complete; including providing full registration fee payment
- Submit State- or country-issued birth certificate (hard- or electronic-copy) to the Registrar. Players who previously submitted a copy of their birth certificates do not need to re-submit another copy, however, it is the player’s responsibility to confirm a copy is on file with the Registrar.
Team Formation (Rostering)
Only players who are ‘fully registered’ will be added to a team (rostered) and allowed to participate in practices and games.
IMPORTANT
- Considering the process described for creating teams, it is possible for a player who fully registers to take the final spot on a team, ahead of a player who began registering at an earlier date but did not complete the registration process.
- FC Thunder Recreational Teams are created using an age-group-specific randomization method; player skill and capability are not factors considered in team assignment.
- Teams shall be considered to be the same team as the prior season if more than half of the players remain on the team/group from the roster(s)
- If a tams consisently wins a majority of its games such that win record is skewed, the team will not be permitted to return fully intact in the next season of recreational play
- Teams are not allowed to recruit players
U5 – U6
Team formation will be determined by the appropriate Vice President and Commissioner with input from the Director of Coaching and Board of Directors as follows:
- All 'fully registered' players will be sorted by gender, then date of birth
- Each coach and one assistant coach (if applicable) is assigned their own child
- Team numbers will be assigned sequentially and in repeating patterns to the list starting with the first entry on the list and proceeding to the last entry in this manner: 1,2,3,4,4,3,2,1 to ensure an even age distribution throughout the bracket. When reaching a coach or assistant coach’s child on the list, they will be assigned their coach’s team number and traded for the next age appropriate player on the list.
- Rosters will be reviewed for friend requests utilizing a similar system as above. If a player needs to be moved to accommodate the request, a player with the closest date of birth will be swapped from the receiving team for the request.
- Coaches may not swap players. The Commissioner in consultation with the Vice President of Recreational Program may move players only as a response to an un-resolvable situation and/or to further balance teams when needed.
- Late registering players shall be assigned based on availability.
Buddy Requests (U5 & U6 Only)
Only U5 and U6 players may make matching “Buddy Requests” enabling two children to play on same team, if space is available. If you are interested in submitting a Buddy Request for your child, please complete the appropriate section during the online registration process. The Buddy Request process requires two children to specify the other during the registration process, i.e., Player A requests Player B and Player B requests Player A.
U7 & Above
The following lottery process is used to develop teams:
- All players will be sorted by gender, then date of birth.
- Each coach and one assistant coach (if applicable) is assigned their own child.
- Team numbers will be assigned sequentially and in repeating patterns to the list starting with the first entry on the list and proceeding to the last entry in this manner: 1,2,3,4,4,3,2,1 to ensure an even age distribution throughout the bracket. When reaching a coach or assistant coach’s child on the list, they will be assigned their coach’s team number and traded for the next age appropriate player on the list.
- Coaches may not swap players. The Commissioner in consultation with the Vice President of Recreational Program may move players only as a response to an un-resolvable situation and/or to further balance teams when needed
- Players who register late shall be assigned based on availability
